Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Act

It is estimated that global production of plastic has increased from 2,000,000 tons of plastic per year in 1950 to 400,000,000 tons per year today, and of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic ever produced globally, 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste.

The United States has failed to invest in the development of domestic recycling markets, technology and materials to make the recycling process more available and efficient, and as a result, the United States recycles only 9 percent of its plastic waste.

For more than 2 decades, the United States and other developed nations sold and exported 106,000,000 metric tons of recyclable plastics to China, but in 2018 China issued a ban on contaminated United States plastics.

Following the 2018 China ban, more and more United States communities are sending recyclable items to landfills or incinerators.

As recycling programs have moved toward single-stream curbside recycling, more recyclable items are mixed with non-recyclable items, resulting in fewer potentially recyclable items actually being recycled and turned into new, valuable products.

The resin identification coding system in use today has not been substantially updated since its creation in 1988.

Characterizing the type and recyclability of different types of plastics in use today requires updated standards.

Separating and processing the many different types of plastics as well as the heterogenous materials containing multiple layers of different plastic types commonly in use today will require new sorting and recycling technologies.

There are currently limited private or public investments in advanced recycling technologies and other technologies to reduce the amount and impact of plastic waste.

The Federal Government can play an important role in supporting research and development and facilitating standards, tools, and technologies needed across the different stages of the plastics production and recycling ecosystem.

Committee— The term Committee means the Interagency Committee established or designated under section 5.

Director— The term Director means the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Participating agencies— The term participating agencies means the agencies under section 5(c).

Program— The term Program means the Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Program established under section 4.

Marine debris— The term marine debris has the meaning provided in the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1956).

Establishment; purposes— The Director, acting through the Committee and each of the participating agencies, shall establish and implement a program to be known as the “Plastic Waste Reduction and Recycling Program”. The purposes of the Program shall be to—

Program activities— In carrying out the Program, the Director, acting through the Committee and each of the participating agencies, shall carry out activities that include the following:

Interagency Committee— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director, acting through the National Science and Technology Council, shall establish or designate an Interagency Committee to coordinate Federal programs and activities in support of plastic waste reduction and recycling and plastic waste remediation research and development under the Program.

Co-Chairs— The Committee shall be co-chaired by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy or designee and a representative from an agency participating in the Committee, as selected by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Agency participation— The Committee shall include representatives from—

Responsibilities— The Committee shall—

Termination— The Interagency Committee shall terminate 10 years after the date on which the Committee is established under subsection (a).

establish a science program for characterization of plastic properties before, during, and after recycling and manufacturing, development of classification systems, and creation of new data tools, techniques, and processes to advance plastics engineering and post-consumer plastic recycling and manufacturing;

develop innovations for effective and efficient measures for processing plastics, including films and textiles, collected for recycling, while considering existing waste streams and future new materials;

provide the metrology basis for standards development for plastic sorting infrastructure, processing technologies, classification systems, including for biobased plastics, and recycling by design;

develop a clearinghouse to collect and support dissemination of tools, guidelines and standards developed under this section;

consult with appropriate stakeholder groups to promote adoption and implementation of such guidelines and standards, including diverse manufacturing and industry groups, such as packaging, including food packaging, agriculture, transportation, textile and fashion;

support plastics recycling research collaboration and coordinate standards development, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private sector, and international partners; and

establish a program for measurements, methods and standards to assess the environmental impacts of plastics waste, including marine debris, and plastic particles and fibers.

support multidisciplinary basic research on advanced plastics that are designed for recyclability or biodegradation, on plastic waste remediation, on advanced recycling technologies for different plastics, and on composting and compostable plastics, and on plastic waste valorization;

support multidisciplinary research on the environmental and biological effects of plastic waste, and particularly the formation, transport and bioaccumulation of nano- and micro-plastics relevant to plastics recycling and plastic waste remediation;

support, as appropriate, development of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate curriculum and instructional materials relevant to plastics recycling and plastic waste remediation;

support research experiences for undergraduate students relevant to plastics recycling and plastic waste remediation; and

support plastics recycling research collaborations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private sector, and international partners.

support integrated research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for—

coordinate research efforts funded through existing programs across the Department of Energy, including the National Laboratories and relevant Manufacturing USA Institutes under section 34 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s); and

support plastics recycling research collaborations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private sector, and international partners.

conduct and support research development and demonstration of innovative plastic waste management solutions, including reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, composting infrastructure for bio-based plastics, and prevention of plastics, including microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics, from entering the air, soil, oceans, and waterways;

support and conduct research and analysis on the public health impacts of airborne and waterborne microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics, including research on routes of exposure, estimates of exposure in different populations, and toxicity assessments on animal and aquatic health, including the food chain; and

support plastics recycling research collaborations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private sector, and international partners.

conduct and support research, data collection, and analysis of plastic marine debris and ocean plastic pollution generation and sources, including microplastics, nanoplastics, and pyroplastics;

support research and analysis on the health impacts of oceanic microplastics on marine animal health, including the food chain; and

support ocean plastic research collaborations, as appropriate, with other agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit organizations, academia, private sector, and international partners.

to the National Institute of Standards and Technology—

to the National Science Foundation—

to the Department of Energy—

to the Environmental Protection Agency—

to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—