II 

Calendar No. 358 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3743 

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 

MARCH 3, 2022 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. KING, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

APRIL 28, 2022 

Reported by Mr. CARPER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling and 

3 Composting Accountability Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ8 mental Protection Agency. 

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

10 market’’ means a market that utilizes industrial 

11 processes and economic activities to enable post-in12 dustrial and post-consumer materials used in those 

13 processes and activities to maintain their highest 

14 values for as long as possible. 

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

16 product that— 

17 (A) is manufactured through the controlled 

18 aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegrad19 able materials; 

20 (B) has been subjected to medium and 

21 high temperature organisms, which— 

22 (i) significantly reduce the viability of 

23 pathogens and weed seeds; and 

24 (ii) stabilize carbon in the product 

25 such that the product is beneficial to plant 

26 growth; and 


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

2 but may also contribute plant nutrients. 

3 (4) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.—The term 

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

5 feedstock for creating compost, including— 

6 (A) wood; 

7 (B) agricultural crops; 

8 (C) paper; 

9 (D) certified compostable products associ10 ated with organic waste; 

11 (E) other organic plant material; 

12 (F) marine products; 

13 (G) organic waste, including food waste 

14 and yard waste; and 

15 (H) such other material that is composed 

16 of biomass that can be continually replenished 

17 or renewed, as determined by the Adminis18 trator. 

19 (5) COMPOSTING FACILITY.—The term 

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

21 device that transforms compostable materials into 

22 compost. 

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

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


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

3 (7) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 

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

5 recovery facility’’ means a dedicated recycling 

6 facility where primarily residential recyclables, 

7 which are diverted from disposal by the gener8 ator and collected separately from municipal 

9 solid waste, are mechanically or manually sort10 ed into commodities for further processing into 

11 specification-grade commodities for sale to end 

12 users. 

13 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re14 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 

15 management facility that may process munic16 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 

17 (8) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy18 clable material’’ means a material that is obsolete, 

19 previously used, off-specification, surplus, or inciden20 tally produced for processing into a specification21 grade commodity for which a circular market cur22 rently exists or is being developed. 

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

24 the series of activities— 


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1 (A) during which recyclable materials are 

2 processed into specification-grade commodities, 

3 and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu 

4 of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new 

5 products; 

6 (B) that may include sorting, collection, 

7 processing, and brokering; and 

8 (C) that result in subsequent consumption 

9 by a materials manufacturer, including for the 

10 manufacturing of new products. 

11 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean12 ing given the term in section 1004 of the Solid 

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

14 (b) DEFINITION OF PROCESSING.—In paragraphs 

15 (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘processing’’ 

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

17 (1) transforms a recyclable material into a spec18 ification-grade commodity; and 

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

20 steps, including sorting, occurring at different loca21 tions. 

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

23 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) recycling conserves resources, protects the 

2 environment, and is important to the United States 

3 economy; 

4 (2) the United States recycling infrastructure 

5 encompasses each of the entities that collect, proc6 ess, broker, and consume recyclable materials 

7 sourced from commercial, industrial, and residential 

8 sources; 

9 (3) the residential segment of the United States 

10 recycling infrastructure is facing challenges from— 

11 (A) confusion over what materials are recy12 clable materials; 

13 (B) reduced export markets; 

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

15 markets; 

16 (D) an ever-changing and heterogeneous 

17 supply stream; and 

18 (E) in some areas, a recycling infrastruc19 ture in need of revitalization; and 

20 (4) in an effort to address those challenges, the 

21 United States must use a combination of tactics to 

22 improve recycling and composting in the United 

23 States. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE CAPA2 BILITIES. 

3 The Administrator, in consultation with States, units 

4 of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall— 

5 (1) prepare a report describing the capability of 

6 the United States to implement a national residen7 tial composting strategy for compostable materials 

8 for the purposes of reducing contamination rates for 

9 residential recycling, including— 

10 (A) an evaluation of existing Federal, 

11 State, and local laws that may present barriers 

12 to implementation of a national residential 

13 composting strategy; 

