Recycling and Composting Accountability Act

I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4109 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. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 24, 2025 Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. B URCHETT, and Mr. F OSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling and 4 Composting Accountability Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4109 IH (1) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-2 mental Protection Agency. 3 (2) C OMPOST.—The term ‘‘compost’’ means a 4 product that— 5 (A) is manufactured through the controlled 6 aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegrad-7 able materials; 8 (B) has been subjected to medium and 9 high temperature organisms, which— 10 (i) significantly reduce the viability of 11 pathogens and weed seeds; and 12 (ii) stabilize carbon in the product 13 such that the product is beneficial to plant 14 growth; and 15 (C) is typically used as a soil amendment, 16 but may also contribute plant nutrients. 17 (3) C OMPOSTABLE MATERIAL .—The term 18 ‘‘compostable material’’ means material that is a 19 feedstock for creating compost, including— 20 (A) wood; 21 (B) agricultural crops; 22 (C) paper, such as cardboard and other 23 paper products; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4109 IH (D) certified compostable products associ-1 ated with organic waste; 2 (E) other organic plant material; 3 (F) organic waste, including food waste 4 and yard waste; and 5 (G) such other material that is composed 6 of biomass that can be continually replenished 7 or renewed, as determined by the Adminis-8 trator. 9 (4) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 10 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 11 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 12 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 13 (5) R ECYCLABLE MATERIAL .—The term ‘‘recy-14 clable material’’ means a material that is obsolete, 15 previously used, off-specification, surplus, or inciden-16 tally produced for processing into a specification- 17 grade commodity for which a reuse market currently 18 exists or is being developed. 19 (6) R ECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’ means 20 the series of activities— 21 (A) during which recyclable materials are 22 processed into specification-grade commodities 23 and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4109 IH of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new 1 products; 2 (B) that may, with regard to recyclable 3 materials and prior to the activities described in 4 subparagraph (A), include sorting, collection, 5 processing, and brokering; and 6 (C) that result, subsequent to processing 7 described in subparagraph (A), in consumption 8 by a materials manufacturer, including for the 9 manufacturing of new products. 10 (7) S TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-11 ing given the term in section 1004 of the Solid 12 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 13 (b) DEFINITION OF PROCESSING.—In paragraphs (5) 14 and (6) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘processing’’ means 15 any mechanical, manual, or other method that— 16 (1) transforms a recyclable material into a spec-17 ification-grade commodity; and 18 (2) may occur in multiple steps, with different 19 phases, including sorting, occurring at different loca-20 tions. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4109 IH SEC. 3. REPORTS ON COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING INFRA-1 STRUCTURE CAPABILITIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Solid Waste Dis-3 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is amended by adding 4 at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 4011. REPORTS ON COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING IN-6 FRASTRUCTURE CAPABILITIES. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 ‘‘(1) R ECYCLING AND COMPOSTING ACCOUNT -9 ABILITY ACT TERMS .—The terms ‘compost’, 10 ‘compostable material’, ‘recyclable material’, and ‘re-11 cycling’ have the meanings given such terms in sec-12 tion 2 of the Recycling and Composting Account-13 ability Act. 14 ‘‘(2) C OMPOSTING FACILITY .—The term 15 ‘composting facility’ means a location, structure, or 16 device that transforms compostable materials into 17 compost. 18 ‘‘(3) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 19 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 20 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 21 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 22 ‘‘(4) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY .— 23 ‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—The term ‘materials 24 recovery facility’ means a dedicated facility 25 where primarily residential recyclable materials, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4109 IH which are diverted from disposal by the gener-1 ator and collected separately from municipal 2 solid waste, are mechanically or manually sort-3 ed into commodities for further processing into 4 specification-grade commodities for sale to end 5 users. 6 ‘‘(B) E XCLUSION.—The term ‘materials 7 recovery facility’ does not include a solid waste 8 management facility that may process munic-9 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 10 ‘‘(C) D EFINITION OF PROCESSING .—For 11 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘proc-12 essing’ has the meaning given such term in sec-13 tion 2(b) of the Recycling and Composting Ac-14 countability Act. 15 ‘‘(b) REPORT.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL .—The Administrator shall re-17 quest information and data from, collaborate with, 18 or contract with, as necessary and appropriate, 19 States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, 20 for the provision, preparation, and publication of a 21 report, or to expand work under the National Recy-22 cling Strategy to include information and data, on 23 compostable materials and efforts to reduce contami-24 nation rates for recycling, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(A) an evaluation of existing Federal, 1 State, and local laws that may present barriers 2 to implementation of composting strategies; 3 ‘‘(B) a description and evaluation of 4 composting infrastructure and programs within 5 States, units of local government, and Indian 6 Tribes; 7 ‘‘(C) an estimate of the costs and approxi-8 mate land needed to expand composting pro-9 grams; and 10 ‘‘(D) a review of the practices of manufac-11 turers and companies that are moving to using 12 compostable packaging and food service ware 13 for the purpose of making the composting proc-14 ess the end-of-life use of those products. 15 ‘‘(2) S UBMISSION.—Not later than 2 years 16 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad-17 ministrator shall submit to Congress the report pre-18 pared under paragraph (1). 19 ‘‘(c) I NVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI-20 TIES.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 21 of this section, and every 4 years thereafter, the Adminis-22 trator, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies and 23 States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, 24 shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(1) prepare an inventory or estimate of mate-1 rials recovery facilities in the United States, includ-2 ing— 3 ‘‘(A) the number of materials recovery fa-4 cilities in each State; and 5 ‘‘(B) a general description of the materials 6 that each of those materials recovery facilities 7 can process, including— 8 ‘‘(i) in the case of plastic, a descrip-9 tion of— 10 ‘‘(I) the types of accepted resin, 11 if applicable; and 12 ‘‘(II) the packaging or product 13 format, such as a jug, a carton, or 14 film; 15 ‘‘(ii) food packaging and service ware, 16 such as a bottle, cutlery, or a cup; 17 ‘‘(iii) paper; 18 ‘‘(iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 19 beverage can, food can, aerosol can, or foil; 20 ‘‘(v) steel, such as a steel food or aer-21 osol can; 22 ‘‘(vi) other scrap metal; 23 ‘‘(vii) glass; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(viii) any other material not de-1 scribed in any of clauses (i) through (vii) 2 that a materials recovery facility processes; 3 and 4 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress the inventory or esti-5 mate prepared under paragraph (1). 6 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION ON RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING 7 SYSTEMS.—The Administrator shall, as necessary and ap-8 propriate, collaborate or contract with States, units of 9 local government, and Indian Tribes to estimate, with re-10 spect to the United States— 11 ‘‘(1) the number and types of recycling and 12 composting programs; 13 ‘‘(2) the types and forms of materials accepted 14 by recycling or composting programs; 15 ‘‘(3) the number of individuals— 16 ‘‘(A) with access to recycling and 17 composting services to at least the extent of ac-18 cess to disposal services; and 19 ‘‘(B) who use, on a percentage basis, the 20 recycling and composting services described in 21 subparagraph (A); 22 ‘‘(4) the number of individuals with barriers to 23 accessing recycling and composting services similar 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 4109 IH to their access to disposal services and the types of 1 those barriers experienced; 2 ‘‘(5) the inbound contamination and capture 3 rates of recycling and composting programs; 4 ‘‘(6) if applicable, other available recycling or 5 composting programs; and 6 ‘‘(7) the average costs and benefits to States, 7 units of local government, and Indian Tribes of recy-8 cling and composting programs. 9 ‘‘(e) RECYCLING REPORTING RATES.— 10 ‘‘(1) C OLLECTION OF DATA ; DEVELOPMENT OF 11 RATES.—The Administrator may use amounts made 12 available under section 6 of the Recycling and 13 Composting Accountability Act— 14 ‘‘(A) to biannually collect, in collaboration 15 with States, to the extent practicable, informa-16 tion supplied on a voluntary basis to develop 17 the estimated rates described in subparagraphs 18 (B) and (C); 19 ‘‘(B) to develop a standardized estimated 20 rate of recyclable materials in States that pro-21 vide information under subparagraph (A) that 22 have been successfully diverted from the waste 23 stream and brought to a materials recovery fa-24 cility or composting facility; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(C) to develop an estimated national recy-1 cling rate based on the information described in 2 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 3 ‘‘(2) U SE.—Using amounts made available 4 under section 6 of the Recycling and Composting 5 Accountability Act, the Administrator may use the 6 information collected and rates developed under 7 paragraph (1) to provide requesting States, units of 8 local government, and Indian Tribes data and tech-9 nical assistance— 10 ‘‘(A) to reduce the overall waste produced 11 by the States, units of local government, and 12 Indian Tribes; 13 ‘‘(B) to assist the States, units of local 14 government, and Indian Tribes in under-15 standing the nuances of the information col-16 lected relating to diversion activities; and 17 ‘‘(C) to increase recycling and composting 18 rates of the States, units of local government, 19 and Indian Tribes. 20 ‘‘(f) R EPORT ON END MARKETS.