[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 126 (Thursday, July 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3752-S3755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I rise, along with Senator Capito, today
to say a few words on behalf of S. 3742, Recycling Infrastructure and
Accessibility Act of 2022, and S. 3743, the Recycling Composting
Accountability Act.
Senator Capito and I have the pleasure of leading the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee. With the legislation that we
are about to discuss here, along with Senator Boozman--Senator Boozman
is on his way. We are all a part of the Recycling Caucus in the U.S.
Senate. We work with our
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staffs and others outside of this body in order to make possible this
legislation, to debate it, to report it. And if I am not mistaken,
Senator Capito reported it unanimously out of our committee, as we do
with so much legislation.
These bills were introduced by Senator Capito and myself and Senator
Boozman. As an avid recycler and composter, for a long time I have long
believed in environmental stewardship. After all, we have a moral duty
to leave behind a cleaner, healthier planet for our children.
Senator Capito and I are both born in West Virginia. My sister and I
grew up along Beaver Creek, right outside of Beckley. My dad used to
take me and my grandfather fishing and hunting, even at a young age,
along the New River and other parts of Raleigh County. One of the
things that my dad and my grandfather always made clear to me was that
if we are out in a boat and there was trash or something in the water
or there was something that could be recycled, to pull it out of the
water and to put it in something we were carrying and take it home. The
idea was to try to leave our State--West Virginia then--better, better
than we found it. So from a very early age in West Virginia, I really
had those values instilled in me. And they still are. We instilled them
in our sons too.
But we have a moral obligation to leave behind a cleaner, healthier
planet for our children. There are many ways to meet that moral
obligation. One of those is to make sure that the products that can be
recycled, we recycle them. We don't have to landfill them. We can
actually address the climate change in a very positive way but
especially with respect to aluminum cans and things like that that we
recycle.
I wish I could stand here today to say our recycling rate in Delaware
is 100 percent, West Virginia is 100 percent, or the country is 100
percent; it is not. The recycling rate in our country is something like
35 percent. It is like getting a grade in school. If you get a 35 on a
paper or test, that is a failing grade. With respect to recycling,
unfortunately, we are racking up failing grades year after year after
year, and we ought to do something about it. As it turns out, we can.
Part of that doing something about it is the legislation before us
today.
We have to do more when it comes to improving our Nation's recycling
and our composting efforts. These bills would take action to address
several of the challenges facing America's recycling efforts.
One of the challenges that we face is the availability of good data.
That might sound strange, but it is true. This past November, for
example, the Environmental Protection Agency, though, released its
first-ever National Recycling Strategy. Now, that is kind of late to
the game, but it is better to be late to the game than not to be there
at all. It turns out it is a good document. It is a document that
reflects input that we provided, our staffs provided, others on our
committee, and across the country provided. And to the EPA's credit,
they accepted that input, and they actually did something with it. So
it is reflected in the National Recycling Strategy that was
promulgated.
The document offers a transformative vision for shrinking our
Nation's waste management efforts, and it also highlights the need for
greater standardization around data collection.
To address this, Senator Boozman and I developed the Recycling and
Composting Accountability Act. Senator Boozman, myself, Senator Capito,
and others are part of the Recycling Caucus here in the Senate, a
bipartisan group that focuses on how do we promote and encourage
recycling, not just on Capitol Hill, not just in the District of
Columbia, not just on the east coast, not just in West Virginia but
across the country from coast to coast.
Our legislation, the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act,
would improve EPA's ability to gather data on our Nation's recycling
systems and explore opportunities for implementing a national
composting strategy.
Another area where we can improve is by increasing access to
recycling. Many Americans in disadvantaged communities want to recycle,
they want to compost, but they are unable to do so. That is because
they live in neighborhoods that lack curbside pickup, bottle return,
and other necessary recycling infrastructure.
Senator Capito's Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act would
help address this by creating a pilot program at EPA to improve
recycling services in underserved areas. This legislation would bring
many communities into the recycling world, including those in urban and
suburban areas, while also protecting our environment.