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

15 programs of States, units of local government, 

16 and Indian Tribes; and 

17 (ii) a description of best practices based on 

18 those programs; 

19 (C) an evaluation of existing composting 

20 infrastructure in States, units of local govern21 ment, and Indian Tribes for the purposes of es22 timating cost and approximate land needed to 

23 expand composting programs; and 

24 (D) a study of the practices of manufac25 turers and companies that are moving to using 

26 compostable packaging and food service ware 


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1 for the purpose of making the composting proc2 ess the end-of-life use of those products; and 

3 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en4 actment of this Act, submit the report prepared 

5 under paragraph (1) to Congress. 

6 SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEDERAL AGENCY RECYCLING PRAC7 TICES. 

8 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller Gen10 eral of the United States, in consultation with the Admin11 istrator, shall make publicly available a report describ12 ing— 

13 (1) the total annual recycling and composting 

14 rates reported by all Federal agencies; 

15 (2) the total annual percentage of products con16 taining recyclable material, compostable material, or 

17 recovered materials purchased by all Federal agen18 cies, including— 

19 (A) the total quantity of procured products 

20 containing recyclable material or recovered ma21 terials listed in the comprehensive procurement 

22 guidelines published under section 6002(e) of 

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

24 6962(e)); and 


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1 (B) the total quantity of compostable ma2 terial purchased; 

3 (3) recommendations for updating— 

4 (A) the comprehensive procurement guide5 lines published under section 6002(e) of the 

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

7 and 

8 (B) the environmentally preferable pur9 chasing program established under section 

10 6604(b)(11) of the Pollution Prevention Act of 

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

12 (4) the activities of each Federal agency that 

13 promote recycling or composting. 

14 SEC. 6. IMPROVING DATA AND REPORTING. 

15 (a) INVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI16 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

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

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

19 Indian Tribes, shall— 

20 (1) prepare an inventory of public and private 

21 materials recovery facilities in the United States, in22 cluding— 

23 (A) the number of materials recovery fa24 cilities in each unit of local government in each 

25 State; and 


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1 (B) a description of the materials that 

2 each materials recovery facility can process, in3 cluding— 

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

5 of— 

6 (I) the types of accepted resin, if 

7 applicable; and 

8 (II) the container type, such as a 

9 jug, a carton, or film; 

10 (ii) food packaging and service ware, 

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

12 (iii) paper; 

13 (iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 

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

15 (v) steel, such as a steel food or aer16 osol can; 

17 (vi) other scrap metal; 

18 (vii) glass; or 

19 (viii) any other material not described 

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

21 materials recovery facility can process; and 

22 (2) submit the inventory prepared under para23 graph (1) to Congress. 

24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE BASE25 LINE OF DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES RECYCLING


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

2 units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall deter3 mine, with respect to the United States— 

4 (1) the number of community curbside recycling 

5 and composting programs; 

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

7 and composting programs; 

8 (3) the types and forms of materials accepted 

9 by each community curbside recycling, drop-off recy10 cling, or composting program; 

11 (4) the number of individuals with access to re12 cycling and composting services to at least the ex13 tent of access to disposal services; 

14 (5) the number of individuals with barriers to 

15 accessing recycling and composting services to at 

16 least the extent of access to disposal services; 

17 (6) the inbound contamination and capture 

18 rates of community curbside recycling, drop-off recy19 cling, or composting programs; and 

20 (7) where applicable, other available recycling 

21 or composting programs within a community, includ22 ing store drop-offs. 

23 (c) STANDARDIZATION OF RECYCLING REPORTING

24 RATES.— 

25 (1) COLLECTION OF RATES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

2 use amounts made available under section 9 to 

3 biannually collect from each State the nation4 ally standardized rate of recyclable materials in 

5 that State that have been successfully diverted 

6 from the waste stream and brought to a mate7 rials recovery facility or composting facility. 

