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How to use this calculator.
The calculator compares the annual Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) fees you pay on your current packaging against an equivalent Paper Tube Co. paper tube alternative. Set four inputs, read four outputs.
The inputs
Pick the closest match to what you ship today. Sliders snap as you drag; the savings number on the right updates in real time.
Current material
Pick the closest match to your current packaging. The dropdown covers the seven formats prospects most commonly switch from. If your packaging doesn’t match any of them, choose Other— we’ll ask you to describe it in the request form so we can run a precise comparison.
Annual unit volume
How many primary packaging units you ship per year. Slider is log-scaled from 10,000 to 100,000,000. If you’re close to a milestone (1M, 10M), the slider will snap there naturally.
Unit weight
The empty packaging’s weight per unit, in grams. We pre-fill a sensible industry default when you pick a material — adjust if you know your BOM number. The Paper Tube Co. equivalent unit weight is shown beneath the slider so you can compare apples to apples.
Sales into EPR-active states
The fraction of your annual sales sold into California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, or Washington — the seven states with enacted producer-responsibility programs. If you don’t track this precisely, a rough percentage is fine; it scales the result linearly.
Reading the output
The big savings number
Annual savings if you switched from your current material to Paper Tube Co. paper tubes, based on the current-year fee schedules published by Oregon and Colorado. Updates as you drag any slider.
Why the gap exists
Four cards explaining the underlying drivers — per-pound fee range, real-world recyclability rate, eco-modulation tier, and 5-year fee trajectory. The numbers in the per-pound card come directly from the published 2026 schedules.
5-year projection
How the fee gap compounds as the other five EPR states bring their schedules online (2027–2030). Projected fees use 80% of Oregon’s published schedule as the baseline — adjustable on the methodology page.
Get the PDF
The CTA at the bottom drops the comparison into a 6-page PDF report we email you. The report cites every number and is built to survive a procurement-team review.
Common questions
Where do the fee numbers come from?
Oregon’s and Colorado’s 2026 producer fee schedules, published by Circular Action Alliance. Full citations on the methodology page.
Why does the projection assume new states match Oregon?
Oregon is the most mature EPR program with the most-developed fee schedule. Other states reference it when drafting their own. Until each state publishes, applying 80% of Oregon’s schedule is a defensible projection — and the multiplier is configurable on the methodology page.
What if my packaging doesn’t fit any category?
Pick “Other” and describe your packaging on the request form. The calculator will show an approximation; the Paper Tube Co. team will follow up with a precise figure based on your description.
Can I share the calculator URL with my team?
Yes — share papertube-calculator.com and your colleagues can run their own scenarios. The PDF report we email is also shareable as a one-pager for procurement and sustainability reviews.
Something unclear? Email us and we’ll either fix the doc or add it to this page.