I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2159 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

establish a consumer recycling education and outreach grant program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2021 

Mr. PHILLIPS (for himself and Mr. JOYCE of Ohio) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a consumer recycling education 

and outreach grant program, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling Enhance5 ments to Collection and Yield through Consumer Learning 

6 and Education Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RECYCLE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATOR. 

8 In this Act, the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad9 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONSUMER RECYCLING EDUCATION AND OUT2 REACH GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

4 a program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘grant pro5 gram’’) to award competitive grants to eligible entities to 

6 improve the effectiveness of residential and community re7 cycling programs through public education and outreach. 

8 (b) CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall award 

9 grants under the grant program for projects that, by using 

10 one or more eligible activities described in subsection (e)— 

11 (1) inform the public about residential or com12 munity recycling programs; 

13 (2) provide information about the recycled ma14 terials that are accepted as part of a residential or 

15 community recycling program that provides for the 

16 separate collection of residential solid waste from re17 cycled material; and 

18 (3) increase collection rates and decrease con19 tamination in residential and community recycling 

20 programs. 

21 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An entity that is eligible to 

23 receive a grant under the grant program is— 

24 (A) a State; 

25 (B) a unit of local government; 

26 (C) a Tribal government; 


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1 (D) a nonprofit organization; or 

2 (E) a public-private partnership. 

3 (2) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—Two or 

4 more entities described in paragraph (1) may receive 

5 a grant under the grant program to coordinate the 

6 provision of information to residents that may access 

7 two or more residential recycling programs, includ8 ing programs that accept different recycled mate9 rials, to provide to the residents information regard10 ing differences among those residential recycling 

11 programs. 

12 (d) REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under the 

14 grant program, an eligible entity shall demonstrate 

15 to the Administrator that the grant funds will be 

16 used to encourage the collection of recycled materials 

17 that are sold to an existing or developing market. 

18 (2) BUSINESS PLANS AND FINANCIAL DATA.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may 

20 make a demonstration under paragraph (1) 

21 through the submission to the Administrator of 

22 appropriate business plans and financial data. 

23 (B) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Adminis24 trator shall treat any business plans or financial 


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1 data received under subparagraph (A) as con2 fidential information. 

3 (e) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity that re4 ceives a grant under the grant program may use the grant 

5 funds for activities including— 

6 (1) public service announcements; 

7 (2) a door-to-door education and outreach cam8 paign; 

9 (3) social media and digital outreach; 

10 (4) an advertising campaign on recycling aware11 ness; 

12 (5) the development and dissemination of— 

13 (A) a toolkit for a municipal and commer14 cial recycling program; 

15 (B) information on the importance of qual16 ity in the recycling stream; 

17 (C) information on the economic and envi18 ronmental benefits of recycling; and 

19 (D) information on what happens to mate20 rials after the materials are placed into a resi21 dential or community recycling program; 

22 (6) businesses recycling outreach; 

23 (7) bin, cart, and other receptacle labeling and 

24 signs; and 


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1 (8) such other activities that the Administrator 

2 determines are appropriate to carry out the purposes 

3 of this section. 

4 (f) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.—No funds may 

5 be awarded under the grant program for a residential re6 cycling program that— 

7 (1) does not provide for the separate collection 

8 of residential solid waste (as defined in section 

9 246.101 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

10 in effect on the date of enactment of this Act)) from 

11 recycled material (as defined in that section), unless 

12 the funds are used to promote a transition to a sys13 tem that separately collects recycled materials; or 

14 (2) promotes the establishment of, or conver15 sion to, a residential collection system that does not 

16 provide for the separate collection of residential solid 

17 waste from recycled material (as those terms are de18 fined under paragraph (1)). 

