Sponsored by:
Senator VIN GOPAL
District 11 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Directs DEP to select consultant to perform Statewide needs assessment regarding recycling of packaging products; establishes Statewide Recycling Needs Assessment Advisory Council in DEP; appropriates $500,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the recycling of packaging products and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
"Advisory council" means the Statewide Recycling Needs Assessment Advisory Council established pursuant to section 2 of this act.
"ASTM" means ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, the international organization that develops and publishes technical standards.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Environmental Protection.
"Compostable material" means a material designed to contact, contain, or carry a product, that can be collected for composting and that is capable of undergoing aerobic biological decomposition in a controlled composting system as demonstrated by meeting ASTM D6400, ASTM D6868, or any successor standards.
"Composting rate" means the percentage of discarded materials that are managed through composting, calculated by dividing the total weight of all packaging that is collected for composting by the total weight of all packaging sold, distributed, or served to consumers in the State during the study period.
"Covered entity" means a person or entity responsible for: (1) a single or multifamily residence, either individually or jointly through a unit of local government; (2) a public or private school for grades kindergarten through 12th grade; (3) a State or local government facility; or (4) a public space, including, but not limited to, a park, trail, transit station, or a pedestrian area for which the State or a unit of local government is responsible.
"Curbside recycling" means the collection of recyclable materials from covered entities at the site where the recyclable materials are generated.
"Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.
"Drop-off recycling" means the collection of recyclable material from covered entities at one or more centralized sites.
"Hauler" means a person who collects recyclable or compostable materials and transports them to an MRF or compost facility, or to an intermediate facility from which materials are then transported to an MRF or compost facility.
"Material recovery facility" or "MRF" means the same as the term is defined in section 3 of P.L.2007, c.311 (C.13:1E-96.4).
"Overburdened community" means the same as that term is defined by section 2 of P.L.2020, c.92 (C.13:1D-158).
"Packaging" means a discrete material or category of material, regardless of recyclability, that is: (1) used to protect, contain, transport, or serve a product; (2) sold or supplied to consumers expressly for the purpose of protecting, containing, transporting, or serving products; (3) attached to a product or its container for the purpose of marketing or communicating information about the product; (4) supplied at the point of sale to facilitate the delivery of the product; or (5) supplied to or purchased by consumers expressly for the purpose of facilitating food or beverage consumption and ordinarily disposed of after a single use or short-term use, whether or not it could be reused. "Packaging" includes packaging composed of paper, plastic, glass, metal, or multi-material.
"Person" means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, firm, company, limited liability company, corporation, association, joint-stock company, trust, estate, political subdivision including the Department of Environmental Protection, or any other legal entity, or the entity's legal representative, agent, or assign.
"Postconsumer material" means packaging that has served its intended end use as a consumer item. "Postconsumer material" does not include a byproduct or waste material generated during or after the completion of a manufacturing or converting process.
"Postconsumer recycled content" means the portion of an item of packaging made from postconsumer material that has been recycled.
"Recycling" means a method, technique, or process designed to remove any contaminant from waste so as to render such waste reusable, or any process by which materials that would otherwise be disposed of or discarded are collected, separated, or processed and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products. "Recycling" does not include landfill disposal of packaging or the residue resulting from the processing of packaging at an MRF, use as alternative daily cover or any other beneficial use at a landfill, incineration, energy recovery, or energy generation by means of combustion, or final conversion of packaging or their components and by-products to a fuel.
"Recycling rate" means the percentage of packaging that is recycled and returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products rather than being disposed of or discarded, calculated by dividing the total weight of packaging that is collected for recycling by the total weight of packaging sold, distributed, or served to consumers in the State during the study period, not including the residue that is landfilled after processing by an MRF.
"Reusable" means that a product is: (1) designed to be refilled, at home or via a return system, and used repeatedly for its original intended purpose; and (2) safe for washing and sanitizing according to applicable food safety laws.
"Reuse" means the return of packaging to the economic stream for use in the same kind of application intended for the original packaging without effectuating a change in the original composition of the package.
"Statewide recycling needs assessment" or "needs assessment" means the study of the recycling, composting, and reuse conditions for packaging in the State, conducted by an entity selected by the department pursuant to section 2 of this act.
"Study period" means the period represented by the data compiled and analyzed in the Statewide recycling needs assessment conducted pursuant to section 2 of this act.
2. a. The department shall issue a competitive solicitation to select a qualified consultant to conduct a Statewide recycling needs assessment to assess recycling, composting, and reuse conditions for packaging in the State, including identifying current conditions and an evaluation of the capacity, costs, gaps, and needs associated with recycling and the diversion of packaging. The department shall select the consultant no later than January 15, 2026. The needs assessment shall be funded by the department, using moneys appropriated for that purpose, including those appropriated pursuant to section 5 of this act.
b. Except as provided by section 4 of this act, all packaging sold, offered for sale, distributed, or imported into the State shall be included in the needs assessment.
c. The needs assessment shall address, at a minimum, the following factors for covered entities:
(1) the quantity, by weight and type, of packaging sold, offered for sale, distributed, or served to consumers in the State by material type and format;
(2) current collection systems for packaging in the State, including for reuse, recycling, composting, and disposal;
(3) the quantity, by weight, of municipal solid waste disposed of on a county-by-county basis for all counties in the State;
(4) th