Illinois Senate Bill 1555 (2023) - (Introduced)

Packaging is defined as a discrete material or category of material, regardless of recyclability and is a material type that is used to protect, contain, transport, or serve a product; sold or supplied to consumers expressly for the purpose of protecting, containing, transporting, or serving products; attached to a product or its container for the purpose of marketing or communicating information about the product; supplied at the point of sale to facilitate the delivery of the product; or supplied to or purchased by consumers expressly for the purpose of facilitating food or beverage consumption and ordinarily disposed of after a single use or short-term use, whether or not it could be reused.

Paper products are included in the definition of packaging. Examples include paper that can or has been printed on to create flyers, brochures, booklets, catalogs, greeting cards, telephone directories, newspapers, magazines and paper used for copying, writing, or any other general use.

Packaging does not include:

1. Medical device or packaging that is regulated by the United States Food and Drug Administration under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
2. Animal biologics, including, but not limited to, vaccines, bacterins, antisera, diagnostic kits, other products of biological origin, and other covered materials regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture under the federal Virus, Serum, Toxin Act
3. Packaging regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
4. Beverage containers subject to a returnable container deposit
5. Paper that could become unsafe or unsanitary to recycle
6. Bound books for literary, textual, or reference purposes.

Single or multifamily residences are considered covered entities.

Public or private schools for kindergarten through 12th grade are considered covered entities. State or local government facilities are also included.

Public spaces including parks, trails, transit stations, pedestrian areas where the state or local government are responsible are considered covered entities.

For items sold in packaging at a physical retail location in this state: If the item is sold in packaging under the manufacturer’s own brand then the brand is the producer. If it is sold in packaging that lacks brand identification the producer of the packaging is the person that manufactures the packaged item.

For paper products that are publications, such as magazines, newspapers, catalogs, or telephone directories, the publisher is the producer of the paper product.

If there is no brand or unidentified brand manufacturer, the producer of the packaging is the person that imports the packaged item into the United States.

For products sold via remote sale the producer is the brand or unidentified brand manufacturer of the packaging. If there is no brand owner, the person who manufactured the packaging used to ship the product (box, envelope etc.) is the producer.

A person that sells less than one ton of covered materials in a program year in this State or packaged products that generate less than $3,000,000 in gross revenue nationally in a program year are exempt.

Government agencies or units of local government are exempt.

Nonprofit organizations are exempt.

If a covered product is sold, offered for sale, distributed, or served under a retailer's brand or is licensed/trademarked by the retailer, the manufacturer of the packaging and not its retailer is considered the Producer. Retailers are exempt.

Each producer must register with and be a member of a PRO that administers a producer responsibility program. After the fifth program year, multiple producer responsibility organizations shall be authorized to register with the agency.

A producer must satisfy participation obligations either individually or jointly with other producers through a producer responsibility organization.

A PRO must be a registered nonprofit organization.

Producers are responsible for all costs and operations. For covered materials collected, transported, processed, or marketed by a covered entity directly or through a contract with a service provider, covered entities may choose to continue providing the service without payment from the PRO, continue providing the service with payment at a reasonable rate from the PRO or establish a recycling service by accepting a contract for services procured by a producer or producer responsibility organization.

The cost coverage must include costs to provide collection for recycling, costs to process a producer's covered materials, but not limited to, the collection, transport, processing, and marketing of covered materials.

The cost coverage must include a public education program.

No later than January 1, 2024 and annually thereafter, producers, either individually or jointly with other producers through a producer responsibility organization, shall collectively pay the Agency $400,000 per year to administer the program plans.

The cost coverage must include how the PRO will invest in invest in existing and future reuse and recycling infrastructure, market development in the state, installing or upgrading equipment, capital expenditures for new technology, equipment, and facilities etc.

Small producers shall be provided an optional tiered flat fee structure based on annual tons of covered materials sold, distributed, or served to consumers.

The program shall collect dues to cover costs of implementing the plan. Dues will vary based on costs of collection, processing, recyclability, and if it is reusable and has high return rates. Dues should be adjusted to incentivize eco-modulation factors.

Dues shall be adjusted to incentivize incorporating postconsumer recycled content.

Dues shall be adjusted to incentivize improving reusability. No dues are required for reusable containers or materials if they are designed to be reused for their original purpose and a producer provides a program for the consumer to reuse the covered material through which the covered material is collected and reused by a producer or similar producers and those programs meet or exceed any recycling or reuse targets.

Dues shall be adjusted to incentivize optimizing packaging to use the minimum quantity of material necessary to effectively deliver a product without damage or spoilage.

Dues shall be adjusted to incentivize reducing environmental impacts across the life cycle of a product and eliminating toxic substances, and preventing litter.

Dues shall be adjusted to incentivize improving recyclability and compostability. Dues that contaminate composting or recycling systems shall be increased.

Dues shall be adjusted to incentivize incorporating sustainably and renewably sourced material.

Producers, either individually or jointly with other producers through a producer responsibility organization, shall meet the following performance requirements:

1. By December 31, 2030, the collective recycling rate across all covered materials on the list published shall be no less than 45%
2. By December 31, 2035, the collective recycling rate across all covered materials on the list published shall be no less than 50%"

Each producer shall achieve a postconsumer recycled content requirement of 15% by 2028, 25% by 2031, and 50% by 2034 in the rigid plastics it produces. Waivers for exemption will be considered.

In the plan the PRO must propose reuse and recycling rates and a description of how a producer or producer responsibility organization will meet or exceed these targets, the minimum recycling rates shall be varied for each covered material type and format and shall not be set lower than the minimum recycling rates established under this Act in aggregate for all covered materials.

