It’s estimated that you can power a laptop for over a day with the energy saved by recycling 10 plastic bottles. In the process, you also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that’s produced through decomposition in landfills and incinerators. There are other benefits, too. Recycling creates hundreds of thousands of jobs for Americans, which means tax revenues to help sustain the country and its people.
Because recycling is vital to the economy, politicians are always looking at ways to make recycling easier and more effective. U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Shelley Moore Capito introduced recycling bills. The goal is to increase the current recycling rate of about 32% to 50% by 2030. The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act is one of the most important recycling bills to pass.
What Is the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act?
Through the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act, the EPA now has the authority to collect data on composting, curbside, and drop-off recycling programs. Once this data is collected, it’s going to be used to determine the best ways to establish viable recycling and composting programs across the U.S. The goal is to get a system down where recycling and composting are accessible to everyone, no matter how close or far they are from a city.
A secondary goal is to build a strong circular market. You purchase goods, use them, recycle the packaging or other materials, and that returns those materials to manufacturers again. You then purchase items made with recycled materials. Fewer raw materials are needed, which helps protect the earth from damage from over-mining or fracking. Fracking produces ethane, a key ingredient in polyethylene plastic. Reducing demand for single-use plastic is another benefit.
The bottom line for many of the upcoming recycling laws or bills that are being considered is that producers of these materials are going to be held responsible for taking them back. If you generate a lot of plastic or other recyclable materials, take-back programs may be required in the future.
What Other Laws Are in the Works?
Several states have other laws that are in the works or recently were signed into law by their state’s governor.
California
California’s Governor Newsom signed several new recycling bills into law, and one other is heading to him for his signature.
AB-863 is designed to heighten carpet and flooring recycling in California. Instead of old carpeting going to the landfill, it will push carpet manufacturers to establish producer responsibility programs for recycling artificial turf, carpeting, and resilient flooring.
The Responsible Textile Recovery Act became law on September 30th. With this bill, producers of textiles like bedding, clothing, or shoes must create end-of-life programs for repair, reuse, and recycling. It’s going to end trends where outdated fashions go to the landfill rather than reuse programs. CalRecycle has until January 1, 2032, to establish regulations for collection sites to follow.
SB 1053 bans sales of single-use plastic bags at checkouts. While California has a plastic bag ban in place, stores still sell reusable plastic shopping bags. While these bags were sold with the intention that the bags would be reused, many ended up in the trash after one use. They’re supposed to be recyclable, but they take specialty recycling measures that consumers don’t understand. Stores may only sell paper bags at checkouts now.
Paint recycling has been available in California since 2012. The new bill adds non-industrial coatings, coating-related products, and aerosol coatings to the recycling program. If your plant uses paint on electronics and other manufactured items, recycling is a must.
Illinois
The Large Event Facilities Act pushes large events with 3,500 or more attendees to have composting and recycling bins available. Recycling and composting are now mandatory for large events. If you work for a hotel, resort, stadium, or other large venue that hosts regular events, make recycling a priority.
New York
New York wants to make companies with revenues of more than $5 million or who use over two tons of packaging each year responsible for packaging recycling programs. The bill failed to pass before the legislative session ended, but it will be readdressed in 2025 to see how to get it past more than the Senate.
Vermont
Recycling all batteries is now required in Vermont. Alkaline or single-use batteries became the latest addition to the state’s battery recycling program. All batteries must be set aside and recycled and cannot go into the trash. Businesses need to remember this, especially when they use devices that require single-use batteries. Partnering with ERI makes it easy to recycle all types of batteries in one drum.
Federal
Recycling wastewater is the wave of the future, and it’s something the Biden-Harris administration earmarked $180 million to study and implement. The tech industry has large plants that generate a lot of wastewater filled with chemicals. They must consider treatment plants that pre-treat the water.
Chemical and battery recycling are routine in some states, but those programs are not available everywhere. The federal government is looking at mandating chemical recycling for commonly used items like household cleaners, beauty products, and the chemicals in batteries. Rather than increasing taxes and making consumers pay, attention is shifting to establishing producer responsibility requirements. If you manufacture batteries or use a lot of them in your business, battery recycling is essential and mandated.
A federal law is set to end the increase in catalytic converter thefts across the U.S. The Preventing Auto Recycling Theft Act aims to better manage the recycling of palladium, platinum, and rhodium. Before the materials can be recycled, there must be traceability measures in place to track exactly where the materials came from. Recycling metal is important, but there has to be accountability.
Senator Jeff Merkley introduced the “Truth in Labeling” bill to make it clear to everyone what products contain in terms of whether they can be recycled. It’s designed to create national standards on plastics recycling to make it easier for people to understand what plastics and metals are in the items they own and use. Whether it will pass is up for debate as California already has a Truth-in-Labeling law.
How many times have you had an electronic device that was in good shape but needed repairs? You contact the manufacturer and get an outrageous quote for the repair that makes it clear it’s cheaper to purchase a new device. Several states have passed a right-to-repair bill that allows users to fix their devices without being forced to use brand-name parts or the manufacturer’s repair department. The federal government is looking at passing a federal right-to-repair bill.
About ERI
When it comes to recycling electronics, ERI is the nation’s leader in protecting the circular economy. Whether your business makes or repairs electronic devices, uses a load of batteries, or has office equipment that must be recycled, our team is ready to help. Reach us online or by phone to learn more about our responsible recycling of e-waste.