2022 -- H 6675

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LC003603

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- REFUSE DISPOSAL--ELIMINATION OF POST-

USE POLYMERS AND RECOVERED FEEDSTOCKS USED IN ADVANCED RECYCLING

PROCESSES FROM SOLID WASTE

     Introduced By: Representatives Tobon, Casey, Craven, and Diaz

     Date Introduced: January 06, 2022

     Referred To: House Corporations

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 23-18.9-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-18.9 entitled "Refuse

Disposal" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-18.9-7. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter, the following terms shall, where the context permits, be construed

as follows:

     (1) "Advanced recycling" means a manufacturing process for the conversion of post-use

polymers and recovered feedstocks into basic hydrocarbon raw materials, feedstocks, chemicals,

liquid fuels and other products like waxes and lubricants through processes that include pyrolysis,

gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, reforming, hydrogenation, solvolysis, and other

similar technologies. The recycled products produced at advanced recycling facilities include, but

are not limited to, monomers, oligomers, plastics, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and

unfinished chemicals, crude oil, naphtha, liquid transportation fuels, waxes, lubricants, coatings,

and other basic hydrocarbons. Advanced recycling shall not be considered resource recovery,

materials recovery, treatment, utilization, conversion, waste processing, reconstituting, recycling,

waste management, incineration, combustion, or disposal.

     (2) "Advanced recycling facility" means a facility that receives, stores and converts post-

use polymers and recovered feedstocks it receives using advanced recycling. An advanced

recycling facility is a manufacturing facility subject to applicable department manufacturing

regulations for air, water, waste, and land use. Advanced recycling facilities shall not be considered

solid waste management facilities, waste processing facilities, resource recovery facilities,

materials recovery facilities, intermediate processing facilities, or incinerators.

     (17)(3) "Anaerobic digestion facility" means a facility employing a closed vessel to

perform a closed process of accelerated biodegradation of organic materials and/or organic solid

wastes into biogas and digestate, using microorganisms under controlled conditions in the absence

of oxygen.

     (1)(4) "Beneficial reuse material" means a processed, nonhazardous, solid waste not

already defined as recyclable material by this chapter and by regulations of the Rhode Island

department of environmental management that the director has determined can be reused in an

environmentally beneficial manner without creating potential threats to public health, safety,

welfare, or the environment or creating potential nuisance conditions.

     (2)(5) "Beneficial use determination" (BUD) means the case-by-case process by which the

director evaluates a proposal to use a specific solid waste as a beneficial reuse material for a specific

purpose at a specific location within the host municipality.

     (3)(6) "Cocktailing" means the adding, combining, or mixing of hazardous waste as

defined in § 23-19.1-4 with construction debris and demolition debris.

     (16)(7) "Composting facility" means land, appurtenances, structures, or equipment where

organic materials originating from another process or location that have been separated at the point

or source of generation from nonorganic material are recovered using a process of accelerated

biological decomposition of organic material under controlled aerobic conditions.

     (4)(8) "Construction and demolition (C&D) debris" means non-hazardous solid waste

resulting from the construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition of utilities and structures and

uncontaminated solid waste resulting from land clearing. This waste includes, but is not limited to,

wood (including painted, treated, and coated wood, and wood products); land-clearing debris; wall

coverings; plaster; drywall; plumbing fixtures; non-asbestos insulation; roofing shingles and other

roof coverings; glass; plastics that are not sealed in a manner that conceals other wastes, empty

buckets ten (10) gallons or less in size and having no more than one inch of residue remaining on

the bottom; electrical wiring and components containing no hazardous liquids; and pipe and metals

that are incidental to any of the previously described waste. Solid waste that is not C&D debris

(even if resulting from the construction, remodeling, repair, and demolition of utilities, structures

and roads; land clearing) includes, but is not limited to, asbestos; waste; garbage; corrugated

container board; electrical fixtures containing hazardous liquids, such as fluorescent light ballasts

or transformers; fluorescent lights; carpeting; furniture; appliances; tires; drums; containers greater

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than ten gallons (10 gals.) in size; any containers having more than one inch of residue remaining

on the bottom; and fuel tanks. Specifically excluded from the definition of construction and

demolition debris is solid waste (including what otherwise would be construction and demolition

debris) resulting from any processing technique, other than that employed at a department-approved

C&D debris processing facility, that renders individual waste components unrecognizable, such as

pulverizing or shredding.

