Legislative Action at NYSAR3

Advocating for the 3 R’s - NYSAR³’s

Legislative Outreach & Engagement Day - February 26, 2025

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM   Advocacy Training (FREE; Breakfast Provided)

with Ryan Gregoire, Legislative Director, NYS Association of Counties (NYSAC) and Alexandra Regan, Legislative/Policy Coordinator, NYS Association of Counties (NYSAC)

**We will be meeting at the Albany Renaissance Hotel (144 State Street, Albany, NY 12207).  More details will be sent to those who plan on attending (complete the RSVP below).**

11:30 AM – 2 PM   Meetings with Your Legislators

To discuss some of NYSAR³’s top 2025 priorities such as passing Packaging EPR, Bottle Bill expansion (especially increased redemption center funding), Textile EPR, Increased funding for organics processing infrastructure, and increased circularity in building/construction industry.

Additional optional events for those interested:

11:30 AM - 12 PM:   Press event at a Capitol press room (location TBA) to support increased overall funding for the EPF, and increased funding specifically for food scraps composting.

9:30 AM – 10 AM:   Compost Education/Demonstration for Legislators

Let us know of your attendance plans here! 

Thank you to our friends at the New York Product Stewardship Council (NYPSC) for co-sponsoring the day!

Legislative Committee

For more than two decades, the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling (NYSAR³) -- and its members from the public and private sectors -- have played a leadership role in establishing environmental initiatives to reduce waste and increase recycling. This effort includes advancing legislation on the state level that promotes public and environmental health while shaping the sustainable materials management economy of the future. 

All are welcome to join our Legislative Committee efforts.

For information and to join, contact Bodhi Piedmont-Fleischmann, Legislative Committee Chair.

Contact your Representatives

Use draft letters from NYSAR³ to contact your State Senators and Assemblymembers and advocate for legislation related to waste and recycling.

Contact your Representatives

2025 Legislative Priorities for NYSAR³

NYSAR³ SUPPORTS Improvements to the Returnable Container Act (Bottle Bill) Redemption Funding Scheme:

Beverage container collection through the provisions of the Bottle Bill provides a segregated, marketable, clean source of recyclable materials. To increase the incentive for redemption and support the redemption centers that manage and implement the Bottle Bill program, NYSAR³ supports an increase of the deposit and redemption value to ten cents (10¢), setting of the deposit and redemption value for wine and liquor at twenty-five cents (25¢), and an increase in the handling fee that is paid to redemption centers to five or six cents (5¢ - 6¢). In coordination with the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Paper Products, NYSAR³ also supports the expansion of the Bottle Bill to include wine, liquor, and other glass beverage containers.

NYSAR³ SUPPORTS Textile EPR, Recovery, and Waste Reduction:

According to the US EPA, almost 2 billion pounds of textiles are generated as waste in NYS each year and eighty-five percent of textile waste is estimated to be disposed through landfilling and incineration. The market value of the discarded textiles is over $650 million based on salvage market prices and forecasts indicate that the U.S. reuse/second-hand apparel market will double within the next five years. As municipalities strive toward zero-waste programs and more cost-effective operations, and brands seek circular solutions for their products, textile recovery presents an attractive opportunity. However, textile collection, sorting, and processing systems lag behind other recycling systems, such as those for metal, glass, plastic, and paper. EPR (such as S6654/A8078 from the 2023-24 session) can jumpstart the market for textile recovery by leveling the competitive playing field, de-risking investment, and incentivizing reuse and recycling.

NYSAR³ SUPPORTS Expansion of Funding for Organics Management Infrastructure:

NYSAR³ supports an additional $7.5 million allocation in the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) dedicated to grants for capital projects that establish or expand food scrap composting programs and facilities managed by municipalities or non-profits. This would be in addition to the existing $2.5 million which is currently divided between grants for composting and food rescue. These additional funds are vital to ensure the infrastructure exists to meet the requirements of the newly expanded Food Scraps Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, as well as the goals set by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). NYSAR³ also supports an expansion of the entities eligible to apply for grants for composting and food rescue to include other non-profit organizations that are not classified as municipalities or food banks, but who play critical roles in composting or food rescue and donation efforts.

NYSAR³ SUPPORTS Increased Sustainability and Circularity in the Building and Construction Industry:

NYSAR³ partners closely with CR0WD (Circularity, Reuse, Zero Waste Development), a collaborative network launched in 2020 that is working to create a more sustainable built environment in New York State through the creation of a circular building and construction economy. Through this collaboration, NYSAR³ supports efforts to expand deconstruction and material reuse rather than demolition. NYSAR³ supports the development of statewide parameters for comprehensive deconstruction legislation.