I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2777 

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 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio (for himself, Ms. STEVENS, and Mr. LUCAS) 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 2021’’. 

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-based 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’’ has the meaning given such term in sec17 tion 7002 of Division Z of the Consolidated Appro18 priations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 

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

20 plastic reinforced with fiber or particulate secondary 

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

22 or any other solid material. 


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1 SEC. 3. OPTIMIZED PLASTICS RECYCLING RESEARCH AND 

2 DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

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

4 research, development, and demonstration program to ac5 celerate innovation in energy-efficient recyclable plastics, 

6 next-generation plastics, and composites recycling and 

7 upcycling strategies and technologies, in order to increase 

8 the economic value of plastics supply streams and to re9 duce the environmental impact of global plastics consump10 tion. 

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

12 this section, the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) develop novel collection and sorting tech14 nologies to prevent plastics and composites, includ15 ing waterborne plastics, from entering landfills and 

16 the marine environment; 

17 (2) develop biological, chemical, and hybrid bio18 chemical technologies and methods for 

19 deconstructing plastic and composite waste into use20 ful chemical and material streams; 

21 (3) develop technologies to upcycle waste, in22 cluding chemical, material, and gaseous streams, 

23 into higher-value products; 

24 (4) develop new economically recyclable-by-de25 sign plastics and composites that can be scaled for 

26 domestic manufacturability and recovery; 


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1 (5) develop new energy-efficient advanced man2 ufacturing techniques for reclaimed plastics and 

3 composites; and 

4 (6) develop new data collection methods and 

5 practices in collaboration with relevant Federal 

6 agencies and the National Laboratories. 

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

8 under this section, the Secretary shall leverage resources 

9 and expertise from— 

10 (1) the Basic Energy Sciences Program and the 

11 Biological and Environmental Research Program of 

12 the Office of Science; and 

13 (2) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew14 able Energy. 

15 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pe16 riodically review activities carried out under the program 

17 under this section to determine the achievement of tech18 nical milestones as determined by the Secretary. 

19 (e) FUNDING.—From within funds authorized to be 

20 appropriated— 

21 (1) to the Department’s Office of Science, there 

22 shall be made available to the Secretary to carry out 

23 the program under this section $15,000,000 for each 

24 of fiscal years 2022 through 2026; and 


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1 (2) to the Department’s Office of Energy Effi2 ciency and Renewable Energy, there shall be made 

3 available to the Secretary to carry out the program 

4 under this section $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 

5 years 2022 through 2026. 

6 SEC. 4. LITHIUM-BASED BATTERY RECYCLING RESEARCH 

7 AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

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

9 research, development, and demonstration program to 

10 support the development of— 

11 (1) advanced materials for batteries with con12 siderations given to resource availability and envi13 ronmentally benign disposal and recycling; and 

14 (2) innovative technologies to reclaim and recy15 cle critical materials from advanced and lithium16 based battery technologies used in consumer elec17 tronics, defense, stationary storage, and transpor18 tation applications. 

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

20 this section, the Secretary shall— 

21 (1) promote the discovery of new domestically 

22 sourced raw materials for batteries that can degrade 

23 without causing damage to the environment; 

24 (2) develop innovative and cost-effective tech25 nologies and processes for the collection, storage, 


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1 and transportation of discarded lithium-based bat2 teries that prioritize the use of domestic mining re3 sources; and 

4 (3) research and develop cost-effective recycling 

5 processes to recover critical materials from discarded 

6 lithium-based batteries and enable their reintroduc7 tion in new lithium-based cell technologies and in8 crease availability of domestically sourced raw mate9 rials for batteries and for use in other relevant in10 dustries. 

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

12 under this section, the Secretary shall leverage resources 

13 and expertise from— 

14 (1) the Basic Energy Sciences Program of the 

15 Office of Science; 

16 (2) the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew17 able Energy, including current lithium-based battery 

18 recycling activities supported by the Vehicle Tech19 nologies Office within the Office of Energy Effi20 ciency and Renewable Energy; 

21 (3) the Office of Fossil Energy; and 

22 (4) the Office of Technology Transitions. 

23 (d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The Secretary shall pe24 riodically review activities carried out under the program 


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1 under this section to determine the achievement of tech2 nical milestones as determined by the Secretary. 

3 (e) FUNDING.—From within funds authorized to be 

4 appropriated— 

5 (1) to the Department’s Office of Science, there 

6 shall be made available to the Secretary to carry out 

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

8 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026; 

9 (2) to the Department’s Office of Energy Effi10 ciency and Renewable Energy, there shall be made 

11 available to the Secretary to carry out the activities 

12 under this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 

13 years 2022 through 2026; and 

14 (3) to the Department’s Office of Fossil En15 ergy, there shall be made available to the Secretary 

16 to carry out the activities under this section 

17 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 

18 2026. 

Æ 


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