I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7228 

To provide for a coordinated Federal program to accelerate plastics waste 

reduction and support recycling research and development for the economic and national security of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 15, 2020 

Ms. STEVENS (for herself, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, 

Mr. LUCAS, and Mr. ROONEY of Florida) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for a coordinated Federal program to accelerate 

plastics waste reduction and support recycling research 

and development for the economic and national security 

of the United States, 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 ‘‘Plastic Waste Reduc5 tion and Recycling Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) It is estimated that global production of 

2 plastic has increased from 2,000,000 tons of plastic 

3 per year in 1950 to 400,000,000 tons per year 

4 today, and of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic 

5 ever produced globally, 6.3 billion metric tons has 

6 become plastic waste. 

7 (2) The United States has failed to invest in 

8 the development of domestic recycling markets, tech9 nology and materials to make the recycling process 

10 more available and efficient, and as a result, the 

11 United States recycles only 9 percent of its plastic 

12 waste. 

13 (3) For more than 2 decades, the United States 

14 and other developed nations sold and exported 

15 106,000,000 metric tons of recyclable plastics to 

16 China, but in 2018 China issued a ban on contami17 nated United States plastics. 

18 (4) Following the 2018 China ban, more and 

19 more United States communities are sending recy20 clable items to landfills or incinerators. 

21 (5) As recycling programs have moved toward 

22 single-stream curbside recycling, more recyclable 

23 items are mixed with non-recyclable items, resulting 

24 in fewer potentially recyclable items actually being 

25 recycled and turned into new, valuable products. 


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1 (6) The resin identification coding system in 

2 use today has not been substantially updated since 

3 its creation in 1988. 

4 (7) Characterizing the type and recyclability of 

5 different types of plastics in use today requires up6 dated standards. 

7 (8) Separating and processing the many dif8 ferent types of plastics as well as the heterogenous 

9 materials containing multiple layers of different 

10 plastic types commonly in use today will require new 

11 sorting and recycling technologies. 

12 (9) There are currently limited private or public 

13 investments in advanced recycling technologies and 

14 other technologies to reduce the amount and impact 

15 of plastic waste. 

16 (10) The Federal Government can play an im17 portant role in supporting research and development 

18 and facilitating standards, tools, and technologies 

19 needed across the different stages of the plastics 

20 production and recycling ecosystem. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

24 means the Interagency Committee established or 

25 designated under section 5. 


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1 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

2 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

3 Policy. 

4 (3) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—The term 

5 ‘‘participating agencies’’ means the agencies under 

6 section 5(c). 

7 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

8 the Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Program 

9 established under section 4. 

10 (5) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘marine de11 bris’’ has the meaning provided in the Marine De12 bris Act (33 U.S.C. 1956). 

13 SEC. 4. PLASTIC WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING PRO14 GRAM. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSES.—The Director, 

16 acting through the Committee and each of the partici17 pating agencies, shall establish and implement a program 

18 to be known as the ‘‘Plastic Waste Reduction and Recy19 cling Program’’. The purposes of the Program shall be 

20 to— 

21 (1) improve the global competitiveness of the 

22 United States plastics recycling industry; 

23 (2) ensure United States leadership in plastic 

24 waste reduction and recycling research and innova25 tion; 


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1 (3) support United States leadership in the de2 velopment of national and international standards 

3 for advanced plastics and plastic recycling; 

4 (4) mitigate any harmful effects of plastic waste 

5 on the environment. 

6 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the Pro7 gram, the Director, acting through the Committee and 

8 each of the participating agencies, shall carry out activities 

9 that include the following: 

10 (1) Supporting research, development, and dem11 onstration of advanced plastics technologies opti12 mized for recyclability, plastics recycling tech13 nologies, bio-based plastics, biodegradable plastics, 

14 remediation, including bioremediation of plastic 

15 waste, recyclability and remediation of plastic-based 

16 textiles, and environmental impacts of plastic waste. 

17 (2) Supporting and facilitating public-private 

18 partnerships to leverage knowledge and resources to 

19 accelerate research, development, and demonstration 

20 in advanced plastics, plastics recycling, plastic waste 

21 remediation and other areas consistent with the pur22 poses of this Act. 

23 (3) Interagency planning and coordination of 

24 Federal research and development of plastic waste 


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1 reduction and recycling technologies and plastic 

2 waste remediation. 

3 (4) Promoting research collaboration with inter4 national partners, as appropriate. 

