II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1194 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

carry out certain activities to improve recycling and composting programs 

in the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2023 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out certain activities to improve 

recycling and composting programs in 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 ‘‘Recycling and 

5 Composting Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) CIRCULAR MARKET.—The term ‘‘circular 

5 market’’ means a market that utilizes industrial 

6 processes and economic activities to enable post-in7 dustrial and post-consumer materials used in those 

8 processes and activities to maintain their highest 

9 values for as long as possible. 

10 (3) COMPOST.—The term ‘‘compost’’ means a 

11 product that— 

12 (A) is manufactured through the controlled 

13 aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegrad14 able materials; 

15 (B) has been subjected to medium and 

16 high temperature organisms, which— 

17 (i) significantly reduce the viability of 

18 pathogens and weed seeds; and 

19 (ii) stabilize carbon in the product 

20 such that the product is beneficial to plant 

21 growth; and 

22 (C) is typically used as a soil amendment, 

23 but may also contribute plant nutrients. 


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1 (4) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.—The term 

2 ‘‘compostable material’’ means material that is a 

3 feedstock for creating compost, including— 

4 (A) wood; 

5 (B) agricultural crops; 

6 (C) paper; 

7 (D) certified compostable products associ8 ated with organic waste; 

9 (E) other organic plant material; 

10 (F) marine products; 

11 (G) organic waste, including food waste 

12 and yard waste; and 

13 (H) such other material that is composed 

14 of biomass that can be continually replenished 

15 or renewed, as determined by the Adminis16 trator. 

17 (5) COMPOSTING FACILITY.—The term 

18 ‘‘composting facility’’ means a location, structure, or 

19 device that transforms compostable materials into 

20 compost. 

21 (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

22 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

23 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

24 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

25 (7) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘materials 

2 recovery facility’’ means a dedicated facility 

3 where primarily residential recyclable materials, 

4 which are diverted from disposal by the gener5 ator and collected separately from municipal 

6 solid waste, are mechanically or manually sort7 ed into commodities for further processing into 

8 specification-grade commodities for sale to end 

9 users. 

10 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re11 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 

12 management facility that may process munic13 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 

14 (8) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy15 clable material’’ means a material that is obsolete, 

16 previously used, off-specification, surplus, or inciden17 tally produced for processing into a specification18 grade commodity for which a circular market cur19 rently exists or is being developed. 

20 (9) RECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’ means 

21 the series of activities— 

22 (A) during which recyclable materials are 

23 processed into specification-grade commodities, 

24 and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu 


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1 of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new 

2 products; 

3 (B) that may include sorting, collection, 

4 processing, and brokering; and 

5 (C) that result in subsequent consumption 

6 by a materials manufacturer, including for the 

7 manufacturing of new products. 

8 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean9 ing given the term in section 1004 of the Solid 

10 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 

11 (b) DEFINITION OF PROCESSING.—In paragraphs 

12 (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘processing’’ 

13 means any mechanical, manual, or other method that— 

14 (1) transforms a recyclable material into a spec15 ification-grade commodity; and 

16 (2) may occur in multiple steps, with different 

17 steps, including sorting, occurring at different loca18 tions. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) recycling and composting conserve re22 sources, protect the environment, and are important 

23 to the United States economy; 

24 (2) the United States recycling and composting 

25 infrastructure encompass each of the entities that 


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1 collect, process, broker, and consume recyclable ma2 terials and compostable materials sourced from com3 mercial, industrial, institutional, and residential 

4 sources; 

5 (3) the residential segment of the United States 

6 recycling and composting infrastructure is facing 

7 challenges from— 

8 (A) confusion over what materials are recy9 clable materials or compostable materials; 

10 (B) reduced export markets; 

11 (C) growing, but still limited, domestic end 

12 markets; and 

13 (D) an ever-changing and heterogeneous 

14 supply stream; 

15 (4) in some areas, recycling and composting in16 frastructure is in need of revitalization; and 

17 (5) in an effort to address those challenges, the 

18 United States must use a combination of tactics to 

19 improve recycling and composting in the United 

20 States. 

21 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE CAPA22 BILITIES. 

