ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT AND SOLID WASTE COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 5803

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 14, 2021

      The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 5803.

      This bill would exempt plastic material transported and delivered to, and processed at, an advanced plastic processing facility from State laws regulating the disposal or recycling of solid waste.  However, the bill would provide that advanced plastic processing facilities are subject to all other State and federal laws, including environmental laws.  The bill would also provide that the terms "advanced plastic processing" and "advanced plastic processing facility" are distinct from various other terms related to solid waste, as described in section 2 of the bill.

      The bill would also amend the definition of "solid waste" in the "Solid Waste Management Act" (SWMA), P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), to exclude source separated plastic material that is transported and delivered to, and processed at, an advanced plastic processing facility.  The bill would thus exclude this type of plastic from the substantive provisions of the SWMA, which, among other things, gives the Department of Environmental Protection the authority to regulate solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal.

      The bill would define an "advanced plastic processing facility" as a facility that receives, stores, and processes plastic material generated from industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activities, transforming it into useable products, including but not limited to plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, chemical feedstocks, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, or home heating oil, using chemical processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, and solvolysis.