Advocacy

CLEAN Future Act Introduced in Congress

Leading Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee introduced legislation on March 2 to “tackle the climate crisis this decade and achieve net zero greenhouse gas pollution.” The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act declares a national interim goal to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by at least 50 percent by 2030, and a goal for the United States to achieve a 100 percent clean economy by no later than 2050.

The wide-ranging bill includes sector-specific and economy-wide proposals to meet these ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals, including proposals affecting the solid waste industry. This includes a national bottle deposit program, post-consumer recycled content standards, the establishment of grants for zero waste initiatives and landfill diversion, and funding for recycling outreach and education. Portions of the bill dealing directly with climate change and energy are likely to affect landfill gas operations as well.

The bill incorporates elements of previous legislation that have been introduced, including the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, Zero Waste Act of 2019, and the RECYCLE Act. The RECYCLE Act, which will be introduced again later this month, is supported by SWANA.

SWANA has been in contact with Energy & Commerce Committee leadership on this bill and other proposed legislation, including the RECOVER Act for recycling infrastructure and education which will be reintroduced this session. SWANA continues to consult with the Core Advocacy Group and Recycling Task Force for industry feedback and to direct SWANA’s response to the bill.

Although congressional hearings on the bill are expected to begin in the spring, a path forward for the legislation is unclear. Key Republican leaders on the jurisdictional committees that will consider the bill have publicly expressed their opposition, and most Republicans can be expected to oppose it. Portions of the CLEAN Future Act could be incorporated into other legislation, such as an infrastructure bill, which might have a greater chance of passing. SWANA will continue to monitor this bill and related legislation.

CLEAN Future Act Waste & Recycling Summary

Waste Reduction

• Establish post-consumer recycled content standards for beverage containers and consider standards for other everyday products.
• Establish a national bottle deposit program.
• Establish a task force to develop and propose recommendations on the design of a national extended producer responsibility system (EPR).
• Mandate EPA to develop guidelines for standardizing labeling for recycling and composting receptacles.
• Direct EPA to issue guidance standardizing recycling and composting collection on a community- or state-level.
• Require manufactures to design covered products and beverage containers to minimize environmental and health impacts.
• Requires EPA to conduct an annual assessment of plastic waste in the U.S.
• Require manufacturers to standardize labeling to more clearly indicate recyclability.
• Directs National Academy of Science to evaluate best practices for reducing negative environmental impacts of single-use products.

Zero Waste Grants

• Establish $150 million per year grant program for community-level zero waste initiatives (e.g. organics recycling infrastructure, e-waste recycling, market development, zero-emissions vehicles for collection).
• Establish $250 million per year grants to encourage states to reduce waste going to landfills through zero-waste initiatives, increasing landfill tipping fees, mandating curbside compost collection, and prohibiting organic waste disposal in landfills.
• Require EPA to convene annual conference on implementing zero waste practices.

Education and Outreach

• Grant program to support state and local governments, tribal communities, nonprofits, and public-private partnerships in improving education and awareness related to recycling.
• Program to improve consumer education and awareness related to the safe disposal and recycling of batteries and other forms of electronic waste.

Batteries

• The bill also addresses the collection and recycling of batteries as part of an effort to recover critical minerals found in them that are important to the U.S. economy and security. For the solid waste industry, this would represent fewer batteries being disposed of improperly, a major cause of industry fires.

SWANA Submits Comments on EPA Recycling Rate

SWANA supports transparency and consistency in comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on proposed national recycling rate methodology. EPA announced a voluntary national recycling goal of 50% by 2030 at last year’s America Recycles Summit and has since solicited feedback on measurement categories for that goal.  

With input from SWANA’s Core Advocacy Group and Recycling Task Force, as well as established SWANA technical policy, the association submitted comment on five key measurement scoping categories: sources of recyclable material, material stream, material management pathways, material destinations and additional considerations.

The comments explained the importance of the data being as transparent as possible so that governmental entities and private sector stakeholders can evaluate such information as they consider policy changes or capital investments. This reflects SWANA’s own Measuring Recycling technical policy.

While a separate effort from the EPA Facts and Figures Report about Materials, Waste and Recycling, SWANA urged that data be easily comparable between the report and the new recycling rate so that historical comparisons can be made. SWANA supported the inclusion of composting, anaerobic digestion, alternative daily cover, beneficial use, land application, and beneficial ash use and metals recovery in the recycling rate calculations.

Methodologies for the three additional key performance indicators that were also announced at the America Recycles Summit (recycled commodity contamination, processing yield and commodity value), will be released for public comment at a later date. SWANA previously submitted comments in October 2020 identifying its preferred performance indicators with input from the CAG at that time.

SWANA Provides Feedback on EPA PFAS Destruction & Disposal Guidance

SWANA submitted comments on the U.S. EPA’s interim guidance on PFAS disposal and destruction highlighting the need for further research and emphasizing the solid waste industry’s role as receivers of PFAS-containing materials, not producers of them.

EPA released the guidance on destroying and disposing of PFAS and non-consumer product PFAS-containing materials for public comment in December 2020. The solid waste industry was covered as both a source of PFAS (landfill leachate, non-consumer waste) and as a potential method of destruction and disposal (landfills, municipal waste combustors).  The agency also examined existing information on testing and monitoring air, effluent, and soil for releases near potential destruction or disposal sites.

SWANA’s comments emphasized that current gaps in knowledge prevent virtually any definitive recommendations for destruction or disposal at this time. It also supported the guidance’s finding that there are the significant information gaps associated with PFAS testing and monitoring.

SWANA stated that EPA’s most significant and effective action at the moment is to remove PFAS from the stream of commerce and pursue cleanup and remediation at highly contaminated sites. In addition to better understanding the presence of PFAS within the solid waste stream, SWANA urged further research into the background level of PFAS across the country, its prevalence and concentration in the public, and the consequent actual risk of those levels.

SWANA also strongly recommends that EPA make it a priority to ensure its work on the guidance is done in coordination with all appropriate federal agencies, state regulatory agencies and their PFAS related committees, and affected stakeholders that have technical expertise.