North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H8 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1		GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
2	2		SESSION 2025
3		-	H 1
4		-	HOUSE BILL 8
	3	+	H D
	4	+	HOUSE BILL DRH30002-CCa-2
	5	+
5	6
6	7
7	8		Short Title: NC Managing Environmental Waste Act of 2025. (Public)
8	9		Sponsors: Representative Warren.
9		-	For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10		-	Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
11		-	January 30, 2025
12		-	H8-v-1
	10	+	Referred to:
	11	+
	12	+	DRH30002 -CCa-2
13	13		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
14	14		AN ACT TO REDUCE AND BETTER MANAGE THE DISPOSAL OF SINGLE -USE 2
15	15		WASTE. 3
16	16		The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
17	17		SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 143-58.2 reads as rewritten: 5
18	18		"§ 143-58.2. State policy; bid procedures and specifications; identification of products. 6
19	19		(a) It is the policy of this State to encourage and promote the purchase of products with 7
20	20		recycled content. All State departments, institutions, agencies, community colleges, and local 8
21	21		school administrative units shall, to the extent economically practicable, purchase and use, or 9
22	22		require the purchase and use of, products with recycled content. 10
23	23		(a1) It is the policy of this State that all State departments, institutions, agencies, 11
24	24		community colleges, and local school administrative units shall, to the extent economically 12
25	25		practicable, purchase and use, or require the purchase and use of, materials and supplies with 13
26	26		compostable or recyclable content in food establishments operated under the auspices of the 14
27	27		department, institution, agency, community college, and local school administrative unit. 15
28	28		(b) No later than January 1, 1995, the The Secretary of Administration and each State 16
29	29		department, institution, agency, community college, and local school administrative unit 17
30	30		authorized to purchase materials and supplies or to contract for services shall review and revise 18
31	31		its bid procedures and specifications for the purchase or use of materials and supplies to eliminate 19
32	32		any procedures and specifications that explicitly discriminate against materials and supplies with 20
33	33		recycled content, except where procedures and specifications are necessary to protect the health, 21
34	34		safety, and welfare of the citizens of this State. 22
35	35		… 23
36	36		(d) The Department of Administration, in cooperation with the Division of 24
37	37		Environmental Assistance and Outreach Customer Service of the Department of Environmental 25
38	38		Quality, shall identify materials and supplies with recycled content that meet appropriate 26
39	39		standards for use by State departments, institutions, agencies, community colleges, and local 27
40	40		school administrative units. 28
41	41		… 29
42	42		(i) On or before October 1 of each year, each State department, institution, agency, 30
43	43		community college, and local school administrative unit authorized to purchase materials and 31
44	44		supplies shall report to the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service of the 32
45	45		Department of Environmental Quality the amounts and types of materials and supplies with 33
46	46		compostable and recycled content that were purchased during the previous fiscal year." 34
47		-	SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 130A-309.14 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 35 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
48		-	Page 2 House Bill 8-First Edition
	47	+	SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 130A-309.14 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 35
	48	+	H.B. 8
	49	+	Jan 29, 2025
	50	+	HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
	51	+	Page 2 DRH30002-CCa-2
49	52		"(n) On or before October 1 of each year, each State department, institution, agency, 1
50	53		community college, and local school administrative unit shall report to the Division of 2
51	54		Environmental Assistance and Customer Service of the Department of Environmental Quality 3
52	55		the amounts and types of materials collected for recycling within the department, institution, 4
53	56		agency, community college, and local school administrative unit." 5
54	57		SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 130A-309.06(c) reads as rewritten: 6
55	58		"(c) The Department shall report to the Environmental Review Commission Commission, 7
56	59		the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, and the Fiscal Research Division 8
57	60		on or before April 15 of each year on the status of solid waste management efforts in the State. 9
58	61		The report shall include: 10
59	62		… 11
60	63		(22) A summary of the reports by each State department, institution, agency, 12
61	64		community college, and local school administrative unit authorized to 13
62	65		purchase materials and supplies detailing the amounts and types of materials 14
63	66		and supplies with compostable and recycled content that were purchased 15
64	67		during the previous fiscal year, as required by G.S. 143-58.2(i). 16
65	68		(23) A summary of the reports by each State department, institution, agency, 17
66	69		community college, and local school administrative unit detailing the amounts 18
67	70		and types of materials collected for recycling during the previous fiscal year 19
68	71		within the department, institution, agency, community college, and local 20
69	72		school administrative unit, as required by G.S. 130A-309.14(n)." 21
70	73		SECTION 2. The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory (Collaboratory) at the 22
71	74		University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shall study the issue of food service ware. In 23
72	75		conducting this study, the Collaboratory shall examine all of the following matters: 24
73	76		(1) The environmental impacts of plastics pollution. 25
74	77		(2) The State's current requirements for plastics recycling. 26
75	78		(3) Estimates of the proportionate volume of plastics recycled versus plastics 27
76	79		disposed of in landfills in the State. 28
77	80		(4) Recycling markets and available information on the fate of plastics collected 29
78	81		for recycling in the State, including data on plastics used as feedstock for 30
79	82		in-State recycling and national and international markets. 31
80	83		(5) Pending and enacted legislation in other states to regulate food service ware, 32
81	84		including bans on specific types of food service ware. 33
82	85		(6) The impact that bans on specific types of food service ware have had on people 34
83	86		with disabilities. 35
84	87		(7) Current private sector initiatives to reduce plastics pollution and additional 36
85	88		financial and market tools that may be employed by private sector interests 37
86	89		for this purpose. 38
87	90		(8) Alternatives to the use of food service ware for serving or transporting food 39
88	91		and beverages. 40
89	92		(9) New technologies for plastics recycling and waste reduction. 41
90	93		(10) Any other issue the Collaboratory deems relevant. 42
91	94		In conducting the study, the Collaboratory shall consult with stakeholders, including 43
92	95		the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Health and Human Services, the 44
93	96		Department of Administration, representatives of the environmental community, the North 45
94	97		Carolina Retail Merchants Association, and the North Carolina Beverage Association. The 46
95	98		Collaboratory shall report its findings and recommendations, including any legislative proposals, 47
96	99		to the 2026 Regular Session of the 2025 General Assembly upon its convening. 48
97	100		SECTION 3.(a) The Legislative Services Officer shall evaluate all opportunities to 49
98	101		reduce the use of food service ware in food establishments and beverage services operated by the 50
99	102		General Assembly and implement such measures at the earliest date that (i) does not result in 51 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
100		-	~~House Bill 8-First Edition~~ Page 3
	103	+	DRH30002-CCa-2 Page 3
101	104		disposal prior to use of food service ware already procured on the date this act becomes law and 1
102	105		(ii) does not impair contracts for purchase of such food service ware in effect on the date this act 2
103	106		becomes law. As used in this section, the term "beverage services" includes the provision of 3
104	107		coffee, water, and other beverages in committee meetings and the legislative chambers. The 4
105	108		Legislative Services Officer shall issue a preliminary report on the implementation of the 5
106	109		requirements of this section, including any additional costs associated with replacing food service 6
107	110		ware with compostable or recyclable materials, to the Environmental Review Commission no 7
108	111		later than September 1, 2025, and shall provide a final report to the Commission no later than 8
109	112		March 1, 2026. 9
110	113		SECTION 3.(b) The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources shall implement 10
111	114		a pilot program to eliminate the sale or provision of food or beverages in or with food service 11
112	115		ware. In implementing this pilot, the Department shall identify five facilities operated by the 12
113	116		Department to implement measures to eliminate food service ware at the earliest possible date 13
114	117		that (i) does not result in disposal prior to use of food service ware already procured by the agency 14
115	118		on the date this act becomes law and (ii) does not impair contracts for purchase of such food 15
116	119		service ware in effect on the date this act becomes law. The Department shall issue a preliminary 16
117	120		report on the implementation of the requirements of this section, including any additional costs 17
118	121		associated with replacing food service ware with compostable or recyclable materials, to the 18
119	122		Environmental Review Commission no later than September 1, 2025, and shall provide a final 19
120	123		report to the Commission no later than March 1, 2026. 20
121	124		SECTION 4. For purposes of Sections 2 and 3 of this act, the term "food service 21
122	125		ware" means products, other than compostable or recyclable products, used by a food provider 22
123	126		that are designed for one-time use for serving or transporting prepared, ready-to-consume food 23
124	127		or beverages, including plates, cups, bowls, trays, utensils, straws, cup lids, and hinged or lidded 24
125	128		containers. 25
126	129		SECTION 5. The sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in nonrecurring funds for 26
127	130		the 2025-2026 fiscal year is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Policy 27
128	131		Collaboratory to carry out the study required by Section 2 of this act. 28
129	132		SECTION 6. Section 5 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2025. The remainder of 29
130	133		this act is effective when it becomes law. 30