Last updated October 16, 2024.
The Issue
Burning trash is expensive, toxic, climate-damaging, and inequitable. Every facility that burns, melts, boils, or dissolves garbage of any kind poses a risk to communities and the environment. These facilities include incinerators, “waste-to-energy” plants, deceptively-named “chemical recycling” facilities, and any other technology that uses heat or solvents break waste down into fuels and toxic chemicals.
Just Zero is working to advance community-centered Zero Waste solutions that “starve” these dangerous facilities. How? By eliminating their fuel source: Trash. But that isn’t the only way to prevent new trash-burners from being built across the country. States, cities, and towns can – and should – implement laws that prohibit, restrict, or limit the construction and operation of new high-heat waste facilities.
The Solution
With High-Heat Facilities Laws in place, we can protect communities from the toxic and climate-damaging facilities that burn trash. But the “right” law for your community may be different from what works in another state or city. This legislative toolkit presents a full suite of options for you to consider – from outright banning these facilities, to restricting where they can be built, to limiting their ability to exploit legal loopholes or benefit from government subsidies. Maybe your state or city is interested in closing the door for good on these dangerous facilities. Or perhaps, your elected officials would rather just guarantee that burning trash can never count as “recycling.” Either way, this toolkit has you covered.
Throughout this toolkit we use the term “high-heat” rather than incineration, combustion, or burning because waste companies and the fossil fuel industry are constantly coming up with new ways to greenwash trash burning facilities. These industries rely on terms like “waste-to-energy,” “refuse-derived fuel,” “chemical recycling,” “advanced recycling,” or even “molecular recycling” – basically anything other than incineration. Another reason why we use “high-heat” is because many new facilities use a wide array of technologies, including gasification, pyrolysis, methanolysis, solvolysis, hydropyrolysis, and countless other obscure methods that most people, including legislators, have never heard of.
Instead of playing into the industry’s “whack-a-mole” game, this toolkit uses a blanket definition of “high-heat waste facility” that applies to any attempt to expose trash, plastic, sewage sludge, or any other kind of waste to temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Because no matter what words the industry comes up with, any facility that uses heat and/or chemicals to break down waste is a threat to our communities, our environment, and the climate.
This policy can be introduced at the local, county, or state level. Many of these laws in the U.S. come about when a company attempts to build a high-heat facility in a community. But you can be proactive by creating a bill to protect your community before a high-heat facility is proposed in your area.
SHARE THE TOOLKIT
NEED HELP WITH YOUR BILL?
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
We understand that every state is unique and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to enacting sensible and effective Zero Waste laws. We’ve designed this model legislation toolkit to be interactive and customizable, to help you achieve your goals and design a policy that works for you and your community.
1) Download Our Bill Template
This template will help you develop a bill that is customizable for your state. You’ll use the template as you navigate the toolkit and evaluate the different policy approaches. When you select a policy approach you want to move forward with, copy and paste the language from the interactive toolkit into your template.
2) Explore Policy Decisions
Use the toolkit to explore the different policy decisions you can make to develop a tailored proposal that works for you. Each section provides various approaches you can take, along with examples from states that have adopted this approach. The toolkit also includes sample language you can copy and paste into the model bill template to develop a bill that you feel will work best for your state.
3) Make Policy Decisions
With High-Heat Facilities Laws, the big policy decisions that we help you understand and navigate in our toolkit are:
- Will you be able to fully ban all high-heat waste facilities, or are you more likely to succeed with tailored restrictions on these facilities?
- Will classifying high-heat burners as “solid waste facilities” provide adequate protection for communities in your state?
- Will your lawmakers consider closing loopholes in the definitions of “renewable energy” and/or “recycling” that may benefit high-heat waste facilities?
Terms Defined
Gasification – A toxic and climate-damaging process in which carbon-rich material – such as plastic, trash, or sewage sludge – is exposed to high temperatures to break it down into waste byproducts
Pyrolysis – A toxic and climate-damaging process similar to gasification in which carbon-rich material is exposed to high temperatures in the absence of oxygen to break the material down into waste byproducts.
Solvolysis – Mixing plastics with chemical solvents and exposing them to heat and pressure to break down the chemical bonds that hold plastic molecules together.