I commend Senator Capito for her work and her leadership on this
bill. I want to commend her staff and my staff, led by Mary Frances
Repko, who is our staff director, and Adam on the other side of the
aisle. Members don't do this by themselves, as we know, and we are
really blessed with terrific staff who help us put these provisions
together.
I commend Senator Capito heartily for her work and her leadership on
this legislation, her support of the legislation Senator Boozman and I
have offered.
I want to work with her to make sure that this bill helps jump-start
recycling in communities with the greatest need, especially those who
have been historically left behind, and there are too many of those.
Both of these bills that we will have an opportunity to consider here
today are the result of a true collaboration and reflect a substantial
amount of bipartisan efforts dedicated to explore our Nation's
recycling and composting challenges.
I know a lot of people, if you watch the news, whether it is the
television or on the radio, newspapers, you read online, they think all
we do here is fight with one another; that we never find anything like
common ground on important issues like the one we are talking about
right now. The committee that Senator Capito and I are privileged to
lead actually reports out important legislation, including bipartisan
infrastructure legislation, all kinds of issues that enjoy bipartisan
support, unanimous bipartisan support.
S. 3743
Mr. CARPER. So with that, as if in legislative session, I ask
unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate
consideration of Calendar No. 358, S. 3743.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 3743) to require the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency to carry out certain
activities to improve recycling and composting programs in
the United States, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill,
which had been reported from the Committee on Environment and Public
Works, with an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and
insert in lieu thereof the following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Recycling and Composting
Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
(a) In General.--In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Circular market.--The term ``circular market'' means a
market that utilizes 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.
(3) Compost.--The term ``compost'' means a product that--
(A) is manufactured through the controlled aerobic,
biological decomposition of biodegradable materials;
(B) has been subjected to medium and high temperature
organisms, which--
(i) significantly reduce the viability of pathogens and
weed seeds; and
(ii) stabilize carbon in the product such that the product
is beneficial to plant growth; and
(C) is typically used as a soil amendment, but may also
contribute plant nutrients.
(4) Compostable material.--The term ``compostable
material'' means material that is a feedstock for creating
compost, including--
(A) wood;
(B) agricultural crops;
(C) paper;
(D) certified compostable products associated with organic
waste;
(E) other organic plant material;
(F) marine products;
(G) organic waste, including food waste and yard waste; and
(H) such other material that is composed of biomass that
can be continually replenished or renewed, as determined by
the Administrator.
(5) Composting facility.--The term ``composting facility''
means a location, structure, or device that transforms
compostable materials into compost.
(6) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
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(7) Materials recovery facility.--
(A) In general.--The term ``materials recovery facility''
means a dedicated facility where primarily residential
recyclable materials, which are diverted from disposal by the
generator and collected separately from municipal solid
waste, are mechanically or manually sorted into commodities
for further processing into specification-grade commodities
for sale to end users.
(B) Exclusion.--The term ``materials recovery facility''
does not include a solid waste management facility that may
process municipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials.
(8) Recyclable material.--The term ``recyclable material''
means a material that is obsolete, previously used, off-
specification, surplus, or incidentally produced for
processing into a specification-grade commodity for which a
circular market currently exists or is being developed.
(9) Recycling.--The term ``recycling'' means the series of
activities--
(A) during which recyclable materials are processed into
specification-grade commodities, and consumed as raw-material
feedstock, in lieu of virgin materials, in the manufacturing
of new products;
(B) that may include sorting, collection, processing, and
brokering; and
(C) that result in subsequent consumption by a materials
manufacturer, including for the manufacturing of new
products.
(10) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the
term in section 1004 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42
U.S.C. 6903).