     (5)(9) "Construction and demolition debris processing facility" means a solid waste

management facility that receives and processes construction and demolition debris. These

facilities must demonstrate, through records maintained at the facility and provided to the

department, that seventy-five percent (75%) of all material received by the facility is processed and

removed from the site within six (6) weeks of receipt on a continuous basis, and that in no case

stores material on site for over three (3) months; provided, however, these facilities do not include

municipal compost facilities.

     (6)(10) "Construction and demolition debris separation facility" means a facility that

receives, separates, and/or screens construction and demolition debris into its components for

subsequent resale or processing that includes, but is not limited to, grinding, shredding, crushing,

or landfilling at another location separate and apart from the location on which the separation

occurs.

     (21)(11) "Covered educational facility" means a building or group of two (2) or more

interconnected buildings owned or used by a covered educational institution at which organic waste

materials are generated.

     (20)(12) "Covered educational institution" means a higher educational or research

institution.

     (19)(13) "Covered entity" means each commercial food wholesaler or distributor, industrial

food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, resort or conference center, banquet hall, restaurant,

religious institution, military installation, prison, corporation, hospital or other medical care

institution, and casino.

     (14) "Depolymerization" means a manufacturing process where post-use polymers are

broken into smaller molecules such as monomers and oligomers or raw, intermediate, or final

products, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and unfinished chemicals, crude oil, naphtha,

liquid transportation fuels, waxes, lubricants, coatings, and other basic hydrocarbons.

     (7)(15) "Director" means the director of the department of environmental management or

any subordinate or subordinates to whom the director has delegated the powers and duties vested

in him or her by this chapter.

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     (8)(16) "Expansion" means any increase in volume, size, or scope, either vertically,

horizontally, or otherwise; provided, however, that this section does not apply to the vertical

expansion of the Charlestown municipal landfill until the closure date of July 1, 2000.

     (17) "Gasification" means a manufacturing process through which recovered feedstocks

are heated and converted into a fuel-gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and the

mixture is converted into valuable raw, intermediate and final products, including, but not limited

to, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels including ethanol and transportation

fuel, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, and diesel and gasoline

blendstocks, that are returned to economic utility in the form of raw materials, products, or fuels.

     (15)(18) "Organic waste material" means the organic material portion of the solid waste

stream, including, but not limited to, food scraps, food processing residue, and soiled or

unrecyclable paper that has been separated from nonorganic material.

     (18)(19) "Other authorized recycling method" means:

     (i) Recycling organic waste material on site or treating organic waste material via on-site

organic treatment equipment permitted pursuant to the general laws or federal law; or

     (ii) Diverting organic waste material for agricultural use, including consumption by

animals.

     (9)(20) "Person" includes an individual, firm, partnership, association, and private or

municipal corporation.

     (21) "Post-use polymer" means a plastic polymer to which all of the following apply:

     (i) It is derived from any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities;

     (ii) It is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during processing at the

advanced recycling facility;

     (iii) The plastic’s use or intended use is as a feedstock for the manufacturing of crude oil,

fuels, feedstocks, blendstocks, raw materials, or other intermediate products or final products using

advanced recycling;

     (iv) The plastic has been sorted from solid waste and other regulated waste but may contain

residual amounts of solid waste such as organic material and incidental contaminants or impurities

(e.g., paper labels and metal rings); and

     (v) The plastic is processed at an advanced recycling facility or held at such facility prior

to processing. Post-use polymer shall not be considered co-mingled recyclable materials.

     (22) "Pyrolysis" means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are

heated in the absence of oxygen until melted and thermally decomposed, and are then cooled,

condensed, and converted into valuable raw, intermediate and final products, including, but not

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limited to, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels including ethanol and

transportation fuel, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, and

diesel and gasoline blendstocks, that are returned to economic utility in the form of raw materials,

products, or fuels.

     (23) "Recovered feedstock" means one or more of the following materials, derived from

recoverable waste, that has been processed in order that it may be used as feedstock in an advanced

recycling facility:

     (i) Post-use polymers;

     (ii) Materials for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a

nonwaste determination under 40 C.F.R. 241.3(c) or has otherwise determined are feedstocks and

not solid waste;

     (iii) Recoverable feedstock does not include unprocessed municipal solid waste;

     (iv) Recovered feedstock is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during

processing at an advanced recycling facility;

     (v) Recovered feedstock shall not be considered co-mingled recyclable materials.

     (10)(24) "Recyclable materials" means those materials separated from solid waste for

reuse. The director of the department of environmental management, through regulations, shall

specify those materials that are to be included within the definition of recyclables. The materials to

be included may change from time to time depending upon new technologies, economic conditions,

waste stream characteristics, environmental effects, or other factors.