High-Heat Facilities Law
Before You Begin
This toolkit presents a menu of options that you can mix and match, as appropriate, to create the strongest bill that your state or city might realistically consider and pass.
To use this toolkit, review each tab (Sections 1 – 16) to explore the different policy options available. From there, decide which policies you want to include in your bill. Each section has sample language for you to copy and paste into our downloadable bill template. This is the language you’ll use to create your bill. To help you get started, you can find an outline of the bill sections below.
Section 2 offers two options for restricting permits for high-heat waste facilities. If your state or city isn’t interested in either banning or restricting the locations for these facilities, you can skip Section 2 and use other sections of this toolkit to build protections from high-heat waste facilities into your bill.
Choose what makes the most sense for your state or city and get to work!
Bill Outline
Section 1:
Definitions
Explains the meaning of key terms in the bill.
Section 2:
Restrictions on New High-Heat Facilities
Limits your state’s ability to issue operating permits for new high-heat facilities.
Section 3:
Classify High-Heat Waste Facilities as “Solid Waste Facilities”
Confronts the long-running campaign by the fossil fuel industry to push states to pass legislation that exempts high-heat technologies from state definitions of “solid waste facility.”
Section 4:
Prohibit Subsidies for High-Heat Waste Facilities
Closes a loophole that allows the fossil fuel and waste industries to classify trash incinerators as “renewable” energy which enables them to claim millions of dollars in public subsidies.
Section 5:
Exclude High-Heat Waste Technologies from the Definition of “Recycling”
Closes a loophole pushed by the fossil fuel industry that allows high-heat waste technologies to count as “recycling.”
Section 1: Definitions
Every good bill starts with strong definitions. This is especially true for legislation that addresses high-heat waste facilities. The waste and fossil fuel industries regularly attempt to obscure the realities of burning trash by using greenwashed terms and presenting supposedly different types of technology. Therefore, it is vital that your bill applies to all facilities that utilize heat on any type of waste.
You can use the definitions included in the sample language below to ensure that your bill applies to any facility that exposes any type of waste – including household trash, commercial waste, construction debris, recyclables, plastic, or sewage sludge – to temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit. This definition includes technologies like incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, solvolysis, depolymerization, and anything branded as “chemical recycling,” “advanced recycling,” or “molecular recycling.”
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 1 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- “Depolymerization” means a process through which heat, pressure, and/or solvents are used to break plastic polymers into oligomers and/or monomers.
- “Gasification” means a process through which materials are exposed to heat, converting carbon-based materials to synthetic fuels, chemical feedstocks, waxes, lubricants, or other substances and solid residues, slag, ash, char, liquid wastes, and/or wastewater.
- “High-heat waste facility” means a facility which:
- uses any disposal, treatment, recycling, or manufacturing process – including but not limited to combustion, incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, hydropyrolysis, solvolysis, or depolymerization – that exposes solid waste, segregated solid waste, recyclable materials, construction and demolition debris, sewage sludge, post-use polymers, or recovered feedstock to temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit; or
- combusts chemicals, feedstocks, fuels, monomers, oligomers, hydrocarbons, or waste residues derived from any process that exposes solid waste, segregated solid waste, recyclable materials, construction and demolition debris, sewage sludge, post-use polymers, or recovered feedstock to temperatures above 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- “High-heat waste facility” includes advanced recycling facilities, chemical recycling facilities, molecular recycling facilities, and any other facility that uses a thermochemical process to convert post-use polymers, plastic, or recovered feedstock into fuels, chemical feedstocks, monomers, oligomers, hydrocarbons, waxes, lubricants feedstocks, fuels, monomers, oligomers, or hydrocarbons.
- “Hydropyrolysis” means a process through which materials are exposed to heat in the presence of hydrogen, converting carbon-based materials to synthetic fuels, chemical feedstocks, waxes, lubricants, or other substances and solid residues, slag, ash, char, liquid wastes, and/or wastewater.
- “Plastic” means a synthetic material made from linking monomers through a chemical reaction to create a polymer chain, including material derived from either petroleum or a biologically based polymer, such as corn or other plant sources.
- “Post-use polymer” means a plastic polymer previously used in any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activity.
- “Pyrolysis” means a process through which materials are exposed to heat in the absence of oxygen, converting carbon-based materials to synthetic fuels, chemical feedstocks, waxes, lubricants, or other substances and solid residues, slag, ash, char, liquid wastes, and/or wastewater.
- “Recovered feedstock” means material derived and separated from solid waste, segregated solid waste, recyclable materials, or construction and demolition (C&D) debris for use as a feedstock or raw material in a high-heat waste facility.
- “Solvolysis” means a process through which materials are combined with a solvent and subjected to heat and/or high pressure.
Section 2: Restrictions on New High-Heat Facilities
This Section would limit your state’s ability to issue operating permits for new high-heat facilities by either prohibiting any permits for new facilities (Option 1) or prohibiting permits for new facilities that are located near homes, schools, hospitals, and other areas (Option 2). Limiting the issuance of new permits is the most straightforward way to prevent (or at least restrict) the construction and operation of facilities that burn trash.
Review the options below and choose one to use in your bill.
Ban on High-Heat Waste Facilities
This option presents the most straightforward approach to protecting communities from the toxic and climate-damaging impacts of incinerators, so-called “waste-to-energy” facilities, “chemical recycling” technologies, facilities that burn sewage sludge, and every other variation of high-heat waste facilities. It simply prohibits government agencies from issuing permits or licenses for new high-heat waste facilities of any kind, using the broad definition of that phrase from Section 1.
As of 2024, no state has passed an all-encompassing statewide ban on high-heat waste facilities, although Maryland and Oregon have considered (but not passed) legislation that would have banned “chemical recycling” facilities. Colorado also recently considered a bill that would have banned the construction or expansion of all “combustion units” statewide, in addition to limiting subsidies for such facilities. But that bill was later amended to remove the ban and it was ultimately vetoed by Colorado’s governor.
Policy makers have, however, successfully banned high-heat facilities at the city and regional levels. Cities like Providence, Rhode Island have used zoning ordinances to ban all high-heat waste facilities. And in 2019, New York passed a law that bans incinerators in the Oswego River/Finger Lakes watershed.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, copy and paste the following into SECTION 2 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, no permit or license shall be issued for the construction or operation of a new high-heat waste facility, and no application for a permit or license for such a facility shall be granted or issued by the state.
Siting Restrictions for High-Heat Waste Facilities
This option restricts where a high-heat waste facility may be constructed or operated. Although it is less straightforward than Option 1’s outright ban on these facilities, it is more customizable to the political realities, and geography, of your community. For example, your state legislators may be uninterested in a total ban on all facilities, but may prefer to keep them away from homes, schools, waterbodies, open spaces, or (hopefully) all of the above.
In 2021, Rhode Island took this approach for high-heat facilities that burn medical waste. The state prohibits permits for such facilities if located within 2,000 feet of any water bodies, open spaces, or floodplains. Permits are also prohibited if these facilities are proposed within one mile of a school or assisted living facility, within one mile of any residential zone, or within a town or city that includes an environmental justice focus area. Similarly, Delaware prohibits permits for incinerators within three miles of residences, residential communities, churches, schools, parks, and hospitals.
The sample language below is similar to Rhode Island’s and Delaware’s approaches. Please adjust the distances and types of areas to fit your community.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, copy and paste the following into SECTION 2 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, no permit or license shall be issued for the construction or operation of a new high-heat waste facility, and no application for a permit or license for such a facility shall be granted or issued by the state if the facility:
- Is within 3 miles of any area zoned for residential use;
- Is within 3 miles mile of a school, a college or university, a childcare center, a hospital, an assisted living facility, or a nursing facility;
- Is within 3 miles of open space or any state management area, park, or land held by an entity in trust for public use; or
- Is located within a census tract in which:
- At least 35% of the households qualify as low-income households;
- At least 40% of the residents identify as a minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or
- At least 40% of the households have limited English proficiency.
Section 3: Classify High-Heat Facilities as “Solid Waste Facilities”
This section would directly address a long-running campaign by the fossil fuel industry to create loopholes for “chemical recycling” facilities and other high-heat waste facilities. For almost a decade, the American Chemistry Council and other fossil fuel lobbyists have pushed states to pass legislation that exempt “chemical recycling” and other facilities that use high-heat technologies from state definitions of “solid waste facility.” These dangerous loophole bills reclassify these facilities as manufacturing facilities. This reclassification (which the industry presents as not harmful) helps “chemical recycling” facilities evade public permitting processes, siting restrictions, public input and oversight, transparency requirements, closure plans, operating conditions, and other requirements that apply to solid waste facilities – but not manufacturing facilities.
Passing a bill in your state that incorporates this option would either block the fossil fuel industry’s campaign in your state (if your state hasn’t passed a law creating a “chemical recycling” loophole) or reverse the fossil fuel industry’s loophole (if your state has already passed a law creating such a loophole).
In 2024, Maine became the first state to pass a law like this. Colorado attempted a similar approach (in which “solid waste-to-energy incineration system” would have been defined to include pyrolysis and gasification) through legislation that its governor unfortunately vetoed.
The sample language below is presented as a straightforward definition of “solid waste facility” to include high-heat waste facilities. Your state likely already defines “solid waste facility,” or a similar term in an existing law. So, you may need to adjust this language to reflect the terms used in your state’s laws and to fit with the existing statutory structure.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you decide to take this approach, copy and paste the following into the SECTION 3 in your bill template.
Copy and Paste
- “Solid waste facility” includes but is not limited to a high-heat waste facility.
Section 4: Prohibit Subsidies for High-Heat Facilities
This section helps your state close another loophole pushed by the fossil fuel and waste industries: Public subsidies for waste-burning facilities. As of 2024, twenty-six U.S. states and territories classify trash incinerators as “renewable” energy, which allows these facilities to claim millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies intended to support truly renewable energy sources, like wind and solar. This section would prevent these facilities from claiming such subsidies in your state.
Many of the states in which high-heat waste facilities are not eligible for renewable energy subsidies simply make no mention of incinerators or other high-heat facilities in their renewable energy statutes. However, some, like Rhode Island, are more proactive and explicitly exclude high-heat waste facilities from the definition of renewable energy. Colorado legislators attempted such an approach in their ultimately vetoed 2024 legislation.
The sample language below is intended to disqualify all high-heat facilities from claiming renewable energy subsidies in your state. If your state classifies incineration as renewable, you will likely need to adjust this language to fit with the existing statutory structure in your state.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you decide to take this approach, copy and paste the following into the SECTION 4 in your bill template.
Copy and Paste
- High-heat waste facilities are not considered “renewable energy resources” and shall not meet or be eligible for a “renewable energy standard” or “renewable portfolio standard,” or any other similar standard established by state law or rule.
Section 5: Exclude High-Heat Waste Technologies from the Definition of “Recycling”
This section closes yet another loophole pushed by the fossil fuel industry: Allowing “chemical recycling” and other high-heat waste technologies to count as “recycling” for the purpose of complying with Packaging Reduction and Recycling Laws (also known as extended producer responsibility for packaging – EPR – laws) or other recycling mandates or goals. If your state is considering a policy like this, please refer to our Packaging Reduction and Recycling toolkit for language that will help avoid this loophole.
The language below is intended to serve as a blanket prohibition against counting high-heat technologies as “recycling,” regardless of whether your state has implemented, or is considering, an extended producer responsibility for packaging program. Maryland considered, but ultimately did not implement, this type of approach.
Because your state’s laws likely already define the term “recycling,” you will need to adjust this language to fit with the existing statutory structure in your state. Alternatively, you can propose an amendment to the existing definition.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you decide to take this approach, copy and paste the following into the SECTION 5 in your bill template.
Copy and Paste
- “Recycling” does not include any thermal decomposition or chemical conversion process utilized by a high-heat waste facility.
You’ve drafted your High-Heat Facilities Law, but now what? The next step is to find a legislative champion to sponsor your bill and formally introduce it in your state legislature. This should be a legislator who is passionate about the goal you’re trying to achieve and is committed to advocating for the bill.
Understanding and navigating the legislative process can be challenging. Don’t worry, Just Zero is here to help! Although every state’s legislative process is unique, they tend to follow a similar structure.