Advocacy

EPA Seeks Input on Metrics for National Recycling Goal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is accepting comments on proposed metrics for a national recycling goal to be announced at the America Recycles Summit on November 17, 2020. The metrics were developed as part of EPA’s National Framework for Advancing the U.S. Recycling System and a Congressionally-mandated National Recycling Strategy. SWANA has been a key stakeholder in the development of these proposed metrics along with other industry leaders.

These metrics and their associated national recycling goals will represent the first time that the federal government has set an objective for recycling nationwide. They will serve as important guideposts for years to come and are likely to influence how recycling is measured at the state and local level.

EPA is seeking a metric for each of four categories from the National Framework:  1) system-wide recycling measures to assess recycling performance, 2) reducing contamination in the recycling stream, 3) increasing materials processing efficiency, and 4) strengthening markets for recycled materials.

SWANA’s Core Advocacy Group, consisting of representatives from each Chapter and Technical Division, are providing input for SWANA’s comments on the metrics, along with SWANA’s Recycling Task Force. EPA will be accepting comments through October 2.

List of Potential Measures

System-Wide Recycling Measures to Assess Recycling Performance

• Recycling Rate: The percentage of the total amount of discarded or used materials generated that are utilized as feedstock for the manufacture of new products.
• Recycling Access Rate: The percentage of households that have access to recycling on par with trash collection services.
• Participation Rate:  The percentage of eligible users regularly using a recycling service.
• Recycling Jobs: The number of jobs supported directly and indirectly by the recycling industry, including upstream supply chain economic activities.
• Capture Rate: The percentage of recyclable material generated that are recycled.
• Recyclables Landfilled: The tonnage of recyclable materials landfilled.

Reducing Contamination in the Recycling Stream

• Curbside Contamination:  The percentage of materials that residents place in their recycling collection that are not accepted in their curbside program or acceptable materials that have high amounts of residue.
• MRF In-Bound Contamination:  The percentage of materials arriving at the MRF that are not accepted by the facility or acceptable materials that have high amounts of residue.
• Recycled Commodity Contamination: The percentage of contaminants in out-bound recycled commodity materials such as paper, plastic, glass and metals.
• Residual Rate: The percentage of materials coming out of the MRF that are sent to combustion facilities or landfills.

Increasing Materials Processing Efficiency

• Capacity Utilization Rate: The total tonnage of materials processed by MRFs as compared to the total tonnage of materials that MRFs are capable of processing.
• Processing Cost: The per-ton operating and capital costs for MRFs to receive, separate and prepare recyclable materials for end-user markets.
• Processing Yield: The percentage of materials recovered by a MRF or secondary processing facility compared to the incoming materials.

Strengthening Markets for Recycled Materials

• Recycled Commodity Quality: The quality of post-processed recycled materials marketed for manufacture based on standard industry specifications.
• Domestic Utilization: The percentage of recycled materials used domestically as compared to the amount exported.
• Recycled Content: The percentage of recycled content within manufactured goods.
• Commodity Value: The average per-ton value of post-processed recycled materials.

U.S., Canada Seek Plastic Trade Agreement

Canada has approached the United States to create an agreement that will allow the two partners to continue trading plastic waste and scrap freely despite approaching international restrictions.

In 2019, an amendment was approved to an agreement known as the Basel Convention to increase oversight and restrictions on the trade of plastic scrap internationally. The amendment requires countries that have signed the Convention to stop trade of certain materials with non-signatories, such as the United States, unless a separate agreement is entered. Canada and the United States are currently engaged in developing that agreement.

On September 17, SWANA participated in a webinar hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada in which it outlined the need for the agreement and invited input from stakeholders. The U.S. government held a similar webinar on September 21 that SWANA also participated in.

The intent of the agreement is to continue plastic scrap trade between the two countries uninterrupted despite the adoption of the Basel Amendment by Canada. Although the amendment officially goes into force at the beginning of 2021, Canada has already notified the Basel Convention that it is delaying implementation until it is ready to do so. Presumably, having this agreement in place is one of the actions that Canada will complete before putting the amendment into action. 

The need for this agreement became more necessary after the Organization for Economic Development (OECD), to which both Canada and the United States belong, failed to come to an agreement on how to regulate trade of common post-consumer plastic shipments among members in light of the Basel Amendment. Such an agreement would have particularly helped the United States as a non-signatory to the Basel Convention. Instead, each OECD country will be able to set its own requirements, potentially creating additional confusion and cost to trade.