This Act may be cited as the “Recycling and Composting Accountability Act”.

(a) In general.—In this Act:

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

(2) CIRCULAR MARKET.—The term “circular market” means a market that utilizes industrial processes and economic activities to enable post-industrial and post-consumer materials used in those processes and activities to maintain their highest values for as long as possible.

(3) COMPOST.—The term “compost” means a product that—

(A) is manufactured through the controlled aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegradable materials;

(B) has been subjected to medium and high temperature organisms, which—

(i) significantly reduce the viability of pathogens and weed seeds; and

(ii) stabilize carbon in the product such that the product is beneficial to plant growth; and

(C) is typically used as a soil amendment, but may also contribute plant nutrients.

(4) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.—The term “compostable material” means material that is a feedstock for creating compost, including—

(A) wood;

(B) agricultural crops;

(C) paper;

(D) certified compostable products associated with organic waste;

(E) other organic plant material;

(F) marine products;

(G) organic waste, including food waste and yard waste; and

(H) such other material that is composed of biomass that can be continually replenished or renewed, as determined by the Administrator.

(5) COMPOSTING FACILITY.—The term “composting facility” means a location, structure, or device that transforms compostable materials into compost.

(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term “Indian Tribe” has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).

(7) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term “materials recovery facility” means a dedicated facility where primarily residential recyclable materials, which are diverted from disposal by the generator and collected separately from municipal solid waste, are mechanically or manually sorted into commodities for further processing into specification-grade commodities for sale to end users.

(B) EXCLUSION.—The term “materials recovery facility” does not include a solid waste management facility that may process municipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials.

(8) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term “recyclable material” means a material that is obsolete, previously used, off-specification, surplus, or incidentally produced for processing into a specification-grade commodity for which a circular market currently exists or is being developed.

(9) RECYCLING.—The term “recycling” means the series of activities—

(A) during which recyclable materials are processed into specification-grade commodities, and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new products;

(B) that may include sorting, collection, processing, and brokering; and

(C) that result in subsequent consumption by a materials manufacturer, including for the manufacturing of new products.

(10) STATE.—The term “State” has the meaning given the term in section 1004 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903).

(b) Definition of processing.—In paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a), the term “processing” means any mechanical, manual, or other method that—

(1) transforms a recyclable material into a specification-grade commodity; and

(2) may occur in multiple steps, with different steps, including sorting, occurring at different locations.

It is the sense of Congress that—

The Administrator, in consultation with States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall—

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 2033, the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the Administrator, shall make publicly available a report describing—

(a) Inventory of materials recovery facilities.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Administrator, in consultation with States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall—

(1) prepare an inventory of public and private materials recovery facilities in the United States, including—

(A) the number of materials recovery facilities in each unit of local government in each State; and

(B) a description of the materials that each materials recovery facility can process, including—

(i) in the case of plastic, a description of—

(I) the types of accepted resin, if applicable; and

(II) the packaging or product format, such as a jug, a carton, or film;

(ii) food packaging and service ware, such as a bottle, cutlery, or a cup;

(iii) paper;

(iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum beverage can, food can, aerosol can, or foil;

(v) steel, such as a steel food or aerosol can;

(vi) other scrap metal;

(vii) glass; or

(viii) any other material not described in any of clauses (i) through (vii) that a materials recovery facility can process; and

(2) submit the inventory prepared under paragraph (1) to Congress.

(b) Establishment of a comprehensive baseline of data for the United States recycling system.—The Administrator, in consultation with States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall determine, with respect to the United States—

(1) the number of community curbside recycling and composting programs;

(2) the number of community drop-off recycling and composting programs;

(3) the types and forms of materials accepted by each community curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, or composting program;

(4) the number of individuals with access to recycling and composting services to at least the extent of access to disposal services;

(5) the number of individuals with barriers to accessing recycling and composting services to at least the extent of access to disposal services;

(6) the inbound contamination and capture rates of community curbside recycling, drop-off recycling, or composting programs;

(7) where applicable, other available recycling or composting programs within a community, including store drop-offs; and

(8) the average costs and benefits to States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes of recycling and composting programs.

(c) Standardization of recycling reporting rates.—

(1) COLLECTION OF RATES.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may use amounts made available under section 9 to biannually collect from each State the nationally standardized rate of recyclable materials in that State that have been successfully diverted from the waste stream and brought to a materials recovery facility or composting facility.

(B) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSINESS INFORMATION.—Information collected under subparagraph (A) shall not include any confidential or proprietary business information, as determined by the Administrator.

(2) USE.—Using amounts made available under section 9, the Administrator may use the rates collected under paragraph (1) to further assist States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes—

(A) to reduce the overall waste produced by the States and units of local government; and

(B) to increase recycling and composting rates.

(d) Report on end markets.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consultation with States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall—

(A) provide an update to the report submitted under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) to include an addendum on the end-market sale of all recyclable materials, in addition to recycled plastics as described in that section, from materials recovery facilities that process recyclable materials collected from households and publicly available recyclable materials drop-off centers, including—

(i) the total, in dollars per ton, domestic sales of bales of recyclable materials; and

(ii) the total, in dollars per ton, international sales of bales of recyclable materials;

(B) prepare a report on the end-market sale of compost from all compostable materials collected from households and publicly available compost drop-off centers, including the total, in dollars per ton, of domestic sales of compostable materials; and

(C) not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the update to the report prepared under subparagraph (A) and the report prepared under subparagraph (B).

(2) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY BUSINESS INFORMATION.—Information collected under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) shall not include any confidential or proprietary business information, as determined by the Administrator.

(a) In general.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a metric for determining the proportion of recyclable materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that are being diverted from a circular market.

(b) Study; report.—Not later than 1 year after the development of a metric under subsection (a), the Administrator shall conduct a study of, and submit to Congress a report on, the proportion of recyclable materials in commercial and municipal waste streams that, during each of the 10 calendar years preceding the year of submission of the report, were diverted from a circular market.

(c) Data.—The report under subsection (b) shall provide data on specific recyclable materials, including aluminum, plastics, paper and paperboard, textiles, and glass, that were prevented from remaining in a circular market through disposal or elimination, and to what use those specific recyclable materials were lost.

(d) Evaluation.—The report under subsection (b) shall include an evaluation of whether the establishment or improvement of recycling programs would—

(1) improve recycling rates; or

(2) reduce the quantity of recyclable materials being unutilized in a circular market.

The Administrator shall—

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to carry out this Act $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.