STEWARD Act of 2025 Strategies To Eliminate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development Act of 2025

119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 351 AN ACT To establish a pilot grant program to improve recycling ac- cessibility, to require the Administrator of the Environ- mental Protection Agency to carry out certain activities to collect and disseminate data on recycling and composting programs in the United States, and for other purposes. 2 † S 351 ES 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 ‘‘Strategies To Elimi-4 nate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development Act of 5 2025’’ or the ‘‘STEWARD Act of 2025’’. 6 SEC. 2. RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY 7 IMPROVEMENTS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 (1) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-11 mental Protection Agency. 12 (2) C URBSIDE RECYCLING .—The term 13 ‘‘curbside recycling’’ means the process by which 14 residential recyclable materials are picked up 15 curbside. 16 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY .—The term ‘‘eligible enti-17 ty’’ means— 18 (A) a State (as defined in section 1004 of 19 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 20 6903)); 21 (B) a unit of local government; 22 (C) an Indian Tribe; and 23 3 † S 351 ES (D) a public-private partnership or entities 1 seeking to establish a public-private partner-2 ship. 3 (4) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 4 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 5 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 6 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 7 (5) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY .— 8 (A) I N GENERAL .—The term ‘‘materials 9 recovery facility’’ means a dedicated facility 10 where primarily residential recyclable materials, 11 which are diverted from disposal by a generator 12 and collected separately from municipal solid 13 waste, are mechanically or manually sorted into 14 commodities for further processing into speci-15 fication-grade commodities for sale to end 16 users. 17 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re-18 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 19 management facility that may process munic-20 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 21 (6) P ILOT GRANT PROGRAM .—The term ‘‘pilot 22 grant program’’ means the Recycling Infrastructure 23 and Accessibility Program established under sub-24 section (b). 25 4 † S 351 ES (7) R ECYCLABLE MATERIAL .—The term ‘‘recy-1 clable material’’ means a material that is obsolete, 2 previously used, off-specification, surplus, or inciden-3 tally produced for processing into a specification- 4 grade commodity for which a reuse market currently 5 exists or is being developed. 6 (8) T RANSFER STATION .—The term ‘‘transfer 7 station’’ means a facility that— 8 (A) receives and consolidates recyclable 9 material from curbside recycling or drop-off fa-10 cilities; and 11 (B) loads the recyclable material onto trac-12 tor trailers, railcars, or barges for transport to 13 a distant materials recovery facility or another 14 recycling-related facility. 15 (9) U NDERSERVED COMMUNITY .—The term 16 ‘‘underserved community’’ means a community, in-17 cluding an unincorporated area, without access to 18 full recycling services because— 19 (A) transportation, distance, or other rea-20 sons render utilization of available processing 21 capacity at an existing materials recovery facil-22 ity cost prohibitive; or 23 (B) the processing capacity of an existing 24 materials recovery facility is insufficient to 25 5 † S 351 ES manage the volume of recyclable materials pro-1 duced by that community. 2 (b) E STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 18 months 3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 4 shall establish a pilot grant program, to be known as the 5 ‘‘Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Program’’, to 6 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 7 to improve recycling accessibility in a community or com-8 munities within the same geographic area. 9 (c) G OAL.—The goal of the pilot grant program is 10 to fund eligible projects that will significantly improve ac-11 cessibility to recycling systems through investments in in-12 frastructure in underserved communities through the use 13 of a hub-and-spoke model for recycling infrastructure de-14 velopment. 15 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 16 under the pilot grant program, an eligible entity shall sub-17 mit to the Administrator an application at such time, in 18 such manner, and containing such information as the Ad-19 ministrator may require. 20 (e) C ONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible entities 21 to receive a grant under the pilot grant program, the Ad-22 ministrator shall consider— 23 6 † S 351 ES (1) whether the community or communities in 1 which the eligible entity is seeking to carry out a 2 proposed project has curbside recycling; 3 (2) whether the proposed project of the eligible 4 entity will improve accessibility to recycling services 5 in a single underserved community or multiple un-6 derserved communities; and 7 (3)(A) if the eligible entity is a public-private 8 partnership, the financial health of the private entity 9 seeking to enter into that public-private partnership; 10 or 11 (B) if the eligible entity is seeking to establish 12 a public-private partnership, the financial health of 13 the private entities that would participate in the 14 public-private partnership. 