Posted: | August 1, 2019 03:11 PM |
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From: | Representative Ryan E. Mackenzie |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Advanced Recycling Legislation |
In the near future, I intend to introduce legislation to ensure that advanced recycling and recovery technologies that convert post-use plastics into valuable raw materials are regulated as manufacturers, and that the post-use plastics they recycle are not misclassified as solid waste. Recycling and recovery technologies represent an emerging market and provide the ability to remove plastics from the waste stream by converting them into valuable feedstock for new materials. Treating post-use plastics as raw materials for “manufacturing” and not “waste” will remove the barriers of misclassifying this emerging industry and promote continued innovation and investment. The current law does not clearly classify these new technologies as manufacturing and this legislation will provide regulatory certainty as the post-use plastics and recycling industry grows. Advanced recycling and recovery facilities can process post-use plastics into new plastics and chemicals, raw materials for manufacturing, and transportation fuels that have lower emissions than conventional fuels. Converting these resources into new feedstocks and fuels complements existing mechanical recycling and reduces the amount of material sent to landfills. With China’s recent rejection of U.S. waste plastics, it is critically important that we advance policies and a regulatory framework that will allow these technologies to flourish. As we work to address challenges around pollution, innovators through the free market have provided a possible solution. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation to provide regulatory certainty to these advanced recycling and recovery facilities. |
Introduced as HB1808