8 (B) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY

9 BUSINESS INFORMATION.—Information col10 lected under subparagraph (A) shall not include 

11 any confidential or proprietary business infor12 mation, as determined by the Administrator. 

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

14 section 9, the Administrator may use the rates col15 lected under paragraph (1) to further assist States, 

16 units of local government, and Indian Tribes— 

17 (A) to reduce the overall waste produced 

18 by the States and units of local government; 

19 and 

20 (B) to increase recycling and composting 

21 rates. 

22 (d) REPORT ON END MARKETS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con24 sultation with States, units of local government, and 

25 Indian Tribes, shall— 


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1 (A) provide an update to the report sub2 mitted under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 

3 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) 

4 to include an addendum on the end-market sale 

5 of all recyclable materials, in addition to recy6 cled plastics as described in that section, from 

7 materials recovery facilities that process recy8 clable materials collected from households and 

9 publicly available recyclable materials drop-off 

10 centers, including— 

11 (i) the total, in dollars per ton, domes12 tic sales of bales of recyclable materials; 

13 and 

14 (ii) the total, in dollars per ton, inter15 national sales of bales of recyclable mate16 rials; 

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

18 sale of compost from all compostable materials 

19 collected from households and publicly available 

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

21 dollars per ton, of domestic sales of 

22 compostable materials; and 

23 (C) not later than 1 year after the date of 

24 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the 

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1 graph (A) and the report prepared under sub2 paragraph (B). 

3 (2) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSINESS

4 INFORMATION.—Information collected under sub5 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall not 

6 include any confidential or proprietary business in7 formation, as determined by the Administrator. 

8 SEC. 7. STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MATE9 RIALS FROM A CIRCULAR MARKET. 

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

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall de12 velop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable 

13 materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that 

14 are being diverted from a circular market. 

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

16 development of a metric under subsection (a), the Admin17 istrator shall conduct a study of, and submit to Congress 

18 a report on, the proportion of recyclable materials in com19 mercial and municipal waste streams that, during each of 

20 the 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission 

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

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

23 provide data on specific recyclable materials, including 

24 aluminum, plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and 

25 glass, that were prevented from remaining in a circular 


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1 market through disposal or elimination, and to what use 

2 those specific recyclable materials were lost. 

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

4 shall include an evaluation of whether the establishment 

5 or improvement of recycling programs would— 

6 (1) improve recycling rates; or 

7 (2) reduce the quantity of recyclable materials 

8 being unutilized in a circular market. 

9 SEC. 8. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES. 

10 The Administrator shall— 

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

12 government, and Indian Tribes, develop, based on 

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

14 data determined under sections 4 through 7, and 

15 provide to States, units of local government, and In16 dian Tribes best practices that the States, units of 

17 local government, and Indian Tribes may use to en18 hance recycling and composting, including— 

19 (A) labeling techniques for containers of 

20 waste, compost, and recycling, with the goal of 

21 creating consistent, readily available, and un22 derstandable labeling across jurisdictions; 

23 (B) pamphlets or other literature readily 

24 available to constituents; 


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1 (C) primary and secondary school edu2 cational resources on recycling; 

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

4 (E) guidance for the labeling of recyclable 

5 materials and compostable materials that mini6 mizes contamination and diversion of those ma7 terials from waste streams toward recycling and 

8 composting systems; and 

9 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en10 actment of this Act, submit to Congress a report de11 scribing the best practices developed under para12 graph (1). 

13 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad15 ministrator such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

16 Act for each fiscal year. 

17 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

18 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling and 

19 Composting Accountability Act’’. 

20 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 

22 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ24 mental Protection Agency. 


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

2 market’’ means a market that utilizes industrial proc3 esses and economic activities to enable post-industrial 

4 and post-consumer materials used in those processes 

5 and activities to maintain their highest values for as 

6 long as possible. 