5 SEC. 5. COORDINATION BY INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE. 

6 (a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, 

8 acting through the National Science and Technology 

9 Council, shall establish or designate an Interagency Com10 mittee to coordinate Federal programs and activities in 

11 support of plastic waste reduction and recycling and plas12 tic waste remediation research and development under the 

13 Program. 

14 (b) CO-CHAIRS.—The Committee shall be co-chaired 

15 by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

16 Policy or designee and a representative from an agency 

17 participating in the Committee, as selected by the Director 

18 of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

19 (c) AGENCY PARTICIPATION.—The Committee shall 

20 include representatives from— 

21 (1) the National Institute of Standards and 

22 Technology; 

23 (2) the National Science Foundation; 

24 (3) the Department of Energy; 

25 (4) the Environmental Protection Agency; 


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1 (5) the Department of Transportation; 

2 (6) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad3 ministration; 

4 (7) the Department of Agriculture; and 

5 (8) any other Federal agency as considered ap6 propriate by the Director of the Office of Science 

7 and Technology Policy. 

8 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee shall— 

9 (1) provide for interagency coordination of Fed10 eral plastics reduction and recycling and plastic 

11 waste remediation research, development, and dem12 onstration, standards development, and education 

13 and training activities and programs of Federal de14 partments and agencies undertaken pursuant to the 

15 Program; 

16 (2) develop definitions for the following terms 

17 to guide the activities of the Program— 

18 (A) recycle; 

19 (B) recyclability; 

20 (C) remediation; 

21 (D) advanced recycling; 

22 (E) advanced plastics; 

23 (F) biobased plastics; 

24 (G) biodegradable plastics; 

25 (H) microplastic; 


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1 (I) nanoplastic; and 

2 (J) pyroplastic; 

3 (3) develop and update every 3 years a strategic 

4 plan, to be made publicly available, for plastic waste 

5 reduction and recycling and plastic waste remedi6 ation that— 

7 (A) establishes goals, priorities, and 

8 metrics for guiding and evaluating the activities 

9 of the Program; and 

10 (B) describes— 

11 (i) how the Program will determine 

12 and prioritize areas of plastic waste reduc13 tion and recycling and plastic waste reme14 diation for Federal research investments; 

15 (ii) the Program’s support for long16 term funding for interdisciplinary plastic 

17 waste reduction and recycling research, de18 velopment, demonstration, standards devel19 opment, education, and public outreach ac20 tivities; 

21 (iii) how Federal agencies partici22 pating in the Program will collaborate with 

23 industry and with local governments, as 

24 appropriate; and 


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1 (iv) how the program will help move 

2 the results of research out of the labora3 tory and into commercial or municipal ap4 plication; and 

5 (C) with respect to the previous 3 years, 

6 provides a summary of— 

7 (i) federally funded plastic waste re8 duction and recycling and plastic waste re9 mediation research, development, and dem10 onstration; 

11 (ii) the adoption of advanced plastics 

12 reduction and recycling technologies by 

13 Federal, State, and local governments and 

14 private entities; and 

15 (iii) other related activities for the 

16 previous 3 years; and 

17 (4) consider input from universities, State and 

18 local governments, scientific societies, and public, 

19 private and nonprofit plastic recycling manufactur20 ers and organizations in the development of the 

21 goals, priorities and metrics required under para22 graph (3)(A). 

23 (e) TERMINATION.—The Interagency Committee 

24 shall terminate 10 years after the date on which the Com25 mittee is established under subsection (a). 


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1 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH2 NOLOGY. 

3 As part of the Program, the Director of National In4 stitute of Standards and Technology shall— 

5 (1) establish a science program for character6 ization of plastic properties before, during, and after 

7 recycling and manufacturing, development of classi8 fication systems, and creation of new data tools, 

9 techniques, and processes to advance plastics engi10 neering and post-consumer plastic recycling and 

11 manufacturing; 

12 (2) develop innovations for effective and effi13 cient measures for processing plastics, including 

14 films and textiles, collected for recycling, while con15 sidering existing waste streams and future new ma16 terials; 

17 (3) provide the metrology basis for standards 

18 development for plastic sorting infrastructure, proc19 essing technologies, classification systems, including 

20 for biobased plastics, and recycling by design; 

21 (4) develop a clearinghouse to collect and sup22 port dissemination of tools, guidelines and standards 

23 developed under this section; 

24 (5) consult with appropriate stakeholder groups 

25 to promote adoption and implementation of such 

26 guidelines and standards, including diverse manufacVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7228.IH H7228

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1 turing and industry groups, such as packaging, in2 cluding food packaging, agriculture, transportation, 

3 textile and fashion; 

4 (6) support plastics recycling research collabo5 ration and coordinate standards development, as ap6 propriate, with other agencies, State and local gov7 ernments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private 

8 sector, and international partners; and 

9 (7) establish a program for measurements, 

10 methods and standards to assess the environmental 

11 impacts of plastics waste, including marine debris, 

12 and plastic particles and fibers. 