The PRO plan must include a description of how a producer or producer responsibility organization will prioritize and work with existing public and private service providers, including, haulers, MRFs, transfer stations, and covered entities.

On or before January 1, 2024, any producer or a single producer responsibility organization shall register with the agency.

Producers, either individually or jointly with other producers through a producer responsibility organization, shall submit a program plan to the Agency, no later than January 1, 2026. Beginning in the fifth program year, if multiple producer responsibility organizations register, the producer responsibility organizations shall coordinate and submit to the Agency one program plan.

No later than 3 months after the date a program plan is approved, the producer or producer responsibility organization shall implement the approved program plan.

Beginning July 1, 2026, no producer shall sell at retail, offer for sale at retail, distribute, or serve in this State a covered material unless the producer, or a producer responsibility organization acting on the producer's behalf, has a program plan approved by the Agency.

The Agency will approve or deny a producer or PRO's program plan no later than 90 days after submission.

A producer or producer responsibility organization must submit a new or updated program plan no less than every 5 years.

Producers, either individually or jointly with other producers through a producer responsibility organization, shall submit a report to the Agency that details the performance for the prior calendar year's program by May 1, 2027 and annually thereafter.

Except as otherwise provided in this Act, any person who violates any provision of this Act is liable for a civil penalty of $7,000 per violation per day.

Education and outreach shall include a plan to work with participating producers to use labels or markings on covered materials to educate consumers about their proper end-of-life management, a plan for how labeling will improve over time and a plan for the creation of consistent labeling standards.

Education and outreach shall include education on proper end-of-life management of covered materials.

Each producer, individually or collectively through a producer responsibility organization, shall enter into agreements with public or private entities to establish education and outreach programs. They shall coordinate with and assist local municipal programs, municipal contracted programs, solid waste collection companies, and other entities providing services.

On or before January 1, 2024, the Director shall appoint members to the Packaging and Paper Product Producer Responsibility Advisory Council. The Advisory Council shall include the following nonvoting members: one PRO member, one manufacturer using PCR, one manufacturer using virgin materials, and one member of the agency. The Advisory Council shall include the following voting members:

(1) three individuals representing material recovery facilities in the State, at least one of whom shall represent a MRF that accepts recyclables from the Chicago metropolitan area and at least one of whom shall represent a MRF that accepts recyclables from central or southern Illinois
(2) one individual representing a drop-off recycling program that collects recyclables from the public
(3) three individuals representing haulers, one of whom shall represent a statewide organization representing haulers, one of whom shall represent a publicly traded hauler, and one of whom shall represent a privately owned hauler
(4) seven individuals representing rural and urban units of local government, one of whom shall represent a county with a population of less than 50,000, one of whom shall represent a county with a population of more than 50,000 and less than 1,000,000, one of whom shall represent a county with a population of more than 1,000,000, one of whom shall represent a municipality, one of whom shall represent a municipal joint action agency, one of whom shall represent a township, and one of whom shall represent a municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or
(5) one individual representing retailers or a statewide association of retailers
(6) two individuals representing environmental organizations
(7) one individual representing an environmental justice advocacy organization
(8) four individuals representing trade associations, one of whom shall represent a fiber trade association, one of whom shall represent a plastic trade association, one of whom shall represent a metal trade association, and one of whom shall represent a glass trade association.

Recycling means recycling, reclamation or reuse as defined in Section 3.380 of the Environmental Protection Act. Recycling does not include landfill disposal of covered materials or the residue resulting from the processing of covered materials at a MRF, use as alternative daily cover or any other beneficial use at a landfill, incineration, energy recovery, or energy generation by means of combustion, or final conversion of a covered material or a covered material's components and by-products to a fuel.

A producer or producer responsibility organization that organizes the collection, transportation, and processing of covered materials, in accordance with a program plan approved under this Act, shall not be liable for any claim of a violation of antitrust, restraint of trade, or unfair trade practice arising from conduct undertaken in accordance with the program pursuant to this Act. However, this Section shall not apply to any agreement establishing or affecting the price of a covered material, product, or the output or production of any agreement restricting the geographic area or customers to which a covered material or product will be sold.

There are two rate definitions outlined. One for recovery rates and one for the recycling rate.

Recovery rate means the percentage of covered materials recovered for recycling, reclamation, reuse, or composting. The recovery rate is calculated by dividing the total weight of all covered materials collected for recycling, reclamation, reuse, or composting by the total weight of covered materials sold, distributed, or served to consumers in this State over a program year.

Recycling rate means the percentage of covered materials returned to the economic mainstream in the form of raw materials or products rather than being disposed of or discarded. The recycling rate is calculated by dividing the total weight of all covered materials that are collected for recycling by the total weight of covered materials sold, distributed, or served to consumers in the State over a program year, not including the residue that is landfilled after processing by a MRF.

No retailer may charge a point-of-sale fee or other fee to consumers to facilitate a producer recouping costs.

The Prairie Research Institute shall conduct a statewide needs assessment to assess recycling and covered materials management needs in the State and shall submit the results to the Agency for review and approval by on or before July 1, 2025.

No later than October 1, 2025, producers or a producer responsibility organization, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, shall adopt and publish a list of minimum types of readily recyclable materials based on available collection and processing infrastructure and recycling markets for covered materials.

Reusable means designed to be refilled or used repeatedly for its original intended purpose and is returnable, safe for washing and sanitizing according to applicable State food safety laws, and with the exception of ceramic products, capable of being recycled at the end of use.

Producers, either individually or jointly with other producers through a producer responsibility organization, may develop and operate an alternative collection program to collect and manage a type or types of covered materials sold, offered for sale, distributed, or served to consumers in the State that are not on the minimum recyclable materials list