     (11)(25) "Segregated solid waste" means material separated from other solid waste for

reuse. , but does not include post-use polymers or recovered feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at an advanced recycling facility;

     (ii) Held at such a facility prior to processing to ensure production is not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with intent that they will be processed at an advanced recycling facility,

but before delivery to such a facility.

     (12)(26) "Solid waste" means garbage, refuse, tree waste as defined by subsection (14) of

this section, and other discarded solid materials generated by residential, institutional, commercial,

industrial, and agricultural sources, but does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic

sewage or sewage sludge or dredge material as defined in chapter 6.1 of title 46, nor does it include

hazardous waste as defined in chapter 19.1 of this title, nor does it include used asphalt, concrete,

or Portland concrete cement. Solid waste does not include post-use polymers or recovered

feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at an advanced recycling facility;

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     (ii) Held at such a facility prior to processing; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with intent that they will be processed at an advanced recycling facility,

but before delivery to such a facility.

     (13)(27) "Solid waste management facility" means any plant, structure, equipment, real

and personal property, except mobile equipment or incinerators with a capacity of less than one

thousand pounds (1,000 lbs.) per hour, operated for the purpose of processing, treating, or disposing

of solid waste but not segregated solid waste. Any solid waste management facility that stores waste

materials containing gypsum on site over three (3) months must install and maintain an active gas

collection system approved by the department of environment management. Solid waste

management facilities do not include advanced recycling facilities.

     (28) "Solvolysis" means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are

reacted with the aid of solvents, while heated at low temperatures and/or pressurized to make useful

products while allowing additives and contaminants to be separated. The products of solvolysis,

include, but are not limited to, monomers, intermediates and valuable raw materials. The process,

includes, but is not limited to, hydrolysis, aminolysis, ammonoloysis, methanolysis and glycolysis.

     (14)(29)(i) "Tree waste" means all parts of a tree, including stumps, branches, and logs that

shall be considered solid waste for purposes of this chapter unless the tree waste meets the following

criteria:

     (A) The tree waste remains on the property where it was generated; or

     (B) The tree waste remains in the possession of the person who generated it and is stored

above the ground surface, on property that the same person controls, for purposes of recycling and

reuse; or

     (C) The tree waste, whether generated on or off-site, is being actively managed as a usable

wood product such as landscape mulch, wood chips, firewood, or mulch.

     (ii) The application of the criteria set forth in this section shall not be deemed to abrogate,

diminish, or impair the enforcement of the requirements established pursuant to chapter 28.1 of this

title or the authority of the state and/or a city or town to protect the public health, safety, or welfare

from a public nuisance resulting from the storage and handling of tree waste.

     SECTION 2. Section 23-19-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-19 entitled "Rhode Island

Resource Recovery Corporation" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     23-19-5. Definitions.

     The following words and phrases have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless

the context clearly indicates otherwise:

     (1) "Advanced recycling" means a manufacturing process for the conversion of post-use

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polymers and recovered feedstocks into basic hydrocarbon raw materials, feedstocks, chemicals,

liquid fuels and other products like waxes and lubricants through processes that include pyrolysis,

gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, reforming, hydrogenation, solvolysis, and other

similar technologies. The recycled products produced at advanced recycling facilities include, but

are not limited to, monomers, oligomers, plastics, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and

unfinished chemicals, crude oil, naphtha, liquid transportation fuels, waxes, lubricants, coatings,

and other basic hydrocarbons. Advanced recycling shall not be considered resource recovery,

materials recovery, treatment, utilization, conversion, waste processing, reconstituting, recycling,

waste management, incineration, combustion, or disposal.

     (2) "Advanced recycling facility" means a facility that receives, stores and converts post-

use polymers and recovered feedstocks it receives using advanced recycling. An advanced

recycling facility is a manufacturing facility subject to applicable department manufacturing

regulations for air, water, waste, and land use. Advanced recycling facilities shall not be considered

solid waste management facilities, waste processing facilities, resource recovery facilities,

materials recovery facilities, intermediate processing facilities, or incinerators.

     (1)(3) "Bonds and notes" means bonds, including without limitation refunding bonds,

notes, including without limitation renewal notes and bond anticipation notes, and other obligations

or evidences of indebtedness of the corporation issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter

and the resolutions of the corporation.

     (2)(4) "Central landfill" means the central landfill located in Johnston.

     (3)(5) "Corporation" means the Rhode Island resource recovery corporation created and

established pursuant to this chapter.