23 The Administrator, in consultation with States, units 

24 of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall— 


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1 (1) prepare a report, or expand work under the 

2 National Recycling Strategy to include data, describ3 ing the capability of the United States to implement 

4 a national composting strategy for compostable ma5 terials for the purposes of reducing contamination 

6 rates for recycling, including— 

7 (A) an evaluation of existing Federal, 

8 State, and local laws that may present barriers 

9 to implementation of a national composting 

10 strategy; 

11 (B)(i) an evaluation of existing composting 

12 programs of States, units of local government, 

13 and Indian Tribes; and 

14 (ii) a description of best practices based on 

15 those programs; 

16 (C) an evaluation of existing composting 

17 infrastructure in States, units of local govern18 ment, and Indian Tribes for the purposes of es19 timating cost and approximate land needed to 

20 expand composting programs; and 

21 (D) a study of the practices of manufac22 turers and companies that are moving to using 

23 compostable packaging and food service ware 

24 for the purpose of making the composting proc25 ess the end-of-life use of those products; and 


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1 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en2 actment of this Act, submit the report prepared 

3 under paragraph (1) to Congress. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEDERAL AGENCY RECYCLING PRAC5 TICES. 

6 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

7 of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 2033, the 

8 Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation 

9 with the Administrator, shall make publicly available a re10 port describing— 

11 (1) the total annual recycling and composting 

12 rates reported by all Federal agencies; 

13 (2) the total annual percentage of products con14 taining recyclable material, compostable material, or 

15 recovered materials purchased by all Federal agen16 cies, including— 

17 (A) the total quantity of procured products 

18 containing recyclable material or recovered ma19 terials listed in the comprehensive procurement 

20 guidelines published under section 6002(e) of 

21 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

22 6962(e)); and 

23 (B) the total quantity of compostable ma24 terial purchased; 

25 (3) recommendations for updating— 


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1 (A) the comprehensive procurement guide2 lines published under section 6002(e) of the 

3 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e)); 

4 and 

5 (B) the environmentally preferable pur6 chasing program established under section 

7 6604(b)(11) of the Pollution Prevention Act of 

8 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13103(b)(11)); and 

9 (4) the activities of each Federal agency that 

10 promote recycling or composting. 

11 SEC. 6. IMPROVING DATA AND REPORTING. 

12 (a) INVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI13 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

14 of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Administrator, 

15 in consultation with States, units of local government, and 

16 Indian Tribes, shall— 

17 (1) prepare an inventory of public and private 

18 materials recovery facilities in the United States, in19 cluding— 

20 (A) the number of materials recovery fa21 cilities in each unit of local government in each 

22 State; and 

23 (B) a description of the materials that 

24 each materials recovery facility can process, in25 cluding— 


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1 (i) in the case of plastic, a description 

2 of— 

3 (I) the types of accepted resin, if 

4 applicable; and 

5 (II) the packaging or product 

6 format, such as a jug, a carton, or 

7 film; 

8 (ii) food packaging and service ware, 

9 such as a bottle, cutlery, or a cup; 

10 (iii) paper; 

11 (iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 

12 beverage can, food can, aerosol can, or foil; 

13 (v) steel, such as a steel food or aer14 osol can; 

15 (vi) other scrap metal; 

16 (vii) glass; or 

17 (viii) any other material not described 

18 in any of clauses (i) through (vii) that a 

19 materials recovery facility can process; and 

20 (2) submit the inventory prepared under para21 graph (1) to Congress. 

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE BASE23 LINE OF DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES RECYCLING

24 SYSTEM.—The Administrator, in consultation with States, 


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1 units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall deter2 mine, with respect to the United States— 

3 (1) the number of community curbside recycling 

4 and composting programs; 

5 (2) the number of community drop-off recycling 

6 and composting programs; 

7 (3) the types and forms of materials accepted 

8 by each community curbside recycling, drop-off recy9 cling, or composting program; 

10 (4) the number of individuals with access to re11 cycling and composting services to at least the ex12 tent of access to disposal services; 

13 (5) the number of individuals with barriers to 

14 accessing recycling and composting services to at 

15 least the extent of access to disposal services; 

16 (6) the inbound contamination and capture 

17 rates of community curbside recycling, drop-off recy18 cling, or composting programs; 

19 (7) where applicable, other available recycling 

20 or composting programs within a community, includ21 ing store drop-offs; and 

22 (8) the average costs and benefits to States, 

23 units of local government, and Indian Tribes of recy24 cling and composting programs. 


