Recycling and Composting Accountability Act

118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1194 AN ACT To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protec- tion Agency to carry out certain activities to improve recycling and composting programs in the United States, 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 2 † S 1194 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling and 2 Composting Accountability Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 5 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 7 mental Protection Agency. 8 (2) CIRCULAR MARKET.—The term ‘‘circular 9 market’’ means a market that utilizes industrial 10 processes and economic activities to enable post-in- 11 dustrial and post-consumer materials used in those 12 processes and activities to maintain their highest 13 values for as long as possible. 14 (3) COMPOST.—The term ‘‘compost’’ means a 15 product that— 16 (A) is manufactured through the controlled 17 aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegrad- 18 able materials; 19 (B) has been subjected to medium and 20 high temperature organisms, which— 21 (i) significantly reduce the viability of 22 pathogens and weed seeds; and 23 (ii) stabilize carbon in the product 24 such that the product is beneficial to plant 25 growth; and 26 3 † S 1194 ES (C) is typically used as a soil amendment, 1 but may also contribute plant nutrients. 2 (4) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.—The term 3 ‘‘compostable material’’ means material that is a 4 feedstock for creating compost, including— 5 (A) wood; 6 (B) agricultural crops; 7 (C) paper; 8 (D) certified compostable products associ- 9 ated with organic waste; 10 (E) other organic plant material; 11 (F) marine products; 12 (G) organic waste, including food waste 13 and yard waste; and 14 (H) such other material that is composed 15 of biomass that can be continually replenished 16 or renewed, as determined by the Adminis- 17 trator. 18 (5) COMPOSTING FACILITY.—The term 19 ‘‘composting facility’’ means a location, structure, or 20 device that transforms compostable materials into 21 compost. 22 (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 23 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 24 4 † S 1194 ES Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 1 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 2 (7) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘materials 4 recovery facility’’ means a dedicated facility 5 where primarily residential recyclable materials, 6 which are diverted from disposal by the gener- 7 ator and collected separately from municipal 8 solid waste, are mechanically or manually sort- 9 ed into commodities for further processing into 10 specification-grade commodities for sale to end 11 users. 12 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re- 13 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 14 management facility that may process munic- 15 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 16 (8) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy- 17 clable material’’ means a material that is obsolete, 18 previously used, off-specification, surplus, or inciden- 19 tally produced for processing into a specification- 20 grade commodity for which a circular market cur- 21 rently exists or is being developed. 22 (9) RECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’ means 23 the series of activities— 24 5 † S 1194 ES (A) during which recyclable materials are 1 processed into specification-grade commodities, 2 and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu 3 of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new 4 products; 5 (B) that may include sorting, collection, 6 processing, and brokering; and 7 (C) that result in subsequent consumption 8 by a materials manufacturer, including for the 9 manufacturing of new products. 10 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 11 ing given the term in section 1004 of the Solid 12 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 13 (b) DEFINITION OF PROCESSING.—In paragraphs 14 (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘processing’’ 15 means any mechanical, manual, or other method that— 16 (1) transforms a recyclable material into a spec- 17 ification-grade commodity; and 18 (2) may occur in multiple steps, with different 19 steps, including sorting, occurring at different loca- 20 tions. 21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 22 It is the sense of Congress that— 23 6 † S 1194 ES (1) recycling and composting conserve re- 1 sources, protect the environment, and are important 2 to the United States economy; 3 (2) the United States recycling and composting 4 infrastructure encompass each of the entities that 5 collect, process, broker, and consume recyclable ma- 6 terials and compostable materials sourced from com- 7 mercial, industrial, institutional, and residential 8 sources; 9 (3) the residential segment of the United States 10 recycling and composting infrastructure is facing 11 challenges from— 12 (A) confusion over what materials are recy- 13 clable materials or compostable materials; 14 (B) reduced export markets; 15 (C) growing, but still limited, domestic end 16 markets; and 17 (D) an ever-changing and heterogeneous 18 supply stream; 19 (4) in some areas, recycling and composting in- 20 frastructure is in need of revitalization; and 21 (5) in an effort to address those challenges, the 22 United States must use a combination of tactics to 23 improve recycling and composting in the United 24 States. 25 7 † S 1194 ES SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE CAPA- 1 BILITIES. 2 The Administrator, in consultation with States, units 3 of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall— 4 (1) prepare a report, or expand work under the 5 National Recycling Strategy to include data, describ- 6 ing the capability of the United States to implement 7 a national composting strategy for compostable ma- 8 terials for the purposes of reducing contamination 9 rates for recycling, including— 10 (A) an evaluation of existing Federal, 11 State, and local laws that may present barriers 12 to implementation of a national composting 13 strategy; 14 (B)(i) an evaluation of existing composting 15 programs of States, units of local government, 16 and Indian Tribes; and 17 (ii) a description of best practices based on 18 those programs; 19 (C) an evaluation of existing composting 20 infrastructure in States, units of local govern- 21 ment, and Indian Tribes for the purposes of es- 22 timating cost and approximate land needed to 23 expand composting programs; and 24 (D) a study of the practices of manufac- 25 turers and companies that are moving to using 26 8 † S 1194 ES compostable packaging and food service ware 1 for the purpose of making the composting proc- 2 ess the end-of-life use of those products; and 3 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en- 4 actment of this Act, submit the report prepared 5 under paragraph (1) to Congress. 6 SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEDERAL AGENCY RECYCLING PRAC- 7 TICES. 8 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 9 of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 2033, the 10 Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation 11 with the Administrator, shall make publicly available a re- 12 port describing— 13 (1) the total annual recycling and composting 14 rates reported by all Federal agencies; 15 (2) the total annual percentage of products con- 16 taining recyclable material, compostable material, or 17 recovered materials purchased by all Federal agen- 18 cies, including— 19 (A) the total quantity of procured products 20 containing recyclable material or recovered ma- 21 terials listed in the comprehensive procurement 22 guidelines published under section 6002(e) of 23 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 24 6962(e)); and 25 9 † S 1194 ES (B) the total quantity of compostable ma- 1 terial purchased; 2 (3) recommendations for updating— 3 (A) the comprehensive procurement guide- 4 lines published under section 6002(e) of the 5 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e)); 6 and 7 (B) the environmentally preferable pur- 8 chasing program established under section 9 6604(b)(11) of the Pollution Prevention Act of 10 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13103(b)(11)); and 11 (4) the activities of each Federal agency that 12 promote recycling or composting. 13 SEC. 6. IMPROVING DATA AND REPORTING. 14 (a) INVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI- 15 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 16 of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Administrator, 17 in consultation with States, units of local government, and 18 Indian Tribes, shall— 19 (1) prepare an inventory of public and private 20 materials recovery facilities in the United States, in- 21 cluding— 22 (A) the number of materials recovery fa- 23 cilities in each unit of local government in each 24 State; and 25 10 † S 1194 ES (B) a description of the materials that 1 each materials recovery facility can process, in- 2 cluding— 3 (i) in the case of plastic, a description 4 of— 5 (I) the types of accepted resin, if 6 applicable; and 7 (II) the packaging or product 8 format, such as a jug, a carton, or 9 film; 10 (ii) food packaging and service ware, 11 such as a bottle, cutlery, or a cup; 12 (iii) paper; 13 (iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 14 beverage can, food can, aerosol can, or foil; 15 (v) steel, such as a steel food or aer- 16 osol can; 17 (vi) other scrap metal; 18 (vii) glass; or 19 (viii) any other material not described 20 in any of clauses (i) through (vii) that a 21 materials recovery facility can process; and 22 (2) submit the inventory prepared under para- 23 graph (1) to Congress. 24 11 † S 1194 ES (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE BASE- 1 LINE OF DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES RECYCLING 2 SYSTEM.