15 (f) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to receive 16 a grant under the pilot grant program, the Administrator 17 shall give priority to eligible entities seeking to carry out 18 a proposed project in a community in which there is not 19 more than 1 materials recovery facility within a 75-mile 20 radius of that community. 21 (g) U SE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity awarded a 22 grant under the pilot grant program may use the grant 23 funds for projects to improve recycling accessibility in 24 communities, including in underserved communities, by— 25 7 † S 351 ES (1) increasing the number of transfer stations; 1 (2) expanding curbside recycling collection pro-2 grams where appropriate; and 3 (3) leveraging public-private partnerships to re-4 duce the costs associated with collecting and trans-5 porting recyclable materials in underserved commu-6 nities. 7 (h) P ROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible 8 entity awarded a grant under the pilot grant program may 9 not use the grant funds for projects relating to recycling 10 education programs. 11 (i) M INIMUM AND MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—A 12 grant awarded to an eligible entity under the pilot grant 13 program shall be in an amount— 14 (1) not less than $500,000; and 15 (2) not more than $15,000,000. 16 (j) S ET-ASIDE.—The Administrator shall set aside 17 not less than 70 percent of the amounts made available 18 to carry out the pilot grant program for each fiscal year 19 to award grants to eligible entities to carry out a proposed 20 project or program in a single underserved community or 21 multiple underserved communities. 22 (k) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 23 of a project or program carried out by an eligible entity 24 using grant funds shall be not more than 95 percent. 25 8 † S 351 ES (l) R EPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 1 on which the first grant is awarded under the pilot grant 2 program, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a re-3 port describing the implementation of the pilot grant pro-4 gram, which shall include— 5 (1) a list of eligible entities that have received 6 a grant under the pilot grant program; 7 (2) the actions taken by each eligible entity that 8 received a grant under the pilot grant program to 9 improve recycling accessibility with grant funds; and 10 (3) to the extent information is available, a de-11 scription of how grant funds received under the pilot 12 grant program improved recycling rates in each com-13 munity in which a project or program was carried 14 out under the pilot grant program. 15 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 16 (1) I N GENERAL .—There is authorized to be 17 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 18 pilot grant program $30,000,000 for each of fiscal 19 years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until 20 expended. 21 (2) A DMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND TECHNICAL 22 ASSISTANCE.—Of the amounts made available under 23 paragraph (1), the Administrator may use up to 5 24 percent— 25 9 † S 351 ES (A) for administrative costs relating to car-1 rying out the pilot grant program; and 2 (B) to provide technical assistance to eligi-3 ble entities applying for a grant under the pilot 4 grant program. 5 SEC. 3. RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING DATA COLLECTION. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL .—In this section: 8 (A) A DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Admin-9 istrator’’ means the Administrator of the Envi-10 ronmental Protection Agency. 11 (B) C OMPOST.—The term ‘‘compost’’ 12 means a product that— 13 (i) is manufactured through the con-14 trolled aerobic, biological decomposition of 15 biodegradable materials; 16 (ii) has been subjected to medium and 17 high temperature organisms, which— 18 (I) significantly reduce the viabil-19 ity of pathogens and weed seeds; and 20 (II) stabilize carbon in the prod-21 uct such that the product is beneficial 22 to plant growth; and 23 10 † S 351 ES (iii) is typically used as a soil amend-1 ment, but may also contribute plant nutri-2 ents. 3 (C) C OMPOSTABLE MATERIAL .—The term 4 ‘‘compostable material’’ means material that is 5 a feedstock for creating compost, including— 6 (i) wood; 7 (ii) agricultural crops; 8 (iii) paper, such as cardboard and 9 other paper products; 10 (iv) certified compostable products as-11 sociated with organic waste; 12 (v) other organic plant material; 13 (vi) organic waste, including food 14 waste and yard waste; and 15 (vii) such other material that is com-16 posed of biomass that can be continually 17 replenished or renewed, as determined by 18 the Administrator. 