REUSE Act of 2026 Research for Environmental Uses and Sustainable Economies Act of 2026

I 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7370 To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to prepare a report on reuse and refill systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 4, 2026 Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. B UCHANAN, and Mr. C ORREA) 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 prepare a report on reuse and refill systems, 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 ‘‘Research for Environ-4 mental Uses and Sustainable Economies Act of 2026’’ or 5 the ‘‘REUSE Act of 2026’’. 6 SEC. 2. REPORT ON REUSE AND REFILL SYSTEMS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Feb 06, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7370.IH H7370kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 7370 IH (1) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-2 mental Protection Agency. 3 (2) R EUSE AND REFILL SYSTEM .—The term 4 ‘‘reuse and refill system’’ means a set of mechanisms 5 relating to refillable or reusable products and bev-6 erage containers, as determined by the Adminis-7 trator, that is supported by adequate infrastructure 8 at the producer level, and adequate convenient avail-9 ability and retail infrastructure at the consumer 10 level, to ensure that the products and beverage con-11 tainers can be— 12 (A) repeatedly recovered, inspected, re-13 paired (if necessary), and reissued by producers 14 into the supply chain for reuse or refill for mul-15 tiple cycles; and 16 (B) conveniently and safely reused or re-17 filled by producers and consumers for multiple 18 cycles. 19 (3) S TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean-20 ing given the term in section 1004 of the Solid 21 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 22 (b) R EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 23 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall make 24 publicly available a report describing the feasibility of, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Feb 06, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7370.IH H7370kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 7370 IH best practices relating to, reuse and refill systems for var-1 ious sectors, as determined by the Administrator, which 2 may include food service, consumer food and beverage 3 products, consumer cleaning products, personal care prod-4 ucts, transportation and shipping of wholesale and retail 5 goods, and public educational institutions, including insti-6 tutions of higher education. 7 (c) O BJECTIVES.—The report under subsection (b) 8 shall include an evaluation and summary of— 9 (1) types of reuse and refill systems for product 10 delivery that can be best used at different scales; 11 (2) methods to ensure equitable distribution of 12 reuse and refill systems, where economically feasible, 13 for product delivery in communities of varying popu-14 lation size; 15 (3) job creation opportunities through the use 16 or expansion of reuse and refill systems; 17 (4) economic costs and benefits for— 18 (A) businesses that deploy reuse and refill 19 system technologies; and 20 (B) parties responsible for waste collection 21 and management; 22 (5) types of local, State, and Federal support 23 needed to expand the use of reuse and refill systems; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Feb 06, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7370.IH H7370kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 7370 IH (6) existing barriers to the widespread imple-1 mentation of reuse and refill systems. 2 (d) C ONSIDERATIONS.—In preparing the report 3 under subsection (b), the Administrator shall— 4 (1) take into consideration relevant information 5 relating to reuse and refill system programs and ap-6 proaches in States, units of local government, and 7 foreign countries; and 8 (2) consult with relevant reuse and refill system 9 stakeholders. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Feb 06, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7370.IH H7370kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB