Federal lawmakers, state legislators, and the industry’s largest haulers are all moving to bring more structure to a system that has long run on fragmented rules and scattered ownership. In Washington, the PACK Act and Recycled Materials Attribution Act aim to replace conflicting state recycling claims with one federal standard. In California, a slate of session-end bills would tighten rules on battery collection, hauler contracts, and landfill safety before reaching the governor’s desk. And GFL’s $4.64 billion close on SECURE Waste Infrastructure shows consolidation reshaping who controls that infrastructure in the first place. Local governments and businesses navigating this landscape face a common issue: fewer, larger players and tighter standards, both of which raise the value of independent, verifiable performance data.
The big picture
This Week in Waste
PACK Act and Recycled Materials Attribution Act Advance in Congress
A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee advanced both the Packaging and Claims Knowledge (PACK) Act and the Recycled Materials Attribution Act on September 1, sending the bills to the full committee. Together the bipartisan measures would create a federal framework under the FTC for recyclability, compostability, and recycled content claims, replacing a patchwork of state rules that packaging and recycling groups say creates compliance confusion.
Key takeaway: The bills remain proposals, not law, but their advancement signals growing momentum for a single national standard on recycled content claims, something local governments and producers alike should watch as it could reshape labeling and procurement rules.
From SWEEP: When Risk Becomes the Business Case: How the Hormuz Crisis Turned Recycled Content Into a Hedge explores why verified recycled content is becoming a supply chain risk hedge, a theme that lines up directly with the push for standardized, trustworthy recycled content claims.
Sources: Resource Recycling ·
Recycling Product News ·
Packaging Dive
California Sends Batch of Waste and Recycling Bills to Newsom’s Desk
As California’s legislative session closed on August 31, lawmakers sent Governor Newsom a slate of bills covering hauler franchise agreements, medium format battery collection, vape waste, food donation, and landfill elevated temperature events. Among them, SB 501 would restructure the state’s battery stewardship law by eliminating weight-based exemptions and adding a new medium format category for batteries in e-bikes and portable power systems.
Key takeaway: Newsom has until October 14 to act on these bills, and their outcomes will set precedent other states are already watching, particularly on medium format battery collection gaps that have been a recurring cause of facility fires.
Sources: Waste Dive ·
Resource Recycling
GFL Closes $4.64 Billion Acquisition, Continuing Industry Consolidation
GFL Environmental closed its acquisition of SECURE Waste Infrastructure Corp on September 1, adding 12 landfills, 55 waste treatment facilities, and a network of energy waste assets across western Canada and North Dakota. The deal, financed partly through a new $1 billion term loan, expands GFL’s footprint as the fourth largest diversified environmental services company in North America.
Key takeaway: The deal is the latest in a steady wave of consolidation among large haulers this year, a trend local governments negotiating service contracts should factor into long-term planning as fewer, larger companies control more of the disposal infrastructure.
Sources: Waste Today ·
Waste Dive ·
Waste360
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From a federal push to standardize recycled content claims, to a slate of California bills tightening battery and landfill safety rules, to GFL’s $4.64 billion consolidation of Canadian and North Dakota waste infrastructure, this week’s news shows both rules and ownership consolidating around fewer, larger structures. A measurable, third-party standard is how that consolidation gets held to account. Join SWEEP and help set the standard for what good waste management actually looks like.
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