19 (D) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘‘Indian 20 Tribe’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-21 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 22 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 23 (E) R ECYCLABLE MATERIAL .—The term 24 ‘‘recyclable material’’ means a material that is 25 11 † S 351 ES obsolete, previously used, off-specification, sur-1 plus, or incidentally produced for processing 2 into a specification-grade commodity for which 3 a reuse market currently exists or is being de-4 veloped. 5 (F) R ECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’ 6 means the series of activities— 7 (i) during which recyclable materials 8 are processed into specification-grade com-9 modities and consumed as raw-material 10 feedstock, in lieu of virgin materials, in the 11 manufacturing of new products; 12 (ii) that may, with regard to recycla-13 ble materials and prior to the activities de-14 scribed in clause (i), include sorting, collec-15 tion, processing, and brokering; and 16 (iii) that result, subsequent to proc-17 essing described in clause (i), in consump-18 tion by a materials manufacturer, includ-19 ing for the manufacturing of new products. 20 (G) S TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the 21 meaning given the term in section 1004 of the 22 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 23 (2) D EFINITION OF PROCESSING .—In subpara-24 graphs (E) and (F) of paragraph (1), the term 25 12 † S 351 ES ‘‘processing’’ means any mechanical, manual, or 1 other method that— 2 (A) transforms a recyclable material into a 3 specification-grade commodity; and 4 (B) may occur in multiple steps, with dif-5 ferent phases, including sorting, occurring at 6 different locations. 7 (b) R EPORTS ON COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING IN-8 FRASTRUCTURE CAPABILITIES.— 9 (1) I N GENERAL .—Subtitle D of the Solid 10 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et seq.) is 11 amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘SEC. 4011. REPORTS ON COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING IN-13 FRASTRUCTURE CAPABILITIES. 14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 ‘‘(1) I NCORPORATION OF CERTAIN TERMS .— 16 The terms ‘compost’, ‘compostable material’, ‘recy-17 clable material’, and ‘recycling’ have the meanings 18 given the terms in section 3(a) of the Strategies To 19 Eliminate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Develop-20 ment Act of 2025. 21 ‘‘(2) C OMPOSTING FACILITY .—The term 22 ‘composting facility’ means a location, structure, or 23 device that transforms compostable materials into 24 compost. 25 13 † S 351 ES ‘‘(3) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 1 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 2 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 3 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 4 ‘‘(4) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY .— 5 ‘‘(A) I N GENERAL .—The term ‘materials 6 recovery facility’ means a dedicated facility 7 where primarily residential recyclable materials, 8 which are diverted from disposal by the gener-9 ator and collected separately from municipal 10 solid waste, are mechanically or manually sort-11 ed into commodities for further processing into 12 specification-grade commodities for sale to end 13 users. 14 ‘‘(B) E XCLUSION.—The term ‘materials 15 recovery facility’ does not include a solid waste 16 management facility that may process munic-17 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 18 ‘‘(C) D EFINITION OF PROCESSING .—For 19 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘proc-20 essing’ has the meaning given the term in sec-21 tion 3(a)(2) of the Strategies To Eliminate 22 Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development 23 Act of 2025. 24 ‘‘(b) REPORT.— 25 14 † S 351 ES ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL .—The Administrator shall re-1 quest information and data from, collaborate with, 2 or contract with, as necessary and appropriate, 3 States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, 4 for the provision, preparation, and publication of a 5 report, or to expand work under the National Recy-6 cling Strategy to include information and data, on 7 compostable materials and efforts to reduce contami-8 nation rates for recycling, including— 9 ‘‘(A) an evaluation of existing Federal, 10 State, and local laws that may present barriers 11 to implementation of composting strategies; 12 ‘‘(B) a description and evaluation of 13 composting infrastructure and programs within 14 States, units of local government, and Indian 15 Tribes; 16 ‘‘(C) an estimate of the costs and approxi-17 mate land needed to expand composting pro-18 grams; and 19 ‘‘(D) a review of the practices of manufac-20 turers and companies that are moving to using 21 compostable packaging and food service ware 22 for the purpose of making the composting proc-23 ess the end-of-life use of those products. 24 15 † S 351 ES ‘‘(2) S UBMISSION.—Not later than 2 years 1 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad-2 ministrator shall submit to Congress the report pre-3 pared under paragraph (1). 4 ‘‘(c) I NVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI-5 TIES.