Recycling and Composting Accountability Act 2024-03-12 Passed Senate Recycling and Composting Accountability Act

This bill establishes data collection and reporting requirements concerning composting and recycling programs.

Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue several reports related to composting and recycling, including a report on the capability of the United States to implement a national composting strategy in order to reduce contamination rates for recycling.

The EPA must also

  • inventory certain facilities that recycle residential materials and describe the materials that the facilities can process;
  • collect data related to curbside and drop-off recycling and composting programs in order to establish a comprehensive baseline of data for the U.S. recycling system; and
  • develop and disseminate best practices that states, local governments, and Indian tribes may use to enhance recycling and composting.

The EPA must also develop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that is being diverted from circular markets, which are markets that utilize industrial processes and economic activities to enable post-industrial and post-consumer materials used in those processes and activities to maintain their highest values for as long as possible. After developing the metric, the EPA must then study the proportion of recyclable materials in such waste streams that were diverted from those markets in the prior ten years.

Finally, the Government Accountability Office must report on the recycling practices of federal agencies.

]]> 2023-06-22 Reported to Senate Recycling and Composting Accountability Act

This bill establishes data collection and reporting requirements concerning composting and recycling programs.

Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue several reports related to composting and recycling, including a report on the capability of the United States to implement a national composting strategy in order to reduce contamination rates for recycling.

The EPA must also

  • inventory certain facilities that recycle residential materials and describe the materials that the facilities can process;
  • collect data related to curbside and drop-off recycling and composting programs in order to establish a comprehensive baseline of data for the U.S. recycling system; and
  • develop and disseminate best practices that states, local governments, and Indian tribes may use to enhance recycling and composting.

The EPA must also develop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that is being diverted from circular markets, which are markets that utilize industrial processes and economic activities to enable post-industrial and post-consumer materials used in those processes and activities to maintain their highest values for as long as possible. After developing the metric, the EPA must then study the proportion of recyclable materials in such waste streams that were diverted from those markets in the prior ten years.

Finally, the Government Accountability Office must report on the recycling practices of federal agencies.

]]> 2023-04-19 Introduced in Senate Recycling and Composting Accountability Act

This bill establishes data collection and reporting requirements concerning composting and recycling programs.

Specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must issue several reports related to composting and recycling, including a report on the capability of the United States to implement a national composting strategy in order to reduce contamination rates for recycling.

The EPA must also

  • inventory certain facilities that recycle residential materials and describe the materials that the facilities can process;
  • collect data related to curbside and drop-off recycling and composting programs in order to establish a comprehensive baseline of data for the U.S. recycling system; and
  • develop and disseminate best practices that states, local governments, and Indian tribes may use to enhance recycling and composting.

The EPA must also develop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that is being diverted from circular markets, which are markets that utilize industrial processes and economic activities to enable post-industrial and post-consumer materials used in those processes and activities to maintain their highest values for as long as possible. After developing the metric, the EPA must then study the proportion of recyclable materials in such waste streams that were diverted from those markets in the prior ten years.

Finally, the Government Accountability Office must report on the recycling practices of federal agencies.

]]> text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.