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1) June 9 -- Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Program

EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) is developing and implementing several new programs as directed by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The public is invited to share information to inform the development of the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant program, which will fund improvements to local post-consumer materials management including municipal recycling programs and assist local waste management authorities in making improvements to local waste management systems. OLEM is seeking information from a broad array of stakeholders about needed improvements to solid waste management systems (e.g., waste reduction, collection, sorting, processing, and end-markets for reuse and recycling). Comments and information must be received on or before July 25, 2022.
 
Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is directed to develop several new solid waste recycling programs. This RFI covers the following activities established by the BIL:

Support the implementation of a strategy to improve post-consumer materials management and infrastructure;
Support improvements to local post-consumer materials management, including recycling programs; and
Assist local waste management authorities in making improvements to local solid waste management systems.

Post-consumer materials management refers to the systems, operation, supervision and long-term management of processes and equipment used for post-use material (including packaging, goods, products, and other materials), including collection; transport; and systems and processes related to post-use materials that can be recovered, reused, recycled, repaired, or refurbished.

OLEM seeks information about needed improvements to post-consumer materials management (e.g., waste reduction, collection, sorting, processing, and end-markets for reuse and recycling). This stakeholder input will inform the Agency's efforts to develop effective grant programs that improve recycling infrastructure across the nation.
 
Approximately half of global greenhouse gas emissions are the result of natural resource extraction and processing. Increasing recycling reduces climate, environmental, and social impacts of materials use, and keeps valuable resources in use instead of in landfills. Some communities that lack waste management infrastructure do not have curbside waste collection services, recycling, or composting programs, which increases the burden on our landfills, decreases their capacity, and increases greenhouse gas emissions. Mismanaged waste also can compound social and economic conditions in historically underserved and overburdened communities. Resources and commodities disposed of in landfills amount to a financial loss for recycling businesses and industries nationwide.

Save Our Seas 2.0 Act (Pub. L. 116-224) authorized EPA to create a grant program to support post-consumer materials management and recycling efforts, now known as the SWIFR program. The IIJA was the first legislation to fund EPA's SWIFR program providing EPA with $275,000,000 to award grants, in increments of $55 million per year from fiscal years 2022-2026, to remain available until expended. Grants issued under SWIFR will support implementation of a strategy to improve post-consumer materials management and infrastructure; improvements to local post-consumer materials management and recycling programs; and assist local waste management authorities in making improvements to local solid waste management systems.

EPA seeks input to guide the program design to ensure that the SWIFR program meets the actual needs for improving materials management. Materials within the scope of this request include commonly recycled and reused materials, such as aluminum, glass, paper and plastics, as well as food, organics (yard waste, tree trimmings, wood, etc.), textiles, electronics and construction and demolition materials. Biosolids, hazardous waste and industrial wastes such as coal combustion residuals or slag are not within the scope of this request. Landfilling, incineration/combustion, and energy recovery technologies are not within the scope of this request.

Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program: https://www.epa.gov/rcra/solid-waste-infrastructure-recycling-grant-program
RFI: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-12457

2) June 9 -- Recycling Education and Outreach; Grant Program and Model Recycling Program Toolkit
 
EPA is developing and implementing several new programs as directed by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This action provides the public with the opportunity to share information to inform the development of both the Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach grant program and the Model Recycling Program Toolkit. The education and outreach grants will fund programs to improve the effectiveness of residential and community recycling programs, including those that tackle waste prevention, through public education and outreach. The Model Recycling Program Toolkit is for state, local, and tribal governments to use in carrying out their programs. The Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery (ORCR) within the EPA is seeking information about effective strategies to reach consumers and encourage them to engage in activities that reduce the generation of waste, improve effective recycling, and reduce contamination in the recycling stream. This RFI seeks information from a broad array of stakeholders such as industry, researchers, academia, state, territories, local, and tribal governments, other federal agencies, community groups, non-governmental organizations, the public, international organizations, and all other stakeholders involved in education and outreach to consumers and communities on waste prevention, recycling, and composting.

