Recycled Materials Attribution Act of 2026

(a) Short title.— This Act may be cited as the “Recycled Materials Attribution Act of 2026”.

(b) Table of contents.— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

In this Act:

(1) Commission.— The term Commission means the Federal Trade Commission.

(2) Competent and reliable scientific evidence.— The term competent and reliable scientific evidence means any test, analysis, research, or study that—

(A) has been conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by an expert in the relevant field;

(B) is generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and reliable results; and

(C) is sufficient in quality and quantity based on standards generally accepted in the relevant scientific fields to substantiate that a representation is true when considered in light of the entire body of relevant scientific evidence.

(3) Mass balance accounting.— The term mass balance accounting means a valid chain-of-custody methodology that allows a manufacturing supply chain—

(A) to mix or co-process alternative feedstocks, including pre-consumer material and post-consumer material, with conventional feedstocks; and

(B) to allocate the mass of such alternative feedstocks to final products on the basis of documented inputs and outputs.

(4) Post-consumer material.— The term post-consumer material means material generated by a household or a commercial, industrial, or institutional facility as an end user of the product, including through returns of materials from the distribution chain.

(5) Pre-consumer material.— The term pre-consumer material—

(A) means material diverted during a manufacturing process and not used and commercialized; and

(B) does not include re-used material, including rework, regrind, and scrap, generated in a given process and capable of being reclaimed within such process.

(6) Recycled.— The term recycled means a material that has been processed through recycling.

(7) Recycled content.— The term recycled content means the quantity of pre-consumer materials and post-consumer materials recovered or otherwise diverted from the waste stream through recycling, for use in the production of a new, salable product.

(8) Recycled content claim.— The term recycled content claim includes any claim or representation regarding the recycled nature of a product or material, including “recycled content”, “recycled plastics”, “recycled materials”, and similar terminology.

(9) Recycling.—

(A) In general.— The term recycling means any process by which a material recovered or otherwise diverted from the waste stream, either during the manufacturing process (in the case of pre-consumer material) or after consumer use (in the case of post-consumer material), is reprocessed and converted into a raw material for the manufacturing of a new, salable product.

(B) Inclusion.— The term recycling includes the following:

(i) Mechanical recycling, in which a material is collected, sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed (without significantly altering the chemical structure of the material) for use in manufacturing products.

(ii) Non-mechanical recycling, in which a material is collected, sorted, cleaned, and transformed through technology that alters the chemical structure of the material and that produces an output used to manufacture products (excluding a waste-to-energy facility in which such a material is used primarily to generate process heat or electricity).

(10) Third-party certification.— “Third Party Certification” means a written determination, verification, or attestation that a product, material, process, service, or entity meets specified standards, criteria, or requirements, issued by an independent organization that:

(A) is not owned, controlled by, or under common control with the person or entity seeking certification;

(B) does not design, manufacture, sell, distribute, or market the product or material being certified;

(C) conducts its certification activities in accordance with objectivity, impartiality, and professional competence; and

(D) does not have financial, commercial, or organizational interest that could compromise its independence or impartiality with respect to the certified product, material, or entity; and

(11) Third-party certification system.— For the purposes of this Act, the term “third-party certification system” means an independently administered system that—

(A) establishes a set of rules governing the implementation of mass balance accounting approaches; and

(B) provides independent certification confirming that—

(i) the recycled content attributed to a product does not exceed the quantity by weight of recovered materials introduced into the manufacturing supply chain (accounting for process losses);

(ii) an auditable chain-of-custody accounting methodology was applied that enables the attribution of the mass of inputs to 1 or more outputs in accordance with the rules of the system; and

(iii) the total mass of alternative feedstocks, including pre-consumer material and post-consumer material, introduced into the manufacturing supply chain has been quantified and appropriately allocated to final products.

(a) Recognition of mass balance accounting for recycled content claims.— Mass balance accounting shall be an acceptable method for substantiating recycled content claims and analogous claims if the use of mass balance accounting complies with the requirements of a third-party certification system.

(a) Prohibition.—

(1) A person may not advertise, market, sell, or offer for sale a product to a consumer using a misleading recycled content claim.

(2) Fuels produced and sold as an end product may not be marketed as “recycled content” under this Act.

(b) Guidance.—

(1) Update to green guides.— Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall update the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims issued by the Federal Trade Commission (part 260 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations) (commonly known as the “Green Guides”), to ensure that the Green Guides are consistent with and reflect the definitions, standards, and authorizations established under this Act, including the authorization to substantiate recycled content claims through mass balance accounting.

(2) Additional guidance.— The Commission shall issue guidance that establishes the following:

(A) Mass balance accounting as an acceptable method for substantiating a recycled content claim, if—

(i) the use of mass balance accounting complies with the requirements of a third-party certification system; and

(ii) any representation about mass balance accounting with respect to a recycled content claim is based on competent and reliable scientific evidence and presented in a manner that is not misleading.

(B) A clear and consistent framework with respect to a recycled content claim, establishing that a person can advertise, market, sell, or offer for sale a product using an accurate recycled content claim.

(3) Limitations.—

(A) No conferring of rights or binding effect.— Any guidance issued by the Commission with respect to this section shall not confer any rights on any person nor shall such guidance operate to bind the Commission or any person to the approach recommended in such guidance.

(B) Basis of enforcement actions.— In any enforcement action brought pursuant to this Act, the Commission shall allege a specific violation of a provision of this Act. The Commission may not base an enforcement action on, or execute a consent order based on, practices that are alleged to be inconsistent with any such guidelines.

(a) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.— A violation of section 4(a) shall be treated as a violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

(b) Powers of Commission.— The Commission shall enforce section 4(a) in the same manner, by the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this section, and any person who violates section 4(a) shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act.

No State, or political subdivision of a State, may maintain, enforce, prescribe, or continue in effect any law, rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other provision having the force and effect of law that relates to the prohibition and enforcement provisions of this Act.

(a) If any provision of this Act, or the application of that provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this Act, or the application of that provision to persons or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid, is not affected thereby.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to modify, limit, or supersede any other Federal laws or regulations except to the extent expressly provided. The provisions herein establish uniform Federal standards for recycled content claims, recycling claims, recyclability claims, and analogous claims, and apply solely to the matters expressly addressed in this Act.