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1 (c) STANDARDIZATION OF RECYCLING REPORTING

2 RATES.— 

3 (1) COLLECTION OF RATES.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

5 use amounts made available under section 9 to 

6 biannually collect from each State the nation7 ally standardized rate of recyclable materials in 

8 that State that have been successfully diverted 

9 from the waste stream and brought to a mate10 rials recovery facility or composting facility. 

11 (B) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY

12 BUSINESS INFORMATION.—Information col13 lected under subparagraph (A) shall not include 

14 any confidential or proprietary business infor15 mation, as determined by the Administrator. 

16 (2) USE.—Using amounts made available under 

17 section 9, the Administrator may use the rates col18 lected under paragraph (1) to further assist States, 

19 units of local government, and Indian Tribes— 

20 (A) to reduce the overall waste produced 

21 by the States and units of local government; 

22 and 

23 (B) to increase recycling and composting 

24 rates. 

25 (d) REPORT ON END MARKETS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con2 sultation with States, units of local government, and 

3 Indian Tribes, shall— 

4 (A) provide an update to the report sub5 mitted under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 

6 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) 

7 to include an addendum on the end-market sale 

8 of all recyclable materials, in addition to recy9 cled plastics as described in that section, from 

10 materials recovery facilities that process recy11 clable materials collected from households and 

12 publicly available recyclable materials drop-off 

13 centers, including— 

14 (i) the total, in dollars per ton, domes15 tic sales of bales of recyclable materials; 

16 and 

17 (ii) the total, in dollars per ton, inter18 national sales of bales of recyclable mate19 rials; 

20 (B) prepare a report on the end-market 

21 sale of compost from all compostable materials 

22 collected from households and publicly available 

23 compost drop-off centers, including the total, in 

24 dollars per ton, of domestic sales of 

25 compostable materials; and 


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1 (C) not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress 

3 the update to the report prepared under sub4 paragraph (A) and the report prepared under 

5 subparagraph (B). 

6 (2) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSINESS

7 INFORMATION.—Information collected under sub8 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall not 

9 include any confidential or proprietary business in10 formation, as determined by the Administrator. 

11 SEC. 7. STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MATE12 RIALS FROM A CIRCULAR MARKET. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall de15 velop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable 

16 materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that 

17 are being diverted from a circular market. 

18 (b) STUDY; REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

19 development of a metric under subsection (a), the Admin20 istrator shall conduct a study of, and submit to Congress 

21 a report on, the proportion of recyclable materials in com22 mercial and municipal waste streams that, during each of 

23 the 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission 

24 of the report, were diverted from a circular market. 


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1 (c) DATA.—The report under subsection (b) shall 

2 provide data on specific recyclable materials, including 

3 aluminum, plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and 

4 glass, that were prevented from remaining in a circular 

5 market through disposal or elimination, and to what use 

6 those specific recyclable materials were lost. 

7 (d) EVALUATION.—The report under subsection (b) 

8 shall include an evaluation of whether the establishment 

9 or improvement of recycling programs would— 

10 (1) improve recycling rates; or 

11 (2) reduce the quantity of recyclable materials 

12 being unutilized in a circular market. 

13 SEC. 8. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES. 

14 The Administrator shall— 

15 (1) in consultation with States, units of local 

16 government, and Indian Tribes, develop, based on 

17 the results of the studies, reports, inventory, and 

18 data determined under sections 4 through 7, and 

19 provide to States, units of local government, and In20 dian Tribes, through the Model Recycling Program 

21 Toolkit or a similar resource, best practices that the 

22 States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes 

23 may use to enhance recycling and composting, in24 cluding— 


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1 (A) labeling techniques for containers of 

2 waste, compostable materials, and recycling, 

3 with the goal of creating consistent, readily 

4 available, and understandable labeling across 

5 jurisdictions; 

6 (B) pamphlets or other literature readily 

7 available to constituents; 

8 (C) primary and secondary school edu9 cational resources on recycling; 

10 (D) web and media-based campaigns; and 

11 (E) guidance for the labeling of recyclable 

12 materials and compostable materials that mini13 mizes contamination and diversion of those ma14 terials from waste streams toward recycling and 

15 composting systems; and 

16 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en17 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report de18 scribing the best practices developed under para19 graph (1). 

20 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad22 ministrator such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

23 Act for each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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