Top: Charles Levell Hairston (left), Vice President and General Manager for Recycling and Recovered Fiber, International Paper; Pashon Murray (center), Founder, Detroit Dirt; Rhodes Yepsen (right), Executive Director, Biodegradable Products Institute testifying at Senate hearing on composting and recycling. Official U.S. Senate photo by Renee Bouchard
The Senate Committee Environment and Public Works held a hearing on February 2, 2022, entitled “Legislative Proposals to Improve Domestic Recycling and Composting Programs.” The hearing featured a panel of witnesses, including Rhodes Yepsen, Executive Director, Biodegradable Products Institute; Pashon Murray, Founder, Detroit Dirt; Benjamin Harvey, President, E.L. Harvey & Sons Inc.; and Charles Levell Hairston, VP and General Manager for Recycling and Recovered Fiber, International Paper. The witnesses provided input on two bills related to composting and recycling:
Recycling and Composting Accountability Act
Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act of 2022
The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act calls for the EPA to track the capability of the United States to implement a national residential composting strategy for compostable materials. Included are provisions to do the following:
- Evaluation of laws that may present barriers to implementation of a national residential composting strategy
- Evaluation of existing composting programs
- Description of best practices based on those programs
- Evaluation of existing composting infrastructure
- Conduct study of the practices of manufacturers and companies that are moving to use compostable packaging and foodservice ware for the purpose of making the composting process the end-of-life use of those products
The BioCycle 2021 Residential Food Scraps Collection Access Study was discussed during the hearing as an example of existing data and data gaps.
