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) intro-
duced 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Advanced Recycling Research and Development Act of 
2021’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
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. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Energy. 
(2) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na-
tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given that term 
in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 15801). 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(4) RECYCLABLE PLASTIC.—The term ‘‘recycla-
ble plastic’’ means plastic that is designed to be 
readily, economically, and efficiently recyclable or 
otherwise recoverable for beneficial use. 
(5) CRITICAL
MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘critical 
material’’ has the meaning given such term in sec-
tion 7002 of Division Z of the Consolidated Appro-
priations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 
(6) COMPOSITE.—The term ‘‘composite’’ means 
plastic reinforced with fiber or particulate secondary 
material like bio-derived fibers, carbon fibers, glass 
or any other solid material. 
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SEC. 3. OPTIMIZED PLASTICS RECYCLING RESEARCH AND 
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 
research, development, and demonstration program to ac-
celerate innovation in energy-efficient recyclable plastics, 
next-generation plastics, and composites recycling and 
upcycling strategies and technologies, in order to increase 
the economic value of plastics supply streams and to re-
duce the environmental impact of global plastics consump-
tion. 
(b) EXECUTION.—In carrying out the program under 
this section, the Secretary shall— 
(1) develop novel collection and sorting tech-
nologies to prevent plastics and composites, includ-
ing waterborne plastics, from entering landfills and 
the marine environment; 
(2) develop biological, chemical, and hybrid bio- 
chemical 
technologies 
and 
methods 
for 
deconstructing plastic and composite waste into use-
ful chemical and material streams; 
(3) develop technologies to upcycle waste, in-
cluding chemical, material, and gaseous streams, 
into higher-value products; 
(4) develop new economically recyclable-by-de-
sign plastics and composites that can be scaled for 
domestic manufacturability and recovery; 
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