     (6) "Depolymerization" means a manufacturing process where post-use polymers are

broken into smaller molecules such as monomers and oligomers or raw, intermediate, or final

products, plastics and chemical feedstocks, basic and unfinished chemicals, crude oil, naphtha,

liquid transportation fuels, waxes, lubricants, coatings, and other basic hydrocarbons.

     (7) "Gasification" means a manufacturing process through which recovered feedstocks are

heated and converted into a fuel-gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and the mixture

is converted into valuable raw, intermediate and final products, including, but not limited to, crude

oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels including ethanol and transportation fuel,

plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, and diesel and gasoline

blendstocks, that are returned to economic utility in the form of raw materials, products, or fuels.

     (4)(8) "Landfill revenues" means the surplus, if any, of all tipping fees and other revenues

received at the central landfill over the annual costs of the landfill, and a pro-rata share of the

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corporation's administrative expenses.

     (5)(9) "Municipal solid waste" means that solid waste generated by the residents of a

municipality in the course of their daily living, the disposal of which the governing body of that

municipality has undertaken in the discharge of its duties to protect the health of the municipality.

Municipal solid waste does not include solid waste generated by residents of a municipality in the

course of their employment or that generated by any manufacturing or commercial enterprise.

     (6)(10) "Municipal solid waste disposal arrangements" means those arrangements entered

into by a municipality which provide for the final disposal of wastes in a manner approved by the

department of health, the department of environmental management, and the corporation; provided,

however, that the disposal of wastes in transfer stations or facilities for interim storage shall not

constitute final disposal of the wastes.

     (7)(11) "Municipality" means any town or city within the state.

     (8)(12) "Person" means any individual, firm, institution, partnership, association or

corporation, public, or private, organized or existing under the laws of the state or other states

including federal corporations, but excluding municipalities.

     (13) "Post-use polymer" means a plastic polymer to which all of the following apply:

     (i) It is derived from any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities;

     (ii) It is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during processing at the

advanced recycling facility;

     (iii) The plastic’s use or intended use is as a feedstock for the manufacturing of crude oil,

fuels, feedstocks, blendstocks, raw materials, or other intermediate products or final products using

advanced recycling;

     (iv) The plastic has been sorted from solid waste and other regulated waste but may contain

residual amounts of solid waste such as organic material and incidental contaminants or impurities

(e.g., paper labels and metal rings); and

     (v) The plastic is processed at an advanced recycling facility or held at such facility prior

to processing. Post-use polymer shall not be considered co-mingled recyclable materials.

     (9)(14) "Project" means the design, acquisition, ownership, operation, construction,

rehabilitation, improvement, development, sale, lease, or other disposition of, or the provision of

financing for, any solid waste management facility or the industrial and/or business parks in the

town of Johnston authorized by § 23-19-9(a)(7) and the highway access authorized by § 23-19-

10.3.

     (15) "Pyrolysis" means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are

heated in the absence of oxygen until melted and thermally decomposed, and are then cooled,

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condensed, and converted into valuable raw, intermediate and final products, including, but not

limited to, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, home heating oil or other fuels including ethanol and

transportation fuel, plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, and

diesel and gasoline blendstocks, that are returned to economic utility in the form of raw materials,

products, or fuels.

     (16) "Recovered feedstock" means one or more of the following materials, derived from

recoverable waste, that has been processed so that it may be used as feedstock in an advanced

recycling facility:

     (i) Post-use polymers;

     (ii) Materials for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency has made a

nonwaste determination under 40 C.F.R. 241.3(c) or has otherwise determined are feedstocks and

not solid waste;

     (iii) Recoverable feedstock does not include unprocessed municipal solid waste;

     (iv) Recovered feedstock is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during

processing at an advanced recycling facility;

     (v) Recovered feedstock shall not be considered co-mingled recyclable materials.

     (10)(17) "Recyclable materials" means those materials separated from solid waste for

reuse. The director of the department of environmental management through regulations shall

specify those materials that are to be included within the definition of recyclables. The materials to

be included may change from time to time depending upon new technologies, economic conditions,

characteristics of the waste stream, environmental effects, or other factors.

     (11)(18) "Recycling" means the reuse of recovered resources in manufacturing, agriculture,

power production, or other processes.

     (12)(19) "Resource recovery" means the processing of solid wastes in such a way as to

produce materials or energy that may be used in manufacturing, agriculture, and other processes.

     (13)(20) "Resource recovery system" means the corporation's integrated system of resource

recovery consisting of a series of waste processing facilities designed to process a minimum of

seventy percent (70%) of the municipal and commercial solid waste streams by employing an on-

site waste separation technology for the purpose of recycling and/or reusing a minimum of seventy

percent (70%) of the solid waste stream, and minimal use of landfills for the purpose of providing

temporary backup or bypass landfill capacity and residue disposal from waste processing facilities

and any other related facilities and services.

     (14)(21) "Resource recovery system costs" means all operating costs of the system; debt

service and other financing costs related to the resource recovery system; the costs of recycling

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grants-in-aid and similar obligations of the corporation; allocations for extraordinary and

unexpected costs; and a pro-rata share of the corporation's administrative expenses.

     (15)(22) "Resource recovery system revenues" means all amounts received by the

corporation as municipal tipping fees, non-municipal tipping fees, energy revenues, revenues from

the sale of recyclable materials, and all other revenues received with respect to the resource

recovery system, but shall not include any landfill revenues and any amounts received as a state

subsidy.

     (16)(23) "Revenues" means monies or income received by the corporation in whatever

form, including but not limited to fees, charges, lease payments, interest payments on investments,

payments due and owing on account of an instrument, contract, or agreement between the

corporation, any municipality, or person, gifts, grants, or any other monies or payments to which

the corporation is entitled under the provisions of this chapter or any other law, or of any agreement,

contract, or indenture.

     (17)(24) "Segregated solid waste" means material which has been separated from the waste

stream at the generation source for the purpose of recovering and recycling the materials. , but does

not include post-use polymers or recovered feedstocks that are:

     (i) Processed at an advanced recycling facility;

     (ii) Held at such a facility prior to processing to insure production is not interrupted; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at an advanced recycling

facility, but before delivery to such a facility.

     (18)(25) "Solid waste" means garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water

supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded materials, including

solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material generated by residential, institutional,

commercial, industrial, and agricultural sources but does not include solids or dissolved materials

in domestic sewage. Solid waste does not include post-use polymers or recovered feedstocks that

are:

     (i) Processed at an advanced recycling facility;

     (ii) Held at such a facility prior to processing; or

     (iii) Stored off-site with the intent that they will be processed at an advanced recycling

facility, but before delivery to such a facility.

     (19)(26) "Solid waste management facility" means any plant, structure, equipment, and

other property, real, personal, or mixed, or the modification or replacement of any of the foregoing,

for the receipt, storage, treatment, utilization, processing, transporting, or final disposition of or

recovery of resources from solid waste other than segregated solid waste, or any facility which

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disposes of solid waste by reconstituting, converting, or otherwise recycling it into material which

is not waste; or any property or system to be used in whole or in part for any of the previously

mentioned purposes, whether or not another purpose is also served by it; or any other property or

system incidental to, or which has to do with, or the end purpose of which, is any of the foregoing;

or any combination of two (2) or more of the foregoing. Solid waste management facilities do not

include advanced recycling facilities.

     (27) "Solvolysis" means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are

reacted with the aid of solvents, while heated at low temperatures and/or pressurized to make useful

products while allowing additives and contaminants to be separated. The products of solvolysis,

include, but are not limited to, monomers, intermediates and valuable raw materials. The process,

includes, but is not limited to, hydrolysis, aminolysis, ammonoloysis, methanolysis and glycolysis.

     (20)(28) "Statewide resource recovery system development plan" means that plan which

will specify the location, size, and type of solid waste management facilities that may be required

to develop an integrated statewide resource recovery system for the effective management of solid

waste in Rhode Island. It will also specify a proposed schedule by which the component facilities

will be phased into the statewide system, and it will provide for the administrative and financial

requirements for implementing the plan.

     (21)(29) "Waste management" means actions taken to effectuate the receipt, storage,

transportation, and processing for resource recovery and recycling, or for the ultimate disposal, of

solid waste.

     (22)(30) "Waste processing facility" means a solid waste facility employing recycling

based technology employing an on-site waste separation technology designed to process both

nonsource separated and source separated solid waste for the purpose of recycling, and/or

composting, and/or reusing a minimum of seventy percent (70%) of the municipal and commercial

solid waste streams.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- REFUSE DISPOSAL--ELIMINATION OF POST-

USE POLYMERS AND RECOVERED FEEDSTOCKS USED IN ADVANCED RECYCLING

PROCESSES FROM SOLID WASTE

***

     This act would exempt post-use polymers and recovered feedstocks used in advanced

recycling processes from the definition of solid waste.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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