II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 923 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. PETERS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. 

YOUNG, Ms. WARREN, and Ms. COLLINS) 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 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 of 

7 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF ADMINISTRATOR. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad3 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

4 SEC. 3. CONSUMER RECYCLING EDUCATION AND OUT5 REACH GRANT PROGRAM. 

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

7 a program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘grant pro8 gram’’) to award competitive grants to eligible entities to 

9 improve the effectiveness of residential and community re10 cycling programs through public education and outreach. 

11 (b) CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall award 

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

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

14 (1) inform the public about residential or com15 munity recycling programs; 

16 (2) provide information about the recycled ma17 terials that are accepted as part of a residential or 

18 community recycling program that provides for the 

19 separate collection of residential solid waste from re20 cycled material; and 

21 (3) increase collection rates and decrease con22 tamination in residential and community recycling 

23 programs. 

24 (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

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

26 receive a grant under the grant program is— 


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1 (A) a State; 

2 (B) a unit of local government; 

3 (C) a Tribal government; 

4 (D) a nonprofit organization; or 

5 (E) a public-private partnership. 

6 (2) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—Two or 

7 more entities described in paragraph (1) may receive 

8 a grant under the grant program to coordinate the 

9 provision of information to residents that may access 

10 two or more residential recycling programs, includ11 ing programs that accept different recycled mate12 rials, to provide to the residents information regard13 ing differences among those residential recycling 

14 programs. 

15 (d) REQUIREMENT.— 

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

17 grant program, an eligible entity shall demonstrate 

18 to the Administrator that the grant funds will be 

19 used to encourage the collection of recycled materials 

20 that are sold to an existing or developing market. 

21 (2) BUSINESS PLANS AND FINANCIAL DATA.— 

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

23 make a demonstration under paragraph (1) 

24 through the submission to the Administrator of 

25 appropriate business plans and financial data. 


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1 (B) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Adminis2 trator shall treat any business plans or financial 

3 data received under subparagraph (A) as con4 fidential information. 

5 (e) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity that re6 ceives a grant under the grant program may use the grant 

7 funds for activities including— 

8 (1) public service announcements; 

9 (2) a door-to-door education and outreach cam10 paign; 

11 (3) social media and digital outreach; 

12 (4) an advertising campaign on recycling aware13 ness; 

14 (5) the development and dissemination of— 

15 (A) a toolkit for a municipal and commer16 cial recycling program; 

17 (B) information on the importance of qual18 ity in the recycling stream; 

19 (C) information on the economic and envi20 ronmental benefits of recycling; and 

21 (D) information on what happens to mate22 rials after the materials are placed into a resi23 dential or community recycling program; 

24 (6) businesses recycling outreach; 


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

2 signs; and 

3 (8) such other activities that the Administrator 

4 determines are appropriate to carry out the purposes 

5 of this section. 

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

7 be awarded under the grant program for a residential re8 cycling program that— 

9 (1) does not provide for the separate collection 

10 of residential solid waste (as defined in section 

11 246.101 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as 

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

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

14 the funds are used to promote a transition to a sys15 tem that separately collects recycled materials; or 

16 (2) promotes the establishment of, or conver17 sion to, a residential collection system that does not 

18 provide for the separate collection of residential solid 

19 waste from recycled material (as those terms are de20 fined under paragraph (1)). 

21 (g) MODEL RECYCLING PROGRAM TOOLKIT.— 

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

23 program, the Administrator, in consultation with 

24 other relevant Federal agencies, States, Indian 

25 Tribes, units of local government, nonprofit organiVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S923.IS S923

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1 zations, and the private sector, shall develop a model 

2 recycling program toolkit for States, Indian Tribes, 

3 and units of local government that includes, at a 

4 minimum— 

5 (A) a standardized set of terms and exam6 ples that may be used to describe materials that 

7 are accepted by a residential recycling program; 

8 (B) information that the Administrator de9 termines can be widely applied across residen10 tial recycling programs, taking into consider11 ation the differences in recycled materials ac12 cepted by residential recycling programs; 

13 (C) educational principles on best practices 

14 for the collection and processing of recycled ma15 terials; 

16 (D) a community self-assessment guide to 

17 identify gaps in existing recycling programs; 

18 (E) training modules that enable States 

19 and nonprofit organizations to provide technical 

20 assistance to units of local government; 

21 (F) access to consumer educational mate22 rials that States, Indian Tribes, and units of 

23 local government can adapt and use in recycling 

24 programs; and 


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1 (G) a guide to measure the effectiveness of 

2 a grant received under the grant program, in3 cluding standardized measurements for recy4 cling rates and decreases in contamination. 

5 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the stand6 ardized set of terms and examples under paragraph 

7 (1)(A), the Administrator may not establish any re8 quirements for— 

9 (A) what materials shall be accepted by a 

10 residential recycling program; or 

11 (B) the labeling of products. 

12 (h) SCHOOL CURRICULUM.—The Administrator shall 

13 provide assistance to the educational community, includ14 ing nonprofit organizations, such as an organization the 

15 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics pro16 gram of which incorporates recycling, to promote the in17 troduction of recycling principles and best practices into 

18 public school curricula. 

19 (i) REPORTS.— 

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

21 180 days, and not later than 2 years, after the date 

22 on which a grant under the grant program is award23 ed to an eligible entity, the eligible entity shall sub24 mit to the Administrator a report describing, by 


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1 using the guide developed under subsection 

2 (g)(1)(G)— 

3 (A) the change in volume of recycled mate4 rial collected through the activities funded with 

5 the grant; 

6 (B) the change in participation rate of the 

7 recycling program funded with the grant; 

8 (C) the reduction of contamination in the 

9 recycling stream as a result of the activities 

10 funded with the grant; and 

11 (D) such other information as the Admin12 istrator determines to be appropriate. 

13 (2) TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator shall 

14 submit to Congress an annual report describing— 

15 (A) the effectiveness of residential recy16 cling programs awarded funds under the grant 

17 program, including statistics comparing the 

18 quantity and quality of recycled materials col19 lected by those programs, as described in the 

20 reports submitted to the Administrator under 

21 paragraph (1); and 

22 (B) recommendations on additional actions 

23 to improve residential recycling. 


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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL PROCUREMENT. 

2 Section 6002 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

3 U.S.C. 6962) is amended— 

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

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

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

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

8 in consultation with recyclers and manufacturers of 

9 products containing recycled content, not later than 

10 2 years after the completion of the initial review 

11 after the date of enactment of the Recycling En12 hancements to Collection and Yield through Con13 sumer Learning and Education Act of 2021 and 

14 thereafter, as appropriate’’; and 

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

16 ‘‘(j) CONSULTATION AND PROVISION OF INFORMA17 TION BY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Administrator shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) consult with each procuring agency, in19 cluding contractors of the procuring agency, to clar20 ify the responsibilities of the procuring agency under 

21 this section; and 

22 ‘‘(2) provide to each procuring agency informa23 tion on the requirements under this section and the 

24 responsibilities of the procuring agency under this 

25 section. 


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

2 with the Administrator of General Services, shall submit 

3 to Congress an annual report describing— 

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

5 products listed in the guidelines under subsection 

6 (e); and 

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

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

9 each product.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro12 priated to the Administrator to carry out this Act and the 

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

14 fiscal years 2022 through 2026. 

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

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

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

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

19 of 1986). 

Æ 


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