SB 54 supply report: what data you need from each supplier

By Shekhar Nirkhe, Founder, ZeeHub. Last updated November 2026.

For every packaging component, collect the component name, material, any coating or layers, weight per unit and recycled content from the supplier. Then add the units you sell into California and, for plastic, the plastic weight and the number of plastic components per item.

This guide goes through each field, the gaps that come up most often and a simple way to organize the records. For the wider picture, start with our plain-English guide to California SB 54.

What is the SB 54 supply report?

The supply report describes the covered packaging a producer supplies into California. For 2025, supply and source reduction reports were due to CAA on May 31, 2026 (June 1, since May 31 fell on a Sunday). Check CalRecycle for current requirements on format and on later reporting years.

A report is only as good as the component data behind it, and most of that data comes from suppliers.

What data do you need from each supplier?

Ask for these fields for every component a supplier provides to you.

Field	What to ask for	Why it matters
Component name	The name you use and the supplier’s name for the same part, such as lid film, tray or sleeve.	Keeps each record tied to the right SKU.
Material	The specific material, not a family name. “Plastic film” is not enough.	Material is what categories and fees are built on.
Coating or layers	Any coating, laminate or added layer, and what it is made of.	A coating can change how a component is categorized.
Weight per unit	The weight of one unit of the component, in a stated unit such as grams.	Reports are built from weight.
Recycled content	A declaration for each component, with the supplier’s source document.	Recycled content declarations are part of the data brands need from suppliers.
Units sold into California	Your own sales data for each item. Suppliers do not hold this.	Turns component data into a California total.
Plastic weight and plastic component count	For plastic components, the weight of plastic and the number of plastic components per item.	SB 54 requires plastic weight and plastic component counts.

Our supplier data template has a column for each of these, so you can paste supplier answers straight in.

What does a finished component record look like?

Here is a single product with two component records. The values are illustrative and come from the example rows in our template.

Illustrative example, not real data
Component	Supplier	Material	Coating or layers	Weight per unit	Plastic component	Source document
Lid film	Example Films Co.	PET	Polyethylene seal layer	3.2 g	Yes	example-lid-film-spec.pdf
Paperboard carton	Example Board Inc.	Paperboard	Plastic coating on the inside	41.0 g	No	example-carton-spec.pdf

The second row shows why coatings get their own column. The component is paperboard, but the plastic coating on the inside is a separate fact that a one-word material name would lose.

Which fields do suppliers most often leave out?

Weights. Spec sheets list dimensions and material but not weight, so someone estimates it.
Coatings. A component is described by its base material, and any coating or layer goes unnamed.
Multi-material parts. A cap, lid or sleeve made of several materials arrives with one total weight.
Out-of-date specs. A spec predates the last packaging change, and nobody notices.
California units. Sales data shows national volume, not how many units went into California.

How do you spot a gap early?

Scan each record for four warning signs: a blank weight, a material described in one word, a missing source document and a date older than the last packaging change. Sorting the list by date received brings the oldest records to the top, and filtering for blank cells brings the missing ones to the top. Doing this as soon as replies arrive is much easier than doing it just before a report is due.

How should you organize the data?

Keep one row per component for each SKU. Next to every value, record the source document and the date you received it. That way, when someone asks where a number came from, the answer is one cell away.

Keep supplier requests in a second list, with the date you asked, the follow-up dates and the current status. Both lists are in the free template, so you do not need to build them from scratch.

What if a supplier cannot provide a field?

Record it as a gap, with the date you asked, instead of leaving the cell blank or guessing.
Ask a more specific question. “Which polymer, and how many layers?” gets a better answer than “what is it made of?”.
Follow up, and escalate to a named contact if there is no reply. Our guide to requesting packaging specs from suppliers has a sample email and a follow-up routine.
Check CalRecycle for current requirements on what to do when data is not available.

Sources

Last updated: November 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with CalRecycle and CAA.