I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2821 

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 

APRIL 22, 2021 

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

and Mr. LUCAS) 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 Research Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2821 IH

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. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2821 IH

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 research and development to improve 

14 plastic waste reduction, recycling technologies, or 

15 other technologies and processes to reduce the 

16 amount and impact of plastic waste. 

17 (10) The Federal Government can play an im18 portant role in supporting research and development 

19 and facilitating standards, tools, and technologies 

20 needed across the different stages of the plastics 

21 production and recycling ecosystem. 

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2821 IH

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

2 means the Interagency Committee established or 

3 designated under section 5. 

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

5 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

6 Policy. 

7 (3) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—The term 

8 ‘‘participating agencies’’ means the agencies under 

9 section 5(c). 

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

11 the Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Research 

12 Program established under section 4. 

13 (5) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘marine de14 bris’’ has the meaning provided in the Marine De15 bris Act (33 U.S.C. 1956). 

16 SEC. 4. PLASTIC WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING RE17 SEARCH PROGRAM. 

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

19 acting through the Committee and each of the partici20 pating agencies, shall establish and implement a program 

21 to be known as the ‘‘Plastic Waste Reduction and Recy22 cling Research Program’’. The purposes of the Program 

23 shall be to— 

24 (1) improve the global competitiveness of the 

25 United States plastics recycling industry; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (2) ensure United States leadership in plastic 

2 waste reduction, reuse, and recycling research and 

3 innovation; 

4 (3) support United States leadership in the de5 velopment of national and international standards 

6 for sustainable plastics design and plastic recycling 

7 infrastructure, technologies and processes; and 

8 (4) mitigate any harmful effects of plastic waste 

9 and plastic waste recycling on the environment. 

10 (b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the Pro11 gram, the Director, acting through the Committee and 

12 each of the participating agencies, shall carry out activities 

13 that include the following: 

14 (1) Supporting research, development, and dem15 onstration of plastics technologies optimized for 

16 recyclability, plastics recycling technologies, plastic 

17 reusability, bio-based plastics, biodegradable plastics, 

18 remediation, including bioremediation of plastic 

19 waste, recyclability and remediation of plastic-based 

20 textiles, and environmental impacts of plastic waste. 

21 (2) Supporting and facilitating public-private 

22 partnerships to leverage knowledge and resources to 

23 accelerate research, development, and demonstration 

24 in plastic waste reduction, including plastics recy25 cling, plastics reusability, plastic waste remediation 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2821 IH

1 and other areas consistent with the purposes of this 

2 Act. 

3 (3) Interagency planning and coordination of 

4 Federal research and development of plastic waste 

5 reduction and recycling technologies and plastic 

6 waste remediation. 

7 (4) Promoting research collaboration with inter8 national partners, as appropriate. 

9 SEC. 5. COORDINATION BY INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE. 

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

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

12 acting through the National Science and Technology 

13 Council, shall establish or designate an Interagency Com14 mittee to coordinate Federal programs and activities in 

15 support of plastic waste reduction and recycling and plas16 tic waste remediation research and development under the 

17 Program. 

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

19 by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

20 Policy or designee and a representative from an agency 

21 participating in the Committee, as selected by the Director 

22 of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

23 (c) AGENCY PARTICIPATION.—The Committee shall 

24 include representatives from— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (1) the National Institute of Standards and 

2 Technology; 

3 (2) the National Science Foundation; 

4 (3) the Department of Energy; 

5 (4) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

6 (5) the Department of Transportation; 

7 (6) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad8 ministration; 

9 (7) the Department of Agriculture; and 

10 (8) any other Federal agency as considered ap11 propriate by the Director of the Office of Science 

12 and Technology Policy. 