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 6 of this section, and every 4 years thereafter, the Adminis-7 trator, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies and 8 States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, 9 shall— 10 ‘‘(1) prepare an inventory or estimate of mate-11 rials recovery facilities in the United States, includ-12 ing— 13 ‘‘(A) the number of materials recovery fa-14 cilities in each State; and 15 ‘‘(B) a general description of the materials 16 that each of those materials recovery facilities 17 can process, including— 18 ‘‘(i) in the case of plastic, a descrip-19 tion of— 20 ‘‘(I) the types of accepted resin, 21 if applicable; and 22 ‘‘(II) the packaging or product 23 format, such as a jug, a carton, or 24 film; 25 16 † S 351 ES ‘‘(ii) food packaging and service ware, 1 such as a bottle, cutlery, or a cup; 2 ‘‘(iii) paper; 3 ‘‘(iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 4 beverage can, food can, aerosol can, or foil; 5 ‘‘(v) steel, such as a steel food or aer-6 osol can; 7 ‘‘(vi) other scrap metal; 8 ‘‘(vii) glass; or 9 ‘‘(viii) any other material not de-10 scribed in any of clauses (i) through (vii) 11 that a materials recovery facility processes; 12 and 13 ‘‘(2) submit to Congress the inventory or esti-14 mate prepared under paragraph (1). 15 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION ON RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING 16 SYSTEMS.—The Administrator shall, as necessary and ap-17 propriate, collaborate or contract with States, units of 18 local government, and Indian Tribes to estimate, with re-19 spect to the United States— 20 ‘‘(1) the number and types of recycling and 21 composting programs; 22 ‘‘(2) the types and forms of materials accepted 23 by recycling or composting programs; 24 ‘‘(3) the number of individuals— 25 17 † S 351 ES ‘‘(A) with access to recycling and 1 composting services to at least the extent of ac-2 cess to disposal services; and 3 ‘‘(B) who use, on a percentage basis, the 4 recycling and composting services described in 5 subparagraph (A); 6 ‘‘(4) the number of individuals with barriers to 7 accessing recycling and composting services similar 8 to their access to disposal services and the types of 9 those barriers experienced; 10 ‘‘(5) the inbound contamination and capture 11 rates of recycling and composting programs; 12 ‘‘(6) if applicable, other available recycling or 13 composting programs; and 14 ‘‘(7) the average costs and benefits to States, 15 units of local government, and Indian Tribes of recy-16 cling and composting programs. 17 ‘‘(e) RECYCLING REPORTING RATES.— 18 ‘‘(1) C OLLECTION OF DATA ; DEVELOPMENT OF 19 RATES.—The Administrator may use amounts made 20 available under section 3(e) of the Strategies To 21 Eliminate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Develop-22 ment Act of 2025— 23 ‘‘(A) to biannually collect, in collaboration 24 with States, to the extent practicable, informa-25 18 † S 351 ES tion supplied on a voluntary basis to develop 1 the estimated rates described in subparagraphs 2 (B) and (C); 3 ‘‘(B) to develop a standardized estimated 4 rate of recyclable materials in States that pro-5 vide information under subparagraph (A) that 6 have been successfully diverted from the waste 7 stream and brought to a materials recovery fa-8 cility or composting facility; and 9 ‘‘(C) to develop an estimated national recy-10 cling rate based on the information described in 11 subparagraphs (A) and (B). 12 ‘‘(2) U SE.—Using amounts made available 13 under section 3(e) of the Strategies To Eliminate 14 Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development Act of 15 2025, the Administrator may use the information 16 collected and rates developed under paragraph (1) to 17 provide requesting States, units of local government, 18 and Indian Tribes data and technical assistance— 19 ‘‘(A) to reduce the overall waste produced 20 by the States, units of local government, and 21 Indian Tribes; 22 ‘‘(B) to assist the States, units of local 23 government, and Indian Tribes in under-24 19 † S 351 ES standing the nuances of the information col-1 lected relating to diversion activities; and 2 ‘‘(C) to increase recycling and composting 3 rates of the States, units of local government, 4 and Indian Tribes. 5 ‘‘(f) R EPORT ON END MARKETS.—The Adminis-6 trator, in collaboration or contract with, as necessary and 7 appropriate, relevant Federal agencies, States, units of 8 local government, or Indian Tribes, shall— 9 ‘‘(1) provide an update to the report submitted 10 under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act 11 (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) to include an 12 addendum on the end-market sale of all recyclable 13 materials from materials recovery facilities that 14 process recyclable materials, including, to the extent 15 practicable— 16 ‘‘(A) the total, in dollars per ton, domestic 17 sales of bales of recyclable materials; and 18 ‘‘(B) the total, in dollars per ton, inter-19 national sales of bales of recyclable materials; 20 ‘‘(2) prepare a report on the end-market sale of 21 compost from, to the extent practicable, compostable 22 materials, including the total, in dollars per ton, of 23 domestic sales of compostable materials; and 24 20 † S 351 ES ‘‘(3) not later than 3 years after the date of en-1 actment of this section, submit to Congress the up-2 date to the report prepared under paragraph (1) and 3 the report prepared under paragraph (2). 