HB460 Alabama 2023 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Terri CollinsRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2023

Title

To amend Section 22-27-2 of the Code of Alabama 1975, the Solid Waste and Recyclable Materials Management Act; to amend the definitions under the act; to define "advanced recycling" and to specify that advanced recycling would not be considered as solid waste disposal, solid waste processing, solid waste management, or incineration; and to define "mill scale and slag" and include the term in the definition of solid waste.

Summary

HB460 defines 'advanced recycling' and states it is not solid waste disposal or incineration, and defines 'mill scale and slag' as steelmaking co-products within the act's definitions.

What This Bill Does

Defines advanced recycling as a manufacturing process that converts recovered materials into basic raw materials and other products using technologies like pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, reforming, hydrogenation, solvolysis, and chemolysis. It specifies that advanced recycling activities at an advanced recycling facility are not considered solid waste disposal or incineration, and that converting post-use polymers into fuels is not recycled unless done as raw materials for new products under third-party certified mass balance. It creates a mass balance attribution system (third-party certification) to track how much advanced recycling feedstock becomes finished products and designates facilities performing advanced recycling as recovered materials processing facilities. It also defines mill scale and slag as steelmaking co-products and clarifies they are not solid waste under the act.

Who It Affects

• Advanced recycling facilities and plastics manufacturers: their processes could be formally recognized as recycling, supported by a third-party mass balance system for content claims, and not treated as waste disposal.
• Solid waste regulators, local governments, and waste management entities: definitions are updated to treat advanced recycling facilities as recovered materials processing facilities and to clarify that mill scale and slag are not solid waste, affecting regulatory interpretation and permitting.

Key Provisions

• Definition of ADVANCED RECYCLING, listing technologies (e.g., pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, reforming, hydrogenation, solvolysis, chemolysis) and explicit exclusions (not incineration or waste-to-energy; fuels are not recycled products) and the rule that conversion of materials into raw materials for new products under third‑party certified mass balance is considered recycled; advanced recycling facilities are treated as recovered materials processing facilities.
• Definition of MILL SCALE AND SLAG as steelmaking co-products managed as value-added items, with the term treated as not constituting solid waste under the act (i.e., excluded from solid waste); clarification that mill scale and slag are not hazardous waste and are not regulated as solid waste.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Recycling, advanced recycling defined, not considered solid waste recycling or incineration under solid waste act