13 SEC. 7. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. 

14 As part of the Program, the National Science Foun15 dation shall— 

16 (1) support multidisciplinary basic research on 

17 advanced plastics that are designed for recyclability 

18 or biodegradation, on plastic waste remediation, on 

19 advanced recycling technologies for different plastics, 

20 and on composting and compostable plastics, and on 

21 plastic waste valorization; 

22 (2) support multidisciplinary research on the 

23 environmental and biological effects of plastic waste, 

24 and particularly the formation, transport and bioVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7228.IH H7228

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1 accumulation of nano- and micro-plastics relevant to 

2 plastics recycling and plastic waste remediation; 

3 (3) support, as appropriate, development of 

4 interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate cur5 riculum and instructional materials relevant to plas6 tics recycling and plastic waste remediation; 

7 (4) support research experiences for under8 graduate students relevant to plastics recycling and 

9 plastic waste remediation; and 

10 (5) support plastics recycling research collabo11 rations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State 

12 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca13 demia, private sector, and international partners. 

14 SEC. 8. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. 

15 As part of the Program, the Secretary of Energy 

16 shall— 

17 (1) support integrated research, development, 

18 demonstration, and commercial application for— 

19 (A) chemical and bio-inspired plastic recy20 cling, including research on the potential envi21 ronmental impact of chemical recycling tech22 nologies; 

23 (B) advanced plastic synthesis; 

24 (C) plastic waste remediation; 

25 (D) recyclability-by-design; 


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1 (E) systems-level strategies for improved 

2 plastics separation and recovery; and 

3 (F) upcycling of recycled plastics into new 

4 high-value plastics, including for food-grade 

5 packaging and advanced manufacturing applica6 tions; 

7 (2) coordinate research efforts funded through 

8 existing programs across the Department of Energy, 

9 including the National Laboratories and relevant 

10 Manufacturing USA Institutes under section 34 of 

11 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

12 Act (15 U.S.C. 278s); and 

13 (3) support plastics recycling research collabo14 rations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State 

15 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca16 demia, private sector, and international partners. 

17 SEC. 9. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. 

18 As part of the Program, the Administrator of the En19 vironmental Protection Agency shall— 

20 (1) conduct and support research development 

21 and demonstration of innovative plastic waste man22 agement solutions, including reduction, reuse, recy23 cling, recovery, composting infrastructure for bio24 based plastics, and prevention of plastics, including 


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1 microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics, from 

2 entering the air, soil, oceans, and waterways; 

3 (2) support and conduct research and analysis 

4 on the public health impacts of airborne and water5 borne microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics, 

6 including research on routes of exposure, estimates 

7 of exposure in different populations, and toxicity as8 sessments on animal and aquatic health, including 

9 the food chain; and 

10 (3) support plastics recycling research collabo11 rations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State 

12 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca13 demia, private sector, and international partners. 

14 SEC. 10. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS15 TRATION. 

16 As part of the Program, the Administrator of the Na17 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall— 

18 (1) conduct and support research, data collec19 tion, and analysis of plastic marine debris and ocean 

20 plastic pollution generation and sources, including 

21 microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics; 

22 (2) support research and analysis on the health 

23 impacts of oceanic microplastics on marine animal 

24 health, including the food chain; and 


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1 (3) support ocean plastic research collabora2 tions, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and 

3 local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca4 demia, private sector, and international partners. 

5 SEC. 11. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

6 Not later than 2 years after the strategic plan re7 quired by section 5(d)(3) is first issued, the Comptroller 

8 General shall submit a report to Congress that assesses 

9 the implementation of the strategic plan by the Committee 

10 and participating agencies. 

11 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATIONS. 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 activities under this Act— 

14 (1) to the National Institute of Standards and 

15 Technology— 

16 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

17 (B) $10,650,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

18 (C) $11,342,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

19 (D) $12,079,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

20 (E) $12,865,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

21 (2) to the National Science Foundation— 

22 (A) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

23 (B) $31,950,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

24 (C) $34,027,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

25 (D) $36,328,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 


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1 (E) $38,594,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

2 (3) to the Department of Energy— 

3 (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

4 (B) $26,625,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

5 (C) $28,356,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

6 (D) $30,199,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

7 (E) $32,162,000 for fiscal year 2025; 

8 (4) to the Environmental Protection Agency— 

9 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

10 (B) $10,650,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

11 (C) $11,342,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

12 (D) $12,079,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

13 (E) $12,865,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

14 (5) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

15 Administration— 

16 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; 

17 (B) $10,650,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

18 (C) $11,342,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

19 (D) $12,079,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

20 (E) $12,865,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

Æ 


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