HB 7243 (House General Government Policy Council) is comprehensive bill dealing with a variety of recycling-related issues. HB 7243 requires all city, county, state entities, public schools to report their recycling rates on all recyclable material to the applicable county. Fiscally constrained cities or municipalities of special financial concern defined in the bill are exempt from those reporting requirements.

The bill requires counties to meet specific recycling target goals starting at 40 percent by December 31, 2012 and up to 75 percent by December 31, 2020. State recycling goals for construction and demolition debris and commercial and multi-family dwellings are outlined and the bill requires that all construction and demolition debris be processed prior to disposal. If the state by January 1, 2014, has not reached a recycling rate of forty-five percent, DEP will investigate and report to the Legislature programmatic changes that could assist in achieving the recycling goal.

HB 7243 directs the state to undertake efforts to create new and expanded markets for recycled materials and to facilitate enhanced recycling in the state and private sectors. The state is also required to enhance recycling efforts. The bill also addresses waste-to-energy facilities by clarifying that each megawatt-hour produced by waste to energy facility counts as a percentage of the recycling goals established in the bill. The bill requires that to the maximum extent economically feasible, all construction and demolition debris to be processed prior to disposal at either a permitted materials recovery facility or at a permitted disposal facility. (Dudley)