19 (g) MODEL RECYCLING PROGRAM TOOLKIT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the grant 

21 program, the Administrator, in consultation with 

22 other relevant Federal agencies, States, Indian 

23 Tribes, units of local government, nonprofit organi24 zations, and the private sector, shall develop a model 

25 recycling program toolkit for States, Indian Tribes, 


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1 and units of local government that includes, at a 

2 minimum— 

3 (A) a standardized set of terms and exam4 ples that may be used to describe materials that 

5 are accepted by a residential recycling program; 

6 (B) information that the Administrator de7 termines can be widely applied across residen8 tial recycling programs, taking into consider9 ation the differences in recycled materials ac10 cepted by residential recycling programs; 

11 (C) educational principles on best practices 

12 for the collection and processing of recycled ma13 terials; 

14 (D) a community self-assessment guide to 

15 identify gaps in existing recycling programs; 

16 (E) training modules that enable States 

17 and nonprofit organizations to provide technical 

18 assistance to units of local government; 

19 (F) access to consumer educational mate20 rials that States, Indian Tribes, and units of 

21 local government can adapt and use in recycling 

22 programs; and 

23 (G) a guide to measure the effectiveness of 

24 a grant received under the grant program, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:28 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2159.IH H2159

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1 cluding standardized measurements for recy2 cling rates and decreases in contamination. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the stand4 ardized set of terms and examples under paragraph 

5 (1)(A), the Administrator may not establish any re6 quirements for— 

7 (A) what materials shall be accepted by a 

8 residential recycling program; or 

9 (B) the labeling of products. 

10 (h) SCHOOL CURRICULUM.—The Administrator shall 

11 provide assistance to the educational community, includ12 ing nonprofit organizations, such as an organization the 

13 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics pro14 gram of which incorporates recycling, to promote the in15 troduction of recycling principles and best practices into 

16 public school curricula. 

17 (i) REPORTS.— 

18 (1) TO THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Not earlier than 

19 180 days, and not later than 2 years, after the date 

20 on which a grant under the grant program is award21 ed to an eligible entity, the eligible entity shall sub22 mit to the Administrator a report describing, by 

23 using the guide developed under subsection 

24 (g)(1)(G)— 


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1 (A) the change in volume of recycled mate2 rial collected through the activities funded with 

3 the grant; 

4 (B) the change in participation rate of the 

5 recycling program funded with the grant; 

6 (C) the reduction of contamination in the 

7 recycling stream as a result of the activities 

8 funded with the grant; and 

9 (D) such other information as the Admin10 istrator determines to be appropriate. 

11 (2) TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall 

12 submit to Congress an annual report describing— 

13 (A) the effectiveness of residential recy14 cling programs awarded funds under the grant 

15 program, including statistics comparing the 

16 quantity and quality of recycled materials col17 lected by those programs, as described in the 

18 reports submitted to the Administrator under 

19 paragraph (1); and 

20 (B) recommendations on additional actions 

21 to improve residential recycling. 

22 SEC. 4. FEDERAL PROCUREMENT. 

23 Section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 6962) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (e), in the matter preceding 

2 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and from time to time, 

3 revise’’ and inserting ‘‘review not less frequently 

4 than once every 5 years, and, if appropriate, revise, 

5 in consultation with recyclers and manufacturers of 

6 products containing recycled content, not later than 

7 2 years after the completion of the initial review 

8 after the date of enactment of the Recycling En9 hancements to Collection and Yield through Con10 sumer Learning and Education Act of 2021 and 

11 thereafter, as appropriate’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(j) CONSULTATION AND PROVISION OF INFORMA14 TION BY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Administrator shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) consult with each procuring agency, in16 cluding contractors of the procuring agency, to clar17 ify the responsibilities of the procuring agency under 

18 this section; and 

19 ‘‘(2) provide to each procuring agency informa20 tion on the requirements under this section and the 

21 responsibilities of the procuring agency under this 

22 section. 

23 ‘‘(k) REPORTS.—The Administrator, in consultation 

24 with the Administrator of General Services, shall submit 

25 to Congress an annual report describing— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the quantity of federally procured recycled 

2 products listed in the guidelines under subsection 

3 (e); and 

4 ‘‘(2) with respect to the products described in 

5 paragraph (1), the percentage of recycled material in 

6 each product.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro9 priated to the Administrator to carry out this Act and the 

10 amendments made by this Act $15,000,000 for each of 

11 fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

12 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Of the amount made available 

13 under subsection (a) for a fiscal year, not less than 10 

14 percent shall be allocated to low-income communities (as 

15 defined in section 45D(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 

16 of 1986). 

Æ 


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