(b) Definition of Processing.--In paragraphs (7), (8), and
(9) of subsection (a), the term ``processing'' means any
mechanical, manual, or other method that--
(1) transforms a recyclable material into a specification-
grade commodity; and
(2) may occur in multiple steps, with different steps,
including sorting, occurring at different locations.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) recycling and composting conserve resources, protect
the environment, and are important to the United States
economy;
(2) the United States recycling and composting
infrastructure encompass each of the entities that collect,
process, broker, and consume recyclable materials and
compostable materials sourced from commercial, industrial,
institutional, and residential sources;
(3) the residential segment of the United States recycling
and composting infrastructure is facing challenges from--
(A) confusion over what materials are recyclable materials
or compostable materials;
(B) reduced export markets;
(C) growing, but still limited, domestic end markets; and
(D) an ever-changing and heterogeneous supply stream;
(4) in some areas, recycling and composting infrastructure
is in need of revitalization; and
(5) in an effort to address those challenges, the United
States must use a combination of tactics to improve recycling
and composting in the United States.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE CAPABILITIES.
The Administrator, in consultation with States, units of
local government, and Indian Tribes, shall--
(1) prepare a report describing the capability of the
United States to implement a national composting strategy for
compostable materials for the purposes of reducing
contamination rates for recycling, including--
(A) an evaluation of existing Federal, State, and local
laws that may present barriers to implementation of a
national composting strategy;
(B)(i) an evaluation of existing composting programs of
States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes; and
(ii) a description of best practices based on those
programs;
(C) an evaluation of existing composting infrastructure in
States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes for the
purposes of estimating cost and approximate land needed to
expand composting programs; and
(D) a study of the practices of manufacturers and companies
that are moving to using compostable packaging and food
service ware for the purpose of making the composting process
the end-of-life use of those products; and
(2) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit the report prepared under paragraph (1) to
Congress.
SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEDERAL AGENCY RECYCLING PRACTICES.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General of the
United States, in consultation with the Administrator, shall
make publicly available a report describing--
(1) the total annual recycling and composting rates
reported by all Federal agencies;
(2) the total annual percentage of products containing
recyclable material, compostable material, or recovered
materials purchased by all Federal agencies, including--
(A) the total quantity of procured products containing
recyclable material or recovered materials listed in the
comprehensive procurement guidelines published under section
6002(e) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e));
and
(B) the total quantity of compostable material purchased;
(3) recommendations for updating--
(A) the comprehensive procurement guidelines published
under section 6002(e) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42
U.S.C. 6962(e)); and
(B) the environmentally preferable purchasing program
established under section 6604(b)(11) of the Pollution
Prevention Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13103(b)(11)); and
(4) the activities of each Federal agency that promote
recycling or composting.
SEC. 6. IMPROVING DATA AND REPORTING.
(a) Inventory of Materials Recovery Facilities.--Not later
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and
biannually thereafter, the Administrator, in consultation
with States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes,
shall--
(1) prepare an inventory of public and private materials
recovery facilities in the United States, including--
(A) the number of materials recovery facilities in each
unit of local government in each State; and
(B) a description of the materials that each materials
recovery facility can process, including--
(i) in the case of plastic, a description of--
(I) the types of accepted resin, if applicable; and
(II) the packaging or product format, such as a jug, a
carton, or film;
(ii) food packaging and service ware, such as a bottle,
cutlery, or a cup;
(iii) paper;
(iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum beverage can, food can,
aerosol can, or foil;
(v) steel, such as a steel food or aerosol can;
(vi) other scrap metal;
(vii) glass; or
(viii) any other material not described in any of clauses
(i) through (vii) that a materials recovery facility can
process; and
(2) submit the inventory prepared under paragraph (1) to
Congress.
(b) Establishment of a Comprehensive Baseline of Data for
the United States Recycling System.--The Administrator, in
consultation with States, units of local government, and
Indian Tribes, shall determine, with respect to the United
States--
(1) the number of community curbside recycling and
composting programs;
(2) the number of community drop-off recycling and
composting programs;
(3) the types and forms of materials accepted by each
community curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, or
composting program;
(4) the number of individuals with access to recycling and
composting services to at least the extent of access to
disposal services;
(5) the number of individuals with barriers to accessing
recycling and composting services to at least the extent of
access to disposal services;
(6) the inbound contamination and capture rates of
community curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, or
composting programs;
(7) where applicable, other available recycling or
composting programs within a community, including store drop-
offs; and
(8) the average cost to States, units of local government,
and Indian Tribes of recycling and composting programs.
(c) Standardization of Recycling Reporting Rates.--
(1) Collection of rates.--
(A) In general.--The Administrator may use amounts made
available under section 9 to biannually collect from each
State the nationally standardized rate of recyclable
materials in that State that have been successfully diverted
from the waste stream and brought to a materials recovery
facility or composting facility.
(B) Confidential or proprietary business information.--
Information collected under subparagraph (A) shall not
include any confidential or proprietary business information,
as determined by the Administrator.
(2) Use.--Using amounts made available under section 9, the
Administrator may use the rates collected under paragraph (1)
to further assist States, units of local government, and
Indian Tribes--
(A) to reduce the overall waste produced by the States and
units of local government; and
(B) to increase recycling and composting rates.
(d) Report on End Markets.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator, in consultation with
States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall--
(A) provide an update to the report submitted under section
306 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (Public Law 116-224; 134
Stat. 1096) to include an addendum on the end-market sale of
all recyclable materials, in addition to recycled plastics as
described in that section, from materials recovery facilities
that process recyclable materials collected from households
and publicly available recyclable materials drop-off centers,
including--
(i) the total, in dollars per ton, domestic sales of bales
of recyclable materials; and
(ii) the total, in dollars per ton, international sales of
bales of recyclable materials;
(B) prepare a report on the end-market sale of compost from
all compostable materials collected from households and
publicly available compost drop-off centers, including the
total, in dollars per ton, of domestic sales of compostable
materials; and
(C) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit to Congress the update to the report
prepared under subparagraph (A) and the report prepared under
subparagraph (B).
(2) Confidential or proprietary business information.--
Information collected under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (1) shall not include any confidential or
proprietary business information, as determined by the
Administrator.
SEC. 7. STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MATERIALS FROM A
CIRCULAR MARKET.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a
metric for determining the proportion of recyclable materials
in commercial and municipal waste streams that are being
diverted from a circular market.
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(b) Study; Report.--Not later than 1 year after the
development of a metric under subsection (a), the
Administrator shall conduct a study of, and submit to
Congress a report on, the proportion of recyclable materials
in commercial and municipal waste streams that, during each
of the 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission of
the report, were diverted from a circular market.
(c) Data.--The report under subsection (b) shall provide
data on specific recyclable materials, including aluminum,
plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and glass, that
were prevented from remaining in a circular market through
disposal or elimination, and to what use those specific
recyclable materials were lost.
(d) Evaluation.--The report under subsection (b) shall
include an evaluation of whether the establishment or
improvement of recycling programs would--
(1) improve recycling rates; or
(2) reduce the quantity of recyclable materials being
unutilized in a circular market.
SEC. 8. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.
The Administrator shall--
(1) in consultation with States, units of local government,
and Indian Tribes, develop, based on the results of the
studies, reports, inventory, and data determined under
sections 4 through 7, and provide to States, units of local
government, and Indian Tribes best practices that the States,
units of local government, and Indian Tribes may use to
enhance recycling and composting, including--
(A) labeling techniques for containers of waste,
compostable materials, and recycling, with the goal of
creating consistent, readily available, and understandable
labeling across jurisdictions;
(B) pamphlets or other literature readily available to
constituents;
(C) primary and secondary school educational resources on
recycling;
(D) web and media-based campaigns; and
(E) guidance for the labeling of recyclable materials and
compostable materials that minimizes contamination and
diversion of those materials from waste streams toward
recycling and composting systems; and
(2) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit to Congress a report describing the best
practices developed under paragraph (1).
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the
Administrator such sums as are necessary to carry out this
Act for each fiscal year.
Mr. CARPER. I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported
substitute amendment be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as
amended, be considered read a third time and passed; and that the
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was
agreed to.
The bill (S. 3743), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
____________________