Jars packaging EPR California: what a glass jar costs per 1,000 packs, 2026

What this page estimates for a glass jar in California

The glass jar on this page is a jar closed by a metal lid with a plastic seal, with a paper label stuck on the glass. It has 3 components, each matched to the published rates of the 2026 schedule of Circular Action Alliance (California PRO), early fee for California; weight times rate gives a fee per 1,000 packs in USD. The figures are estimates built on starting weights.

What is in a glass jar

The jar has three components: the glass body, the metal lid and the paper label. Each is matched to its own published rate.

Starting weights, an Instica estimate for a typical pack and not a measured weight: jar (glass, 190 g), lid (steel, 9 g), and label (paper, 2 g).

Jar

glass, 190 g (Instica starting estimate)

Lid

steel, 9 g (Instica starting estimate)

Label

paper, 2 g (Instica starting estimate)

Worked example: 1,000 glass jars in California

One glass jar of the Medium (about 8 to 9 oz) size weighs 201 g in total. For each component the table gives its weight, the matched published rates, and the fee for 1,000 packs.

Added together, the estimate for 1,000 packs is $1.43.

Divide by 1,000 for a single pack: about $0.0014.

What the fee tool returns for 1,000 glass jars in California

Entered into the public fee tool for California (2026 schedule, effective January 1, 2026), 1,000 glass jars give the figures below. The tool is the same engine that prices a report, so this page and the tool agree.

The tool total is $1.44.

Which published rates were matched in California

3 published rates were matched to the pack in California from the 2026 schedule. Each is quoted from the programme’s own fee table; the page does not change the rate or round it.

Jar, 190 g: one matched rate

Lid, 9 g: one matched rate

Label, 2 g: one matched rate

How size changes the fee for a glass jar

The weight of a glass jar depends on its size. The table prices each of the 4 sizes with the same matched rates, so the only thing that changes between rows is the weight.

Each component of the glass jar priced at every size, at the matched rates for California.

What if the glass jar used another material?

Suppose the main component of the glass jar, weighing 190 g, were made of another material. The table prices the same weight in each material class that California publishes a rate for, at the lowest published rate in that class.

A fee comparison only: another material changes weight and protection too.

What a larger run of glass jars costs in California

Fees scale with the number of packs, because the schedule charges by mass. The table repeats the worked example for larger runs of the Medium (about 8 to 9 oz) glass jar in California. Nothing else changes between rows: the same weights and the same matched rates apply.

Taken as a whole, the pack is priced at $0.0071 per kilogram of packaging, so a heavier pack costs more in proportion to its weight.

Flat fee bands, registration fees and minimum charges sit outside this per-kilogram table.

The fee schedule behind these figures for California

The rates come from the 2026 schedule of Circular Action Alliance (California PRO), early fee for California, effective January 1, 2026. The facts below record where it was published and what else the schedule charges.

Ways to lower the fee on a glass jar

Glass is heavy, so glass weight dominates the total. A lighter jar for the same volume lowers the fee more than any change to the lid or label.

The metal lid and the paper label are small in mass, but they are priced as steel and paper, which can cost more or less per kilogram than glass.

Where a programme publishes a separate rate for coloured glass or for refillable glass, the colour and the reuse model of the jar can change the line it falls under.

Food and cosmetics sellers often change jar size by a few grams between suppliers, which is why the size table above shows each size on its own.