13 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Committee shall— 

14 (1) provide for interagency coordination of Fed15 eral plastics reduction and recycling and plastic 

16 waste remediation research, development, and dem17 onstration, standards development, and education 

18 and training activities and programs of Federal de19 partments and agencies undertaken pursuant to the 

20 Program; 

21 (2) develop definitions for the following terms 

22 to guide the activities of the Program— 

23 (A) recycle; 

24 (B) recyclability; 

25 (C) remediation; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (D) advanced recycling; 

2 (E) advanced plastics; 

3 (F) biobased plastics; 

4 (G) biodegradable plastics; 

5 (H) microplastic; 

6 (I) nanoplastic; and 

7 (J) pyroplastic; 

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

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

10 reduction and recycling and plastic waste remedi11 ation that— 

12 (A) establishes goals, priorities, and 

13 metrics for guiding and evaluating the activities 

14 of the Program; and 

15 (B) describes— 

16 (i) how the Program will determine 

17 and prioritize areas of plastic waste reduc18 tion and recycling and plastic waste reme19 diation for Federal research investments; 

20 (ii) the Program’s support for long21 term funding for interdisciplinary plastic 

22 waste reduction and recycling research, de23 velopment, demonstration, standards devel24 opment, education, and public outreach ac25 tivities; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (iii) how Federal agencies partici2 pating in the Program will collaborate with 

3 industry and with local governments, as 

4 appropriate; and 

5 (iv) how the program will help move 

6 the results of research out of the labora7 tory and into commercial or municipal ap8 plication; and 

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

10 provides a summary of— 

11 (i) federally funded plastic waste re12 duction and recycling and plastic waste re13 mediation research, development, and dem14 onstration; 

15 (ii) the adoption of improved plastic 

16 waste reduction and recycling technologies 

17 by Federal, State, and local governments 

18 and private entities; and 

19 (iii) other related activities for the 

20 previous 3 years; and 

21 (4) consider input from universities, State and 

22 local governments, scientific societies, and public, 

23 private and nonprofit plastic recycling manufactur24 ers and organizations in the development of the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2821 IH

1 goals, priorities and metrics required under para2 graph (3)(A). 

3 (e) TERMINATION.—The Interagency Committee 

4 shall terminate 10 years after the date on which the Com5 mittee is established under subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH7 NOLOGY. 

8 As part of the Program, the Director of National In9 stitute of Standards and Technology shall— 

10 (1) establish a science program for character11 ization of plastic properties before, during, and after 

12 recycling and manufacturing, development of classi13 fication systems, and creation of new data tools, 

14 techniques, and processes to advance plastics engi15 neering and post-consumer plastic recycling and 

16 manufacturing; 

17 (2) develop innovations for effective and effi18 cient measures for processing plastics, including 

19 films and textiles, collected for recycling, while con20 sidering existing waste streams and future new ma21 terials; 

22 (3) provide the metrology basis for standards 

23 development for plastic sorting infrastructure, proc24 essing technologies, classification systems, including 

25 for biobased plastics, and recycling by design; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (4) develop a clearinghouse to collect and sup2 port dissemination of tools, guidelines and standards 

3 developed under this section; 

4 (5) consult with appropriate stakeholder groups 

5 to promote adoption and implementation of such 

6 guidelines and standards, including diverse manufac7 turing and industry groups, such as packaging, in8 cluding food packaging, agriculture, transportation, 

9 textile and fashion; 

10 (6) support plastics recycling research collabo11 ration and coordinate standards development, as ap12 propriate, with other agencies, State and local gov13 ernments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private 

14 sector, and international partners; and 

15 (7) establish a program for measurements, 

16 methods and standards to assess the environmental 

17 impacts of plastics waste, including marine debris, 

18 and plastic particles and fibers. 

19 SEC. 7. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. 

20 As part of the Program, the National Science Foun21 dation shall— 

22 (1) support multidisciplinary basic research on 

23 advanced plastics that are designed for recyclability 

24 or biodegradation, on plastic waste remediation, on 

25 improving recycling technologies for different plasVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:24 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2821.IH H2821

pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 2821 IH

1 tics, and on composting and compostable plastics, 

2 and on plastic waste valorization; 

3 (2) support multidisciplinary research on the 

4 environmental and biological effects of plastic waste, 

5 and particularly the formation, transport and bio6 accumulation of nano- and micro-plastics relevant to 

7 plastics recycling and plastic waste remediation; 

8 (3) support research on social, behavioral, and 

9 economic barriers to the plastic recycling system and 

10 development, adoption, and expansion of plastic re11 cycling; 

12 (4) support, as appropriate, development of 

13 interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate cur14 riculum and instructional materials relevant to plas15 tics recycling and plastic waste remediation; 

16 (5) support research experiences for under17 graduate students relevant to plastics recycling and 

18 plastic waste remediation; and 

19 (6) support plastics recycling research collabo20 rations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State 

21 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca22 demia, private sector, and international partners. 

