Tracking Plastic Act of 2026

II 119TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5182 To establish a Federal working group for recycled plastic content traceability, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 30, 2026 Mr. S CHIFF (for himself, Mr. M ERKLEY, Mr. W YDEN, and Mr. B OOKER) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish a Federal working group for recycled plastic content traceability, 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 ‘‘Tracking Plastic Act 4 of 2026’’. 5 SEC. 2. FEDERAL WORKING GROUP FOR RECYCLED PLAS-6 TIC CONTENT TRACEABILITY. 7 (a) E STABLISHMENT.—There is established a Fed-8 eral working group for recycled plastic content traceability 9 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Working Group’’). 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jul 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5182.IS S5182kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 5182 IS (b) MEMBERS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL .—The Working Group shall be 2 composed of the following members: 3 (A) A representative of each of the fol-4 lowing departments and agencies, to be des-5 ignated by the head of the respective depart-6 ment or agency: 7 (i) The Environmental Protection 8 Agency. 9 (ii) The Federal Trade Commission. 10 (iii) The Department of Agriculture. 11 (iv) The National Oceanic and Atmos-12 pheric Administration. 13 (v) The Department of State. 14 (vi) The National Institute of Stand-15 ards and Technology. 16 (vii) The National Laboratory of the 17 Rockies. 18 (B) 1 or more representatives of each of 19 the following, to be designated jointly by the 20 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 21 Agency and the Secretary of Commerce: 22 (i) Institutions of higher education. 23 (ii) The National Academy of 24 Sciences. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jul 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5182.IS S5182kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 5182 IS (2) I NITIAL DESIGNATIONS .—The initial mem-1 bers of the Working Group shall be designated not 2 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 3 this Act. 4 (3) L EAD AGENCIES .—In carrying out the du-5 ties of the Working Group under subsection (c)— 6 (A) the National Institute of Standards 7 and Technology shall lead the Working Group 8 with respect to developing recommendations for 9 recycled plastic content traceability; and 10 (B) the Environmental Protection Agency 11 and the Department of Commerce shall jointly 12 lead the Working Group with respect to all 13 other duties described in that subsection. 14 (c) D UTIES.—The Working Group, in coordination 15 with States, local governments, Indian Tribes, nonprofit 16 organizations, material recovery facilities, plastic reclaim-17 ers using recycled content, and academic institutions, 18 shall, using the National Recycling Strategy of the Envi-19 ronmental Protection Agency as a guide— 20 (1) develop recommendations to increase the 21 use of post-consumer resin and, in developing those 22 recommendations, consider— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jul 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5182.IS S5182kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 5182 IS (A) the necessary capacity of and improve-1 ments to domestic markets for the use of recy-2 cled plastics generated in the United States; 3 (B) economic benefits of using post-con-4 sumer resin in recycling; and 5 (C) ways to monitor and measure the pres-6 ence of toxic chemicals in post-consumer resin 7 content; and 8 (2) develop recommendations to improve the 9 measurement, traceability, and reporting of recycled 10 plastic content in applicable sectors of the economy, 11 including the packaging, construction, infrastruc-12 ture, and automotive sectors and, in developing 13 those recommendations— 14 (A) develop and establish standardized 15 measurements for data collection relating to re-16 cycled plastics, which shall, to the extent prac-17 ticable, be consistent with international stand-18 ards, such as the Australia National Frame-19 work for Recycled Content Traceability and 20 standards used in North America and by other 21 trading partners; 22 (B) describe a Federal recycled plastic con-23 tent tracking system for the purpose of assist-24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jul 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5182.IS S5182kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 5182 IS ing in harmonizing State recycled plastic con-1 tent requirements; 2 (C) consider ways to improve trade data 3 clarity related to recycled plastic content 4 traceability, including reevaluating plastic trade 5 codes for recycled content; and 6 (D) consider ways to improve traceability 7 of plastic marine debris. 8 (d) R EPORT.—The Working Group shall submit to 9 Congress and make publicly available annual reports de-10 scribing the activities of the Working Group during the 11 previous year, including— 12 (1) a summary of any recommendations devel-13 oped or updated under subsection (c); and 14 (2) a summary of any issues for which rec-15 ommendations are being considered for development 16 or updating under subsection (c). 17 (e) TERMINATION.—The Working Group shall termi-18 nate when the Working Group has fulfilled all duties of 19 the Working Group under this Act, which shall be not 20 later than the date that is 10 years after the date on which 21 the Working Group is established. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Jul 31, 2026 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S5182.IS S5182kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB