Pennsylvania House Bill HB1035

Pennsylvania 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/24/25
• Refer: 3/24/25

Caption

In general provisions, further providing for definitions.

Summary

HB1035 amends Pennsylvania’s Solid Waste Management Act to revise and expand the statutory definitions related to “advanced recycling,” “advanced recycling facility,” “municipal waste,” “processing,” “treatment,” and “waste tire.” The bill defines advanced recycling as a manufacturing process that converts post-use polymers and waste tires into products such as feedstocks, chemicals, fuels, waxes, lubricants, recovered carbon black, and other hydrocarbons using technologies like pyrolysis, gasification, depolymerization, catalytic cracking, reforming, and hydrogenation. The bill also clarifies that an advanced recycling facility is a manufacturing facility that receives post-use polymers or waste tires and converts them through advanced recycling, while excluding facilities that simply receive unsorted municipal waste for separation. It further states that post-use polymers and waste tires converted through advanced recycling are not to be treated as municipal waste, residual waste, or solid waste for purposes of the act, and that such conversion is not considered “processing” or “treatment” when it complies with applicable EPA and Department of Environmental Protection rules and regulations.

Impact

HB1035 would change how Pennsylvania classifies certain plastic and tire conversion operations under the Solid Waste Management Act, potentially affecting permitting, regulatory oversight, and facility categorization. By excluding compliant advanced recycling activities from the definitions of municipal waste, processing, treatment, and solid waste, the bill would likely reduce the extent to which these operations are regulated as waste-management facilities and instead treat them more like manufacturing operations under state law.

Sentiment

The available record shows no committee transcript and no recorded votes, so there is no direct evidence of debate or formal support/opposition in the provided materials. Based on the bill text and sponsor list, the measure appears to be framed positively as a modernization of waste and recycling law that recognizes advanced recycling technologies. The absence of recorded opposition in the supplied context limits any firm conclusion about broader sentiment.

Contention

The main point of contention likely concerns whether advanced recycling should be regulated as manufacturing or as waste management. Supporters would likely argue that the bill provides clarity for emerging technologies and encourages investment in plastic and tire recycling alternatives, while critics may worry that exempting these facilities from waste classifications could weaken environmental oversight, permitting standards, or public protections. The bill’s explicit reliance on compliance with EPA and DEP rules suggests that regulatory adequacy and facility accountability are central issues.