—The Adminis-21 trator, in collaboration or contract with, as necessary and 22 appropriate, relevant Federal agencies, States, units of 23 local government, or Indian Tribes, shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(1) provide an update to the report submitted 1 under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act 2 (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) to include an 3 addendum on the end-market sale of all recyclable 4 materials from materials recovery facilities that 5 process recyclable materials, including, to the extent 6 practicable— 7 ‘‘(A) the total, in dollars per ton, domestic 8 sales of bales of recyclable materials; and 9 ‘‘(B) the total, in dollars per ton, inter-10 national sales of bales of recyclable materials; 11 ‘‘(2) prepare a report on the end-market sale of 12 compost from, to the extent practicable, compostable 13 materials, including the total, in dollars per ton, of 14 domestic sales of compostable materials; and 15 ‘‘(3) not later than 3 years after the date of en-16 actment of this section, submit to Congress the up-17 date to the report prepared under paragraph (1) and 18 the report prepared under paragraph (2). 19 ‘‘(g) P RIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-20 TION.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL .—Information collected under 22 subsection (e)(1) or paragraph (1) or (2) of sub-23 section (f) shall not include any privileged or con-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 4109 IH fidential information described in section 552(b)(4) 1 of title 5, United States Code. 2 ‘‘(2) N ONDISCLOSURE.—Information collected 3 to carry out this section shall not be made public if 4 the information meets the requirements of section 5 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.’’. 6 (b) C LERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 7 in section 1001 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act is amend-8 ed by inserting after the item relating to section 4010 the 9 following: 10 ‘‘Sec. 4011. Report on composting and recycling infrastructure capabilities.’’. SEC. 4. FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIVITIES RELATED TO RECY-11 CLING. 12 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 13 of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 2033, the 14 Comptroller General of the United States shall make pub-15 licly available a report— 16 (1) detailing or, to the extent practicable, pro-17 viding an estimate of— 18 (A) the total annual recycling and 19 composting rates reported by all Federal agen-20 cies; and 21 (B) the total annual percentage of prod-22 ucts containing recyclable material, compostable 23 material, or recovered materials purchased by 24 all Federal agencies, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 •HR 4109 IH (i) the total quantity of procured 1 products containing recyclable material or 2 recovered materials listed in the com-3 prehensive procurement guidelines pub-4 lished under section 6002(e) of the Solid 5 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e)); 6 and 7 (ii) the total quantity of compostable 8 material purchased by all Federal agencies; 9 (2) identifying the activities of each Federal 10 agency that promote recycling or composting; and 11 (3) identifying activities that Federal agencies 12 could carry out to further promote recycling or 13 composting. 14 SEC. 5. STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MATE-15 RIALS FROM A CIRCULAR MARKET. 16 (a) I N GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 17 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall de-18 velop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable 19 materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that 20 are being diverted from a circular market. 21 (b) STUDY; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 22 development of a metric under subsection (a), the Admin-23 istrator shall conduct a study of, and submit to Congress 24 a report on, the proportion of recyclable materials in com-25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15 •HR 4109 IH mercial and municipal waste streams that, during each of 1 the 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission 2 of the report, were diverted from a circular market. 3 (c) D ATA.—The report under subsection (b) shall 4 provide data on specific recyclable materials, including 5 aluminum, plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and 6 glass, that were prevented from remaining in a circular 7 market through disposal or elimination, and to what use 8 those specific recyclable materials were lost. 9 (d) E VALUATION.—The report under subsection (b) 10 shall include an evaluation of whether the establishment 11 or improvement of recycling programs would— 12 (1) improve recycling rates; 13 (2) reduce the quantity of recyclable materials 14 being unutilized in a circular market; and 15 (3) affect prices paid by consumers for products 16 using materials recycled in the circular market. 17 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 18 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin-19 istrator to carry out this Act and the amendments made 20 by this Act $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 21 through 2029. 22 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION. 23 (a) U NFUNDED MANDATES.—The Administrator or 24 the Secretary of Commerce may not exercise any authority 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 16 •HR 4109 IH under this Act or any amendment made by this Act if ex-1 ercising that authority would require a State, a unit of 2 local government, or an Indian Tribe to carry out a man-3 date for which funding is not available. 4 (b) N ONDISCLOSURE.—Any information collected to 5 carry out this Act shall not be made public if the informa-6 tion meets the requirements of section 552(b) of title 5, 7 United States Code. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Jul 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB