I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8297 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and support advanced recycling 

research and development programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself, Mr. LUCAS, and Mr. MARSHALL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish and support 

advanced recycling research and development programs, 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Advanced Recycling Research and Development Act of 

6 2020’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 


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Sec. 3. Optimized plastics recycling research and development program. 

Sec. 4. Lithium-ion battery recycling research and development program. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

4 means the Department of Energy. 

5 (2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na6 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given that term 

7 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

8 U.S.C. 15801). 

9 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Energy. 

11 (4) RECYCLABLE PLASTIC.—The term ‘‘recycla12 ble plastic’’ means plastic that is designed to be 

13 readily, economically, and efficiently recyclable or 

14 otherwise recoverable for beneficial use. 

15 (5) CRITICAL MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘critical 

16 material’’ means material that serves an essential 

17 function in the manufacturing of a product and has 

18 a high risk of a supply disruption, such that a short19 age of such material would have significant con20 sequences for the economic or national security of 

21 the United States. 

22 (6) COMPOSITE.—The term ‘‘composite’’ means 

23 plastic reinforced with fiber or particulate secondary 


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1 material like bio-derived fibers, carbon fibers, glass 

2 or any other solid material. 

3 SEC. 3. OPTIMIZED PLASTICS RECYCLING RESEARCH AND 

4 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

6 research, development, and demonstration program to ac7 celerate innovation in energy-efficient recyclable plastics, 

8 next-generation plastics, and composites recycling and 

9 upcycling strategies and technologies, in order to increase 

10 the economic value of plastics supply streams and to re11 duce the environmental impact of global plastics consump12 tion. 

13 (b) EXECUTION.—In carrying out the program under 

14 this section, the Secretary shall— 

15 (1) develop novel collection and sorting tech16 nologies to prevent plastics and composites, includ17 ing waterborne plastics, from entering landfills and 

18 the marine environment; 

19 (2) develop biological, chemical, and hybrid bio20 chemical technologies and methods for deconstruct21 ing plastic and composite waste, including environ22 mental waste, into useful chemical and material 

23 streams; 


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1 (3) develop technologies to upcycle waste, in2 cluding chemical, material, and gaseous streams, 

3 into higher-value products; 

4 (4) develop new economically recyclable-by-de5 sign plastics and composites that can be scaled for 

6 domestic manufacturability and recovery; 

7 (5) develop new energy-efficient advanced man8 ufacturing techniques for reclaimed plastics and 

9 composites; and 

10 (6) develop new data collection methods and 

11 practices in collaboration with relevant Federal 

12 agencies. 

13 (c) LEVERAGING.—In carrying out the program 

14 under this section, the Secretary shall leverage resources 

15 and expertise from— 

16 (1) the Basic Energy Sciences Program and the 

17 Biological and Environmental Research Program of 

18 the Office of Science; and 

19 (2) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew20 able Energy. 

21 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pe22 riodically review activities carried out under the program 

23 under this section to determine the achievement of tech24 nical milestones as determined by the Secretary. 

25 (e) FUNDING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—From within funds author2 ized to be appropriated— 

3 (A) to the Department’s Office of Science, 

4 there shall be made available to the Secretary 

5 to carry out the program under this section 

6 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

7 through 2025; and 

8 (B) to the Department’s Office of Energy 

9 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, there shall 

10 be made available to the Secretary to carry out 

11 the program under this section $25,000,000 for 

12 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 

13 (2) PROHIBITION.—In carrying out the pro14 gram under this section, the Secretary shall not use 

15 funds made available under paragraph (1) for com16 mercial application of energy technology. 

17 SEC. 4. LITHIUM-ION BATTERY RECYCLING RESEARCH AND 

18 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

20 research, development, and demonstration program to 

21 support the development of— 

22 (1) advanced materials for batteries with con23 siderations given to resource availability and envi24 ronmentally benign disposal and recycling; and 


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1 (2) innovative technologies to reclaim and recy2 cle critical materials from advanced and lithium-ion 

3 based battery technologies used in consumer elec4 tronics, defense, stationary storage, and transpor5 tation applications. 

6 (b) EXECUTION.—In carrying out the program under 

7 this section, the Secretary shall— 

8 (1) promote the discovery of new domestically 

9 sourced raw materials for batteries that can degrade 

10 without causing damage to the environment; 

11 (2) develop innovative and cost-effective tech12 nologies and processes for the collection, storage, 

13 and transportation of discarded lithium-ion batteries 

14 that use domestic mining resources and increase 

15 availability of domestically sourced raw materials for 

16 batteries; and 

17 (3) develop cost-effective recycling processes to 

18 recover critical materials from discarded lithium-ion 

19 batteries and enable their reintroduction in new lith20 ium-ion cell technologies and for use in other rel21 evant industries. 

22 (c) LEVERAGING.—In carrying out the program 

23 under this section, the Secretary shall leverage resources 

24 and expertise from— 


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1 (1) the Basic Energy Sciences Program of the 

2 Office of Science; 

3 (2) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew4 able Energy, including current lithium-ion battery 

5 recycling activities supported by the Vehicle Tech6 nologies Office within the Office of Energy Effi7 ciency and Renewable Energy; and 

8 (3) the Office of Technology Transitions. 

9 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pe10 riodically review activities carried out under the program 

11 under this section to determine the achievement of tech12 nical milestones as determined by the Secretary. 

13 (e) FUNDING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—From within funds author15 ized to be appropriated— 

16 (A) to the Department’s Office of Science, 

17 there shall be made available to the Secretary 

18 to carry out the activities under this section 

19 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

20 through 2025; and 

21 (B) to the Department’s Office of Energy 

22 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, there shall 

23 be made available to the Secretary to carry out 

24 the activities under this section $10,000,000 for 

25 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 


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1 (2) PROHIBITION.—In carrying out the pro2 gram under this section, the Secretary shall not use 

3 funds made available under paragraph (1) for com4 mercial application of energy technology. 

Æ 


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