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

8 product that— 

9 (A) is manufactured through the controlled 

10 aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegradable 

11 materials; 

12 (B) has been subjected to medium and high 

13 temperature organisms, which— 

14 (i) significantly reduce the viability of 

15 pathogens and weed seeds; and 

16 (ii) stabilize carbon in the product 

17 such that the product is beneficial to plant 

18 growth; and 

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

20 but may also contribute plant nutrients. 

21 (4) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.—The term 

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

23 feedstock for creating compost, including— 

24 (A) wood; 

25 (B) agricultural crops; 


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1 (C) paper; 

2 (D) certified compostable products associ3 ated with organic waste; 

4 (E) other organic plant material; 

5 (F) marine products; 

6 (G) organic waste, including food waste and 

7 yard waste; and 

8 (H) such other material that is composed of 

9 biomass that can be continually replenished or 

10 renewed, as determined by the Administrator. 

11 (5) COMPOSTING FACILITY.—The term 

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

13 device that transforms compostable materials into 

14 compost. 

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

16 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In17 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

19 (7) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘materials re21 covery facility’’ means a dedicated facility where 

22 primarily residential recyclable materials, which 

23 are diverted from disposal by the generator and 

24 collected separately from municipal solid waste, 

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1 modities for further processing into specification2 grade commodities for sale to end users. 

3 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re4 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 

5 management facility that may process municipal 

6 solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 

7 (8) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recycla8 ble material’’ means a material that is obsolete, pre9 viously used, off-specification, surplus, or incidentally 

10 produced for processing into a specification-grade 

11 commodity for which a circular market currently ex12 ists or is being developed. 

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

14 the series of activities— 

15 (A) during which recyclable materials are 

16 processed into specification-grade commodities, 

17 and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu 

18 of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new 

19 products; 

20 (B) that may include sorting, collection, 

21 processing, and brokering; and 

22 (C) that result in subsequent consumption 

23 by a materials manufacturer, including for the 

24 manufacturing of new products. 


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1 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 

2 given the term in section 1004 of the Solid Waste Dis3 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 

4 (b) DEFINITION OF PROCESSING.—In paragraphs (7), 

5 (8), and (9) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘processing’’ means 

6 any mechanical, manual, or other method that— 

7 (1) transforms a recyclable material into a speci8 fication-grade commodity; and 

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

10 steps, including sorting, occurring at different loca11 tions. 

12 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

13 It is the sense of Congress that— 

14 (1) recycling and composting conserve resources, 

15 protect the environment, and are important to the 

16 United States economy; 

17 (2) the United States recycling and composting 

18 infrastructure encompass each of the entities that col19 lect, process, broker, and consume recyclable materials 

20 and compostable materials sourced from commercial, 

21 industrial, institutional, and residential sources; 

22 (3) the residential segment of the United States 

23 recycling and composting infrastructure is facing 

24 challenges from— 


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1 (A) confusion over what materials are recy2 clable materials or compostable materials; 

3 (B) reduced export markets; 

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

5 markets; and 

6 (D) an ever-changing and heterogeneous 

7 supply stream; 

8 (4) in some areas, recycling and composting in9 frastructure is in need of revitalization; and 

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

11 United States must use a combination of tactics to 

12 improve recycling and composting in the United 

13 States. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE CAPA15 BILITIES. 

16 The Administrator, in consultation with States, units 

17 of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall— 

18 (1) prepare a report describing the capability of 

19 the United States to implement a national 

20 composting strategy for compostable materials for the 

21 purposes of reducing contamination rates for recy22 cling, including— 

23 (A) an evaluation of existing Federal, State, 

24 and local laws that may present barriers to im25 plementation of a national composting strategy; 


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

2 programs of States, units of local government, 

3 and Indian Tribes; and 

4 (ii) a description of best practices based on 

5 those programs; 

6 (C) an evaluation of existing composting in7 frastructure in States, units of local government, 

8 and Indian Tribes for the purposes of estimating 

9 cost and approximate land needed to expand 

10 composting programs; and 

11 (D) a study of the practices of manufactur12 ers and companies that are moving to using 

13 compostable packaging and food service ware for 

14 the purpose of making the composting process the 

15 end-of-life use of those products; and 

16 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of enact17 ment of this Act, submit the report prepared under 

18 paragraph (1) to Congress. 

19 SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEDERAL AGENCY RECYCLING PRAC20 TICES. 

21 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

22 this Act, and annually thereafter, the Comptroller General 

23 of the United States, in consultation with the Adminis24 trator, shall make publicly available a report describing— 


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1 (1) the total annual recycling and composting 

2 rates reported by all Federal agencies; 

3 (2) the total annual percentage of products con4 taining recyclable material, compostable material, or 

5 recovered materials purchased by all Federal agencies, 

6 including— 

7 (A) the total quantity of procured products 

8 containing recyclable material or recovered ma9 terials listed in the comprehensive procurement 

10 guidelines published under section 6002(e) of the 

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

12 and 

13 (B) the total quantity of compostable mate14 rial purchased; 

15 (3) recommendations for updating— 

16 (A) the comprehensive procurement guide17 lines published under section 6002(e) of the Solid 

18 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e)); and 

19 (B) the environmentally preferable pur20 chasing program established under section 

21 6604(b)(11) of the Pollution Prevention Act of 

22 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13103(b)(11)); and 

23 (4) the activities of each Federal agency that 

24 promote recycling or composting. 


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1 SEC. 6. IMPROVING DATA AND REPORTING. 

2 (a) INVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI3 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

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

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

6 Indian Tribes, shall— 

7 (1) prepare an inventory of public and private 

8 materials recovery facilities in the United States, in9 cluding— 

10 (A) the number of materials recovery facili11 ties in each unit of local government in each 

12 State; and 

13 (B) a description of the materials that each 

14 materials recovery facility can process, includ15 ing— 

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

17 of— 

18 (I) the types of accepted resin, if 

19 applicable; and 

20 (II) the packaging or product for21 mat, such as a jug, a carton, or film; 

22 (ii) food packaging and service ware, 

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

24 (iii) paper; 

25 (iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 

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


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1 (v) steel, such as a steel food or aerosol 

2 can; 

3 (vi) other scrap metal; 

4 (vii) glass; or 

5 (viii) any other material not described 

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

7 materials recovery facility can process; and 

8 (2) submit the inventory prepared under para9 graph (1) to Congress. 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE BASELINE

11 OF DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES RECYCLING SYSTEM.— 

12 The Administrator, in consultation with States, units of 

13 local government, and Indian Tribes, shall determine, with 

14 respect to the United States— 

15 (1) the number of community curbside recycling 

16 and composting programs; 

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

18 and composting programs; 

19 (3) the types and forms of materials accepted by 

20 each community curbside recycling, drop-off recy21 cling, or composting program; 

22 (4) the number of individuals with access to re23 cycling and composting services to at least the extent 

24 of access to disposal services; 


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1 (5) the number of individuals with barriers to 

2 accessing recycling and composting services to at least 

3 the extent of access to disposal services; 

4 (6) the inbound contamination and capture rates 

5 of community curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, 

6 or composting programs; 

7 (7) where applicable, other available recycling or 

8 composting programs within a community, including 

9 store drop-offs; and 

10 (8) the average cost to States, units of local gov11 ernment, and Indian Tribes of recycling and 

12 composting programs. 

13 (c) STANDARDIZATION OF RECYCLING REPORTING

14 RATES.— 

15 (1) COLLECTION OF RATES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

17 use amounts made available under section 9 to 

18 biannually collect from each State the nationally 

19 standardized rate of recyclable materials in that 

20 State that have been successfully diverted from 

21 the waste stream and brought to a materials re22 covery facility or composting facility. 

23 (B) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSI24 NESS INFORMATION.—Information collected 

25 under subparagraph (A) shall not include any 


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1 confidential or proprietary business information, 

2 as determined by the Administrator. 

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

4 section 9, the Administrator may use the rates col5 lected under paragraph (1) to further assist States, 

6 units of local government, and Indian Tribes— 

7 (A) to reduce the overall waste produced by 

8 the States and units of local government; and 

9 (B) to increase recycling and composting 

10 rates. 

11 (d) REPORT ON END MARKETS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con13 sultation with States, units of local government, and 

14 Indian Tribes, shall— 

15 (A) provide an update to the report sub16 mitted under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 

17 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) to 

18 include an addendum on the end-market sale of 

19 all recyclable materials, in addition to recycled 

20 plastics as described in that section, from mate21 rials recovery facilities that process recyclable 

22 materials collected from households and publicly 

23 available recyclable materials drop-off centers, 

24 including— 


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1 (i) the total, in dollars per ton, domes2 tic sales of bales of recyclable materials; and 

3 (ii) the total, in dollars per ton, inter4 national sales of bales of recyclable mate5 rials; 

6 (B) prepare a report on the end-market sale 

7 of compost from all compostable materials col8 lected from households and publicly available 

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

10 dollars per ton, of domestic sales of compostable 

11 materials; and 

12 (C) not later than 1 year after the date of 

13 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the up14 date to the report prepared under subparagraph 

15 (A) and the report prepared under subparagraph 

16 (B). 

17 (2) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSINESS

18 INFORMATION.—Information collected under subpara19 graphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall not in20 clude any confidential or proprietary business infor21 mation, as determined by the Administrator. 

22 SEC. 7. STUDY ON THE DIVERSION OF RECYCLABLE MATE23 RIALS FROM A CIRCULAR MARKET. 

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

25 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop 


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1 a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable mate2 rials in commercial and municipal waste streams that are 

3 being diverted from a circular market. 

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

5 development of a metric under subsection (a), the Adminis6 trator shall conduct a study of, and submit to Congress a 

7 report on, the proportion of recyclable materials in commer8 cial and municipal waste streams that, during each of the 

9 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission of the 

10 report, were diverted from a circular market. 

11 (c) DATA.—The report under subsection (b) shall pro12 vide data on specific recyclable materials, including alu13 minum, plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and glass, 

14 that were prevented from remaining in a circular market 

15 through disposal or elimination, and to what use those spe16 cific recyclable materials were lost. 

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

18 shall include an evaluation of whether the establishment or 

19 improvement of recycling programs would— 

20 (1) improve recycling rates; or 

21 (2) reduce the quantity of recyclable materials 

22 being unutilized in a circular market. 

23 SEC. 8. VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES. 

24 The Administrator shall— 


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

2 government, and Indian Tribes, develop, based on the 

3 results of the studies, reports, inventory, and data de4 termined under sections 4 through 7, and provide to 

5 States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes 

6 best practices that the States, units of local govern7 ment, and Indian Tribes may use to enhance recy8 cling and composting, including— 

9 (A) labeling techniques for containers of 

10 waste, compostable materials, and recycling, 

11 with the goal of creating consistent, readily 

12 available, and understandable labeling across ju13 risdictions; 

14 (B) pamphlets or other literature readily 

15 available to constituents; 

16 (C) primary and secondary school edu17 cational resources on recycling; 

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

19 (E) guidance for the labeling of recyclable 

20 materials and compostable materials that mini21 mizes contamination and diversion of those ma22 terials from waste streams toward recycling and 

23 composting systems; and 


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1 (2) not later than 2 years after the date of enact2 ment of this Act, submit to Congress a report describ3 ing the best practices developed under paragraph (1). 

4 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Admin6 istrator such sums as are necessary to carry out this Act 

7 for each fiscal year. 


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Calendar No. 358 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3743 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Environmental 

the United States, and for other purposes. to improve recycling and composting programs in Protection Agency to carry out certain activities 

APRIL 28, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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