23 SEC. 8. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY. 

24 As part of the Program, the Secretary of Energy 

25 shall— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (1) support integrated research, development, 

2 and demonstration of— 

3 (A) chemical and bio-inspired plastic recy4 cling, including research on the potential envi5 ronmental impact of chemical recycling tech6 nologies; 

7 (B) advanced plastic synthesis; 

8 (C) plastic waste remediation; 

9 (D) recyclability-by-design; 

10 (E) systems-level strategies for improved 

11 plastics separation and recovery; and 

12 (F) upcycling of recycled plastics into new 

13 high-value plastics, including for food-grade 

14 packaging and advanced manufacturing applica15 tions; 

16 (2) coordinate research efforts funded through 

17 existing programs across the Department of Energy, 

18 including the National Laboratories and relevant 

19 Manufacturing USA Institutes under section 34 of 

20 the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

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

22 (3) support plastics recycling research collabo23 rations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State 

24 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca25 demia, private sector, and international partners. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 2821 IH

1 SEC. 9. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. 

2 As part of the Program, the Administrator of the En3 vironmental Protection Agency shall— 

4 (1) conduct and support research, development, 

5 and demonstration of innovative plastic waste man6 agement solutions, including reduction, reuse, recy7 cling, recovery, composting infrastructure for bio8 based plastics, composting infrastructure for separa9 tion and removal of contamination from plastic 

10 waste, and prevention of plastics, including micro11 plastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics, from enter12 ing the air, soil, oceans, and waterways; 

13 (2) support and conduct research and analysis 

14 on the public health impacts of airborne and water15 borne microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics, 

16 including research on routes of exposure, estimates 

17 of exposure in different populations, and toxicity as18 sessments on animal and aquatic health, including 

19 the food chain; and 

20 (3) support plastics recycling research collabo21 rations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State 

22 and local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca23 demia, private sector, and international partners. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 2821 IH

1 SEC. 10. NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS2 TRATION. 

3 As part of the Program, the Administrator of the Na4 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall— 

5 (1) conduct and support research, data collec6 tion, and analysis of plastic marine debris and ocean 

7 plastic pollution generation and sources, including 

8 microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics; 

9 (2) support research and analysis on the health 

10 impacts of oceanic microplastics on marine animal 

11 health, including the food chain; and 

12 (3) support ocean plastic research collabora13 tions, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and 

14 local governments, nonprofit organizations, aca15 demia, private sector, and international partners. 

16 SEC. 11. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

17 Not later than 2 years after the strategic plan re18 quired by section 5(d)(3) is first issued, the Comptroller 

19 General shall submit a report to Congress that assesses 

20 the implementation of the strategic plan by the Committee 

21 and participating agencies. 

22 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATIONS. 

23 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 activities under this Act— 

25 (1) to the National Institute of Standards and 

26 Technology— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

2 (B) $10,650,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

3 (C) $11,342,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

4 (D) $12,079,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

5 (E) $12,865,000 for fiscal year 2026; 

6 (2) to the National Science Foundation— 

7 (A) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

8 (B) $31,950,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

9 (C) $34,027,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

10 (D) $36,328,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

11 (E) $38,594,000 for fiscal year 2026; 

12 (3) to the Department of Energy— 

13 (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

14 (B) $26,625,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

15 (C) $28,356,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

16 (D) $30,199,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

17 (E) $32,162,000 for fiscal year 2026; 

18 (4) to the Environmental Protection Agency— 

19 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

20 (B) $10,650,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

21 (C) $11,342,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

22 (D) $12,079,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

23 (E) $12,865,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 

24 (5) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

25 Administration— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
17 

•HR 2821 IH

1 (A) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

2 (B) $10,650,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

3 (C) $11,342,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

4 (D) $12,079,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

5 (E) $12,865,000 for fiscal year 2026. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS