SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 114
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Commerce
Brief*
SB 114, as amended, would define advance recycling
and related terms and provide exemptions to solid waste
management system and similar terms.
Definitions
The bill would define the term “advanced recycling” as a
manufacturing process where already sorted post-use
polymers and recovered feedstocks are purchased and then
converted into basic raw materials, feedstocks, chemicals,
and other products through processes that include, but are
not limited to, pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization,
catalytic cracking, reforming, hydrogenation, solvolysis,
chemolysis, and other similar technologies.
The bill would also state that the term “advanced
recycling” does not include the incineration of plastics or
waste-to-energy processes or products sold as fuel.
The bill would also define the following terms:
●“Advanced recycling facility” would mean a
manufacturing facility that:
○Receives, stores, and converts post-use
polymers and recovered feedstocks that are
processed using advanced recycling;
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org ○Is a manufacturing facility subject to
applicable Kansas Department of Health and
Environment (KDHE) manufacturing
regulations; and
○KDHE could inspect to ensure that post-use
polymers are used as a raw material for
advanced recycling and are not refuse or solid
waste;
●“Mass balance attribution” would mean a chain of
custody accounting methodology with rules defined
by a third-party certification system that enables
the attribution of the mass of advanced recycling
feedstocks to one or more advanced recycling
products;
●“Post-use polymer” would mean a plastic that:
○Is derived from any industrial, commercial, or
agricultural, or domestic activities and
includes pre-consumer recovered materials
and post-consumer materials;
○Has been sorted from solid waste and other
regulated waste but may contain residual
amounts of waste such as organic material
and incidental contaminants or impurities;
○Is not mixed with solid waste or hazardous
waste on site or during processing at the
advanced recycling facility;
○Is used or intended to be used as a feedstock
for the manufacturing of feedstocks, raw
materials, or other immediate products or final
products using advanced recycling; and
○Is processed at an advanced recycling facility
or held as such facility prior to processing;
●“Recovered feedstock” would mean one or more of
the following materials that has been processed so
2- 114 that it may be used as feedstock in an advanced
recycling facility:
○Post-use polymers; or
○Materials for which the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has made a non-waste
determination or has otherwise determined
are feedstocks and not solid waste;
●“Recycled plastics” would mean products that are
produced:
○From mechanical recycling of pre-consumer
recovered feedstocks or plastics and post-
consumer plastics; or
○From the advanced recycling of pre-consumer
recovered feedstocks or plastics and post-
consumer plastics through mass balance
attribution under a third-party certification
system; and
●“Third-party certification system” would mean an
international and multi-national third-party
certification system that consists of a set of rules
for the implementation of mass balance attribution
approaches for advanced recycling of materials.
Third-party certification systems include, but are
not limited to:
○International sustainability and carbon
certification;
○Underwriter laboratories;
○SCS recycled content;
○Roundtable on sustainable biomaterials;
○Ecoloop; and
○REDcert2.
3- 114 Exemptions
The bill would add an exemption to the definition of solid
waste for post-use polymers and recovered feedstocks that
are converted at an advanced recycling facility or held at such
a facility prior to conversion through an advanced recycling
process.
The bill would exempt advanced recycling facilities from
the definitions of solid waste management system, solid
waste processing facility, and waste-to-energy facility.
Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Commerce at the request of Senator Dietrich on behalf of
American Chemistry Council.
Senate Committee on Commerce
In the Senate Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by a representative of the American Chemistry
Council. The proponent stated the bill would help bring added
investments and jobs to the state of Kansas, while increasing
recycling, conserving resources, and reducing plastic waste.
Representatives of the the Sierra Club and Natural
Resources Defense Council testified as opponents of the
bill. The opponents generally stated that advanced recycling
creates toxic byproducts, produce little to no recycled
plastics, and the facilities have a history of remaining in
operation for a short amount of time.
Written-only neutral testimony was provided by a
representative of the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment and a private citizen.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to:
4- 114 ●Remove advanced recycling facility from the
definition of closure; and
●Clarify that products sold as fuel are not recycled
products.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Kansas Department
of Health and Environment indicate that the bill would have
no fiscal effect on agency operations.
Commerce; advanced recycling; solid waste; solid waste management system
5- 114