Tennessee lawmakers approve bill to boost state matchmaking between recycling programs and buyers

As space in Tennessee’s landfills grows more scarce, the state is aiming to ramp up recycling markets through a new advisory council and revamped Office of Cooperative Marketing for Recyclables.

Together, the entities will serve as a sort of matchmaking service between recycling programs and private companies that are seeking to buy recycled materials.

The state Senate gave final approval to a bill creating the committee — which will assess Tennessee’s recycling marketplace and recommend ways to recruit business, expand the marketplace and educate the public — on Wednesday. It will issue annual reports, with the first report due by Dec. 31.

The Tennessee General Assembly may request additional reports from the council.

The council will have 18 voting members, including representatives from private industry, the legislature, state departments, local waste officials, a conservation organization and recycling associations and companies. It will sunset on June 30, 2030, unless extended by the state legislature.

The Office of Cooperative Marketing for Recyclables within Tennessee’s Department of Environment and Conservation will create an “interactive information clearinghouse and marketing service” using voluntary information collected from recycling programs and private businesses. Its duties also include maintaining directories of regional recycling programs and buyers and an inventory of the quantities, qualities and locations of recyclables throughout the state.

Amendments added to the bill in the House and approved by the Senate on Wednesday specify that the council and the office will not expand the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s regulatory authority, nor authorize the department to dictate new reporting requirements, fees, or mandates.

The office will be funded through the solid waste management fund, and the bill carried no significant financial impact to the state, according to the General Assembly’s fiscal review committee.

The bill was borne out of ongoing deliberation in the state’s Solid Waste Task Force, which is seeking ways to divert recyclable waste from Tennessee’s quickly filling landfills. Task force chairs Sen. Shane Reeves and Rep. Chris Todd served as sponsors.

It will move to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for approval once it is signed by the House and Senate speakers.

Lawmakers once again chose not to advance the Tennessee Waste to Jobs Act, a bill that would improve Tennessee’s recycling infrastructure and education through dues paid by private companies in an “Extended Producer Responsibility” model. 

Morristown Sen. Steve Southerland, who co-sponsored this year’s version of the Waste to Jobs Act with Smithville Rep. Michael Hale, said in March that he would not move the bill forward this session, but aimed to “get people to work together.”