By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

(TRENTON) – A bill designed to encourage New Jersey State government to purchase recycled items and material was released on Monday by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee.

The measure, (A-2783), seeks to have the state set an example for the private sector by putting its purchasing power behind products containing recycled content.  The bill would require that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) develop and update guidelines for State and local agencies when entering into contracts for the purchase of recycled goods.

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The Assembly committee amended the bill to:

1) Require that the guidelines to be developed pursuant to the bill may be based upon, or incorporate by reference, guidelines developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, including but not limited to the recommended recovered materials content levels specified in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Consolidated Recovered Materials Advisory Notice;

2) Specify that the requirement to review and modify bid and product specifications applies to the Director of the Division of Purchase and Property in the Department of the Treasury, the Director of the Division of Property Management and Construction in the Department of the Treasury, and any State agency having authority to contract for the purchase of goods or services and provide that bid and product specifications would be modified to the extent practical and feasible; and

3) Provide that bill would not apply to bid and product specifications for the purchase of goods or services entered into prior to the effective date of the bill, as well as bid packages advertised and made available to the public, or to any competitive and sealed bids received by the State, prior to the effective date of the legislation.

Following the bill’s release, sponsors Sterley Stanley (D-Middlesex), Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen), and Robert Karabinchak (D-Middlesex) issued the following joint statement:

“There is a big market for recycled material that has been hit hard the past few years.  This bill will spearhead the purchase of recycled contents in public projects and increase the overall market.  Not only will it help the market further excel, but by using goods with a high percentage of recycled material, we can also further our goal toward a clean and healthy environment.

Other NJ bills aimed at stimulating recycled material markets

Since China banned the import of recyclable material from other countries, New Jersey’s recycling industry and environmental organizations have been lobbying state and federal lawmakers to help stimulate new domestic markets for paper, plastic, glass and other materials formerly absorbed by the Chinese.

A number of bills designed to help, like A2783 (above), have been introduced this session in New Jersey,:

Perhaps the most significant is S2515, sponsored by Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex, who chairs the Environment and Energy Committee. Smith’s bill would establish post-consumer, recycled-content requirements for rigid plastic containers, glass containers, paper and plastic carryout bags, and plastic trash bags. The bill was the subject of several hearings and amendments prior to its release from Smith’s committee in December. It subsequently was referred to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

The measure is patterned on a ‘recycled-content’ law in California and has the support of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection plus a large number of recycling industry and environmental organizations.

Bills also have been introduced to establish a Recycling Markets Advisory Council and to reconstitute the state’s Solid Waste Advisory Council which essentially went out of business when member appointments expired and new members were not named during the eight-year administration of former Gov. Chris Christie.

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