Written comments and information must be received on or before July 25, 2022.
 
Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is directed to develop several new solid waste recycling programs. This RFI covers the following activities established by the law:

Establishing a grant program to fund improvements to the effectiveness of residential and community recycling programs, including those that tackle waste prevention, through public education and outreach.
Developing a model recycling program toolkit to assist states, tribes, and local governments to inform the public about residential waste prevention (e.g., source reduction, reuse, refurbishment, repair, composting) and residential or community recycling programs to improve collection rates and decrease contamination.

EPA is seeking information about effective strategies to reach consumers and encourage them to engage in activities that reduce the generation of waste, improve effective recycling, and reduce contamination in the recycling stream.

In 2018, approximately 292 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated in the United States, of which approximately 69 million tons were mechanically recycled and 25 million tons were composted. Together, 32.1 percent of MSW (about 94 million tons) was mechanically recycled or composted, preventing over 193 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from entering the atmosphere (U.S. EPA, 2020a). The National Recycling Strategy (https://www.epa.gov/​recyclingstrategy), which is part one of a series on building a circular economy for all, is focused on enhancing and advancing the national municipal solid waste recycling system. The U.S. MSW recycling system currently faces several challenges, including confusion about what materials can be recycled and how the contamination of recycled materials results in those materials being sent to landfills. Environmental benefits of advancing the U.S. recycling system include decreasing pollution and conserving energy. Preventing waste and increasing recycling reduces climate, environmental, and social impacts (pollution, health, economics) of materials use, and keeps valuable resources in use instead of in landfills.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $15 million per year for five years in funding for ORCR to administer the Consumer Recycling Education and Outreach grant program. The funding provided through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a critical opportunity for ORCR to fund a range of high-impact projects to increase recycling, reduce contamination in the recycling stream, and promote a circular economy for sustainable materials management by informing the public about residential or community recycling programs, providing information and guidance about the materials that are accepted as part of these recycling programs and overall increase collection rates and decrease contamination in the recycling stream.

Eligible entities include a state; a unit of local government; an Indian Tribe; a Native Hawaiian organization; the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; a nonprofit organization; or a public-private partnership.

Materials within the scope of this request include commonly recycled and reused materials, such as aluminum, glass, paper and plastics, as well as food, organics (yard waste, tree trimmings, wood, etc.), textiles, electronics and construction and demolition materials. Biosolids, hazardous waste and industrial wastes such as coal combustion residuals or slag are not within the scope of this request. Landfilling and incineration or combustion are not considered recycling and are not within the scope of this request.

Grant funds may be used for activities including public service announcements; door-to-door education and outreach campaigns; social media and digital outreach; an advertising campaign on recycling awareness; the development and dissemination of specific toolkits for a municipal and commercial recycling program, information on the importance of quality in the recycling stream and the economic and environmental benefits of recycling; and information on what happens to materials after the materials are placed into a residential or community recycling program; businesses recycling outreach; bin, cart, and other receptacle labeling and signs; and other education and outreach activities that are appropriate to improve recycling and reduce contamination, such as reducing waste and reusing, repairing, and refurbishing materials before they enter the recycling system.

In addition to the grants, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law requires the development of a toolkit, which will, at a minimum, include the following information; a standardized set of terms and examples to describe materials that are accepted by a residential recycling program; information that can be widely applied across residential recycling programs; best practices for the collection and processing of recycled materials; a community self-assessment guide to identify gaps in existing recycling programs; training modules that enable States and nonprofit organizations to provide technical assistance to units of local government; access to consumer educational materials that states, tribes, and units of local government can adapt and use in recycling programs; a guide to measure the outcomes or effectiveness of a grant received under the Education and Outreach grant program, including standardized measurements for recycling rates and decreases in contamination in the recycling stream.

EPA Recycling Education and Outreach: https://www.epa.gov/rcra/recycling-education-and-outreach
RFI: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-12458

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