| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 9/17/26 | MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Aragon, Communications Manager 720-327-2523 [email protected] |
DENVER — On Wednesday, September 16, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 28–19 to advance the Recycled Materials Attribution Act (H.R. 7502), federal legislation cosponsored by Colorado Representative Gabe Evans. GreenLatinos is concerned the legislation could undermine recycling transparency and accountability standards Colorado has worked to establish, including state policies championed by Senator Lisa Cutter.
The committee also advanced the Packaging and Claims Knowledge (PACK) Act (H.R. 6832) by a 25–18 vote.
The RMAA would authorize all versions of mass balance accounting, including free allocation and book-and-claim, which are not permitted in Colorado as authorized accounting. In mechanical recycling, old plastics are pelletized into new pellets and then used in the manufacturing of new plastics. In chemical recycling processes such as pyrolysis, plastics are heated without oxygen to break them down into liquids and gases that can be further processed into materials for new plastics or converted into fuels. Colorado law expressly excludes “use as a fuel” from the statutory definition of recycling in C.R.S. § 25-17-703. The materials generated are not tracked to the production of new plastics. This law would allow the claims that they are used again in plastic production without proof. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has rejected mass balance free allocation, which the federal RMAA would legitimize. This is important because Colorado statutes indicate that plastic to “fuel is not recycling”.
Other states have made similar decisions, including California, Oregon, and Maine. In 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency, addressing the same concerns, found Mass Balance accounting to be deceptive.
Colorado does not have a chemical recycler for plastics; the most recent effort to build one in Fruita received staunch opposition due to issues of emissions that come from the use of pyrolysis fuel oil and the impacts to human health. Emissions from chemical recycling facilities known as “pyrolysis” incinerators include PM2.5, Volatile Organic Compounds, formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), and other volatile/semi-volatile organic compounds, although actual emissions depend on the feedstock, refining, and combustion conditions.
"We have worked hard to ensure that Colorodan's have faith that the materials they put in their recycling bin actually get recycled." said Brian Loma, Hazardous Materials and Waste Diversion Advocate for GreenLatinos Colorado, "the RMAA was written to overturn our rules and promote deceptive practices that we have rejected as a state."
“Californians have some of the most comprehensive understanding of what is and is not recycling. Yet, while Latinos have such high rates of cumulative pollution burdens, it is abhorrent for the same industry we have regulated to try to circumvent our state laws by moving forth such disastrous federal legislation,” – Pedro Hernandez, GreenLatinos California Program Director.
Quote - Eco-Cycle - who championed Expanded Producer Responsibility.
"Eco-Cycle is deeply disappointed with the PACK Act and RMA Act passing a committee vote today," said Ryan Call, Policy and Campaigns Specialist for Eco-Cycle. "Eco-Cycle and our allies have worked for years to ensure that recycling claims are verifiable and transparent and reflect what is actually happening in our recycling plants and programs. Unfortunately, these bills legalize the deceptive practices and misleading recycling claims being used by bad actors in the plastics industry."
Quote Senator Lisa Cutter, champion of Colorado Extended Producer Responsibility
“The Recycled Materials Attribution Act will reduce the transparency in recycling that many of us have been working to ensure and will negatively influence consumer behavior,” said Senator Lisa Cutter. “Suggesting that the oil used from pyrolysis – an environmentally harmful process – should count as recycled content is misleading and dangerous. This is a blatant attempt by industry to protect the harmful practice of pyrolysis and perpetuate the use of plastic and toxins."
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About GreenLatinos
(NOTE: GreenLatinos is ONE WORD) GreenLatinos convenes an active comunidad of environmental, conservation, and climate justice leaders rooted in the power and wisdom of our culture, united to uplift our priorities, and driven to secure our political, economic, cultural, and environmental liberation.