—The Administrator, in consultation with States, 3 units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall deter- 4 mine, with respect to the United States— 5 (1) the number of community curbside recycling 6 and composting programs; 7 (2) the number of community drop-off recycling 8 and composting programs; 9 (3) the types and forms of materials accepted 10 by each community curbside recycling, drop-off recy- 11 cling, or composting program; 12 (4) the number of individuals with access to re- 13 cycling and composting services to at least the ex- 14 tent of access to disposal services; 15 (5) the number of individuals with barriers to 16 accessing recycling and composting services to at 17 least the extent of access to disposal services; 18 (6) the inbound contamination and capture 19 rates of community curbside recycling, drop-off recy- 20 cling, or composting programs; 21 (7) where applicable, other available recycling 22 or composting programs within a community, includ- 23 ing store drop-offs; and 24 12 † S 1194 ES (8) the average costs and benefits to States, 1 units of local government, and Indian Tribes of recy- 2 cling and composting programs. 3 (c) STANDARDIZATION OF RECYCLING REPORTING 4 RATES.— 5 (1) COLLECTION OF RATES.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 7 use amounts made available under section 9 to 8 biannually collect from each State the nation- 9 ally standardized rate of recyclable materials in 10 that State that have been successfully diverted 11 from the waste stream and brought to a mate- 12 rials recovery facility or composting facility. 13 (B) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY 14 BUSINESS INFORMATION.—Information col- 15 lected under subparagraph (A) shall not include 16 any confidential or proprietary business infor- 17 mation, as determined by the Administrator. 18 (2) USE.—Using amounts made available under 19 section 9, the Administrator may use the rates col- 20 lected under paragraph (1) to further assist States, 21 units of local government, and Indian Tribes— 22 (A) to reduce the overall waste produced 23 by the States and units of local government; 24 and 25 13 † S 1194 ES (B) to increase recycling and composting 1 rates. 2 (d) REPORT ON END MARKETS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con- 4 sultation with States, units of local government, and 5 Indian Tribes, shall— 6 (A) provide an update to the report sub- 7 mitted under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 8 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) 9 to include an addendum on the end-market sale 10 of all recyclable materials, in addition to recy- 11 cled plastics as described in that section, from 12 materials recovery facilities that process recy- 13 clable materials collected from households and 14 publicly available recyclable materials drop-off 15 centers, including— 16 (i) the total, in dollars per ton, domes- 17 tic sales of bales of recyclable materials; 18 and 19 (ii) the total, in dollars per ton, inter- 20 national sales of bales of recyclable mate- 21 rials; 22 (B) prepare a report on the end-market 23 sale of compost from all compostable materials 24 collected from households and publicly available 25 14 † S 1194 ES compost drop-off centers, including the total, in 1 dollars per ton, of domestic sales of 2 compostable materials; and 3 (C) not later than 2 years after the date 4 of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress 5 the update to the report prepared under sub- 6 paragraph (A) and the report prepared under 7 subparagraph (B). 8 (2) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSINESS 9 INFORMATION.—Information collected under sub- 10 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall not 11 include any confidential or proprietary business in- 12 formation, as determined by the Administrator. 13 SEC. 7. STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MATE- 14 RIALS FROM A CIRCULAR MARKET. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 16 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall de- 17 velop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable 18 materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that 19 are being diverted from a circular market. 20 (b) STUDY; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 21 development of a metric under subsection (a), the Admin- 22 istrator shall conduct a study of, and submit to Congress 23 a report on, the proportion of recyclable materials in com- 24 mercial and municipal waste streams that, during each of 25 15 † S 1194 ES the 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission 1 of the report, were diverted from a circular market. 2 (c) DATA.—The report under subsection (b) shall 3 provide data on specific recyclable materials, including 4 aluminum, plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and 5 glass, that were prevented from remaining in a circular 6 market through disposal or elimination, and to what use 7 those specific recyclable materials were lost. 8 (d) EVALUATION.—The report under subsection (b) 9 shall include an evaluation of whether the establishment 10 or improvemen [Text truncated for display. 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