Federal Bill of the Month – June 2026: H.R. 7502 – Recycled Materials Attribution Act

Introduced by Rep. Nicholas Langworthy (R-N.Y.), H.R. 7502 — the Recycled Materials Attribution Act—is an important step toward promoting transparency and allowing producers to make truthful environmental marketing claims to consumers.

The current patchwork of fragmented state and local laws governing recycling imposes heavy regulatory compliance costs on manufacturers that are inevitably passed down to consumers. Because products are packaged and distributed at a national level rather than state-by-state, companies face the logistically complex—and expensive—burden of constantly redesigning, auditing, and printing state-specific product labels to comply with wildly conflicting definitions of terms like “recyclable” or “recycled content.” These arbitrary rules increase consumer prices while severely restricting the availability of eco-friendly products across state lines. Furthermore, the ensuing confusion leaves consumers worse off by eroding trust in established brands. When a product explicitly stamped with a “recycling” symbol in one state is rejected by a local recycling facility in another, the end result is consumer fatigue and confusion. It’s little wonder that plastic recycling rates are below 10 percent.  

The Recycled Materials Attribution Act (RMAA) fixes this broken status quo by replacing state and local rules with a single and clear federal standard governing recycling claims. By legally recognizing mass-balance accounting, the RMAA gives manufacturers the technical flexibility to source recycled materials through advanced chemical-recycling supply chains—where materials are mixed at the molecular level—without forcing them to physically isolate recycled streams in separate cost-prohibitive factories. This flexibility significantly lowers compliance and production costs, savings that can be passed directly to the consumer while encouraging brands to design and distribute more sustainable packaging nationwide.

Allowing more flexibility in marketing using truthful claims would provide more clarity to consumers while keeping prices under control. Moreover, by ensuring that recycled content representations are grounded in verifiable methodologies and standardized definitions (rather than dubious methodologies pushed by states like California), H.R. 7502 would encourage companies to compete based on genuine environmental performance. The recycling industry has seen significant advancements in technology such as pyrolysis, but adoption will remain low unless producers can clearly and accurately communicate them with consumers.

Clear and uniform rules will reduce compliance costs for businesses and consumers and foster investment in advanced recycling technologies that align with transparent and science-based standards. TPA is pleased to recognize the Recycled Materials Attribution Act as our Federal Bill of the Month. H.R. 7502 represents a commonsense approach to a rapidly evolving marketplace.