Climate bill's recycling provisions draw cheers, criticism
By E.A. Crunden | 3/3/21 | E&E News
Anti-plastics and waste reduction advocates are cheering a major new climate and energy bill in Congress, even as some industry members are critical.
Waste and recycling factor heavily into parts of the "Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for Our Nation's (CLEAN) Future Act" unveiled yesterday by House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats, borrowing from prior bills and elevating issues around plastics in particular.
"There's a lot to like in this bill," said Judith Enck, president of the group Beyond Plastics and a former EPA Region 2 administrator under the Obama administration. "It's very comprehensive."
While the "CLEAN Future Act" is focused on broader climate and energy issues, the bill contains a significant waste reduction section. Its bolder elements include a temporary pause on issuing permits for new plastics facilities, with an emphasis on environmental justice and impacts to vulnerable communities.
"This clearly recognizes the connection between plastics production and climate change," said Enck, who also singled out the bill's requirement that an environmental justice assessment accompany Clean Air Act permits issued for relevant facilities.
Recycling and issues around plastics pollution have gained traction in Congress, sparking a slew of bills over the past two years (E&E Daily, Feb. 2). Aspects of some of those bills — namely the "Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act" and "Zero Waste Act" — appear in the new legislation.
Supporters highlighted multiple recycling components of the bill, which would establish post-consumer recycled content standards for products including beverage containers. It also would mandate that EPA develop guidelines around labeling standardization for recycling and composting collection, in addition to requiring manufacturers to standardize labeling for numerous products.
The legislation moreover directs the National Academy of Sciences to evaluate best practices "for mitigating the negative environmental effects associated with the disposal of single-use products." And it establishes both a national container deposit system (modeled after state "bottle bills") and a task force to explore extended producer responsibility (EPR), a system that would hold manufacturers accountable for the life cycle of their products.
Scott Cassel, CEO and founder of the Product Stewardship Institute, praised the bill's premise that EPR is "a central component of a national climate strategy" and a priority.
"Passage of this bill would be a first-time recognition that EPR is the official waste management policy path for the United States on all products and packaging as it is for [other countries]," Cassel said.