A bipartisan bill introduced this week would provide states, municipalities, and tribal governments with financial assistance to invest in their recycling infrastructure.
Reps. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif. and Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., introduced the Realizing the Economic Opportunities and Values of Expanding Recycling (RECOVER) Act Monday. A mirror of a bill that failed to gain traction in the previous Congress, the legislation would provide $500 million of federal grants over five years for a program to be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“This bipartisan, commonsense bill is a step forward smart solution to a growing problem,” Cárdenas said in a release. “As our country continues to invest in clean energy technology, we must also invest in our recycling infrastructure. The RECOVER Act encourages local and state governments to invest in recycling programs and new technologies to increase collection rates and promote consumer education. Through public-private partnerships and a new grants program, we will help reduce our national plastic waste exports.”
Eligible uses of the funding, which could not exceed 50% of the project cost, include among other things the expansion of infrastructure that increases recycling or collection rates, the development of rural recycling systems, and the promotion of recycling education. Tribal governments are eligible, as well as states and localities.
“Without the proper recycling infrastructure in place, we will not have the capacity needed to recycle waste items and they will either end up in a landfill, our oceans, or elsewhere in the environment as litter,” Bucshon said in a statement. “We need to remain steadfast in pursuing an approach that drives economic growth and innovative technology to deliver a clean energy future — not more Washington rules and red tape.”
The bill would require that applicants to the grant program “demonstrate that the project or program shall encourage, to the maximum extent feasible, as determined by local policies, criteria, and decision making, the participation of private enterprise.”
But the National Waste & Recycling Association, which represents private sector waste management and recycling companies, said the approach doesn’t go far enough in involving its members.
“The National Waste & Recycling Association supports efforts to increase domestic recycling infrastructure, NWRA President and CEO Darrell Smith said in a release. “The lack of sufficient capacity was highlighted by the shortages of manufacturing feedstock during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. However, as is the case with President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, the RECOVER Act does not address the key role that the private sector plays in this and, in fact, places it at a competitive disadvantage.”
NWRA is urging that the bill be expanded to include tax incentives and regulatory relief for the private sector in their final language so as to level the playing field,” Smith continued. “This will allow our members to do what they do best and be leaders in overcoming our country’s current challenges.”
The major infrastructure push by the Biden administration, which is advancing a sweeping