4 ‘‘(g) P RIVILEGED OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-5 TION.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL .—Information collected under 7 subsection (e)(1) or paragraph (1) or (2) of sub-8 section (f) shall not include any privileged or con-9 fidential information described in section 552(b)(4) 10 of title 5, United States Code. 11 ‘‘(2) N ONDISCLOSURE.—Information collected 12 to carry out this section shall not be made public if 13 the information meets the requirements of section 14 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.’’. 15 (2) C LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table of con-16 tents in section 1001 of the Solid Waste Disposal 17 Act (Public Law 89–272; 90 Stat. 2795; 98 Stat. 18 3268) is amended by inserting after the item relat-19 ing to section 4010 the following: 20 ‘‘Sec. 4011. Report on composting and recycling infrastructure capabilities.’’. (c) FEDERAL AGENCY ACTIVITIES RELATED TO RE-21 CYCLING.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enact-22 ment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 2033, 23 the Comptroller General of the United States shall make 24 publicly available a report— 25 21 † S 351 ES (1) detailing or, to the extent practicable, pro-1 viding an estimate of— 2 (A) the total annual recycling and 3 composting rates reported by all Federal agen-4 cies; and 5 (B) the total annual percentage of prod-6 ucts containing recyclable material, compostable 7 material, or recovered materials purchased by 8 all Federal agencies, including— 9 (i) the total quantity of procured 10 products containing recyclable material or 11 recovered materials listed in the com-12 prehensive procurement guidelines pub-13 lished under section 6002(e) of the Solid 14 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e)); 15 and 16 (ii) the total quantity of compostable 17 material purchased by all Federal agencies; 18 (2) identifying the activities of each Federal 19 agency that promote recycling or composting; and 20 (3) identifying activities that Federal agencies 21 could carry out to further promote recycling or 22 composting. 23 (d) STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MA-24 TERIALS FROM A CIRCULAR MARKET.— 25 22 † S 351 ES (1) I N GENERAL .—Not later than 1 year after 1 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 2 shall develop a metric for determining the proportion 3 of recyclable materials in commercial and municipal 4 waste streams that are being diverted from a cir-5 cular market. 6 (2) S TUDY; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 7 after the development of a metric under paragraph 8 (1), the Administrator shall conduct a study of, and 9 submit to Congress a report on, the proportion of re-10 cyclable materials in commercial and municipal 11 waste streams that, during each of the 10 calendar 12 years preceding the year of submission of the report, 13 were diverted from a circular market. 14 (3) D ATA.—The report under paragraph (2) 15 shall provide data on specific recyclable materials, 16 including aluminum, plastics, paper and paperboard, 17 textiles, and glass, that were prevented from remain-18 ing in a circular market through disposal or elimi-19 nation, and to what use those specific recyclable ma-20 terials were lost. 21 (4) EVALUATION.—The report under paragraph 22 (2) shall include an evaluation of whether the estab-23 lishment or improvement of recycling programs 24 would— 25 23 † S 351 ES (A) improve recycling rates; 1 (B) reduce the quantity of recyclable mate-2 rials being unutilized in a circular market; and 3 (C) affect prices paid by consumers for 4 products using materials recycled in the circular 5 market. 6 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 7 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 8 carry out this section and the amendments made by this 9 section $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 10 2029. 11 (f) ADMINISTRATION.— 12 (1) U NFUNDED MANDATES .—The Adminis-13 trator or the Secretary of Commerce may not exer-14 cise any authority under this section or any amend-15 ment made by this section if exercising that author-16 ity would require a State, a unit of local govern-17 ment, or an Indian Tribe to carry out a mandate for 18 which funding is not available. 19 (2) N ONDISCLOSURE.—Any information col-20 lected to carry out this section shall not be made 21 24 † S 351 ES public if the information meets the requirements of 1 section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 2 Passed the Senate November 20, 2025. Attest: Secretary. 119THCONGRESS 1STSESSION S. 351 AN ACT To establish a pilot grant program to improve recy- cling accessibility, to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out certain activities to collect and disseminate data on recycling and composting programs in the United States, and for other purposes.