Advanced Recycling Research and Development Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8297 To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and support advanced recycling research and development programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself, Mr. LUCAS, and Mr. MARSHALL) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and support advanced recycling research and development programs, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Advanced Recycling Research and Development Act of 5 2020’’. 6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 7 this Act is as follows: 8 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8297 IH Sec. 3. Optimized plastics recycling research and development program. Sec. 4. Lithium-ion battery recycling research and development program. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act: 2 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 3 means the Department of Energy. 4 (2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 5 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given that term 6 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 7 U.S.C. 15801). 8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 9 the Secretary of Energy. 10 (4) RECYCLABLE PLASTIC.—The term ‘‘recycla- 11 ble plastic’’ means plastic that is designed to be 12 readily, economically, and efficiently recyclable or 13 otherwise recoverable for beneficial use. 14 (5) CRITICAL MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘critical 15 material’’ means material that serves an essential 16 function in the manufacturing of a product and has 17 a high risk of a supply disruption, such that a short- 18 age of such material would have significant con- 19 sequences for the economic or national security of 20 the United States. 21 (6) COMPOSITE.—The term ‘‘composite’’ means 22 plastic reinforced with fiber or particulate secondary 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8297 IH material like bio-derived fibers, carbon fibers, glass 1 or any other solid material. 2 SEC. 3. OPTIMIZED PLASTICS RECYCLING RESEARCH AND 3 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 5 research, development, and demonstration program to ac- 6 celerate innovation in energy-efficient recyclable plastics, 7 next-generation plastics, and composites recycling and 8 upcycling strategies and technologies, in order to increase 9 the economic value of plastics supply streams and to re- 10 duce the environmental impact of global plastics consump- 11 tion. 12 (b) EXECUTION.—In carrying out the program under 13 this section, the Secretary shall— 14 (1) develop novel collection and sorting tech- 15 nologies to prevent plastics and composites, includ- 16 ing waterborne plastics, from entering landfills and 17 the marine environment; 18 (2) develop biological, chemical, and hybrid bio- 19 chemical technologies and methods for deconstruct- 20 ing plastic and composite waste, including environ- 21 mental waste, into useful chemical and material 22 streams; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8297 IH (3) develop technologies to upcycle waste, in- 1 cluding chemical, material, and gaseous streams, 2 into higher-value products; 3 (4) develop new economically recyclable-by-de- 4 sign plastics and composites that can be scaled for 5 domestic manufacturability and recovery; 6 (5) develop new energy-efficient advanced man- 7 ufacturing techniques for reclaimed plastics and 8 composites; and 9 (6) develop new data collection methods and 10 practices in collaboration with relevant Federal 11 agencies. 12 (c) LEVERAGING.—In carrying out the program 13 under this section, the Secretary shall leverage resources 14 and expertise from— 15 (1) the Basic Energy Sciences Program and the 16 Biological and Environmental Research Program of 17 the Office of Science; and 18 (2) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew- 19 able Energy. 20 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pe- 21 riodically review activities carried out under the program 22 under this section to determine the achievement of tech- 23 nical milestones as determined by the Secretary. 24 (e) FUNDING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8297 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—From within funds author- 1 ized to be appropriated— 2 (A) to the Department’s Office of Science, 3 there shall be made available to the Secretary 4 to carry out the program under this section 5 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 6 through 2025; and 7 (B) to the Department’s Office of Energy 8 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, there shall 9 be made available to the Secretary to carry out 10 the program under this section $25,000,000 for 11 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 12 (2) PROHIBITION.—In carrying out the pro- 13 gram under this section, the Secretary shall not use 14 funds made available under paragraph (1) for com- 15 mercial application of energy technology. 16 SEC. 4. LITHIUM-ION BATTERY RECYCLING RESEARCH AND 17 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 19 research, development, and demonstration program to 20 support the development of— 21 (1) advanced materials for batteries with con- 22 siderations given to resource availability and envi- 23 ronmentally benign disposal and recycling; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8297 IH (2) innovative technologies to reclaim and recy- 1 cle critical materials from advanced and lithium-ion 2 based battery technologies used in consumer elec- 3 tronics, defense, stationary storage, and transpor- 4 tation applications. 5 (b) EXECUTION.—In carrying out the program under 6 this section, the Secretary shall— 7 (1) promote the discovery of new domestically 8 sourced raw materials for batteries that can degrade 9 without causing damage to the environment; 10 (2) develop innovative and cost-effective tech- 11 nologies and processes for the collection, storage, 12 and transportation of discarded lithium-ion batteries 13 that use domestic mining resources and increase 14 availability of domestically sourced raw materials for 15 batteries; and 16 (3) develop cost-effective recycling processes to 17 recover critical materials from discarded lithium-ion 18 batteries and enable their reintroduction in new lith- 19 ium-ion cell technologies and for use in other rel- 20 evant industries. 21 (c) LEVERAGING.—In carrying out the program 22 under this section, the Secretary shall leverage resources 23 and expertise from— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8297 IH (1) the Basic Energy Sciences Program of the 1 Office of Science; 2 (2) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew- 3 able Energy, including current lithium-ion battery 4 recycling activities supported by the Vehicle Tech- 5 nologies Office within the Office of Energy Effi- 6 ciency and Renewable Energy; and 7 (3) the Office of Technology Transitions. 8 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pe- 9 riodically review activities carried out under the program 10 under this section to determine the achievement of tech- 11 nical milestones as determined by the Secretary. 12 (e) FUNDING.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—From within funds author- 14 ized to be appropriated— 15 (A) to the Department’s Office of Science, 16 there shall be made available to the Secretary 17 to carry out the activities under this section 18 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 19 through 2025; and 20 (B) to the Department’s Office of Energy 21 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, there shall 22 be made available to the Secretary to carry out 23 the activities under this section $10,000,000 for 24 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8297 IH (2) PROHIBITION.—In carrying out the pro- 1 gram under this section, the Secretary shall not use 2 funds made available under paragraph (1) for com- 3 mercial application of energy technology. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Oct 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8297.IH H8297 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS