SB2088 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 11356 BDA 21444 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB2088

Introduced 2/6/2025, by Sen. Erica Harriss

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 20/2	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7052
415 ILCS 20/2.1	from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7052.1

Amends the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act. Adds thermal conversion to the State's solid waste management hierarchy. Defines "thermal conversion" as the process by which a solid feedstock can be converted to produce environmentally safe products, including, but not limited to, liquid fuels, chemicals, hydrogen, and other products.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Solid Waste Management Act is amended by changing Sections 2 and 2.1 as follows:

(415 ILCS 20/2) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7052)

Sec. 2. Public Policy. (a) The General Assembly finds:

(1) that current solid waste disposal practices are not adequate to address the needs of many metropolitan areas in Illinois;

(2) that the generation of solid waste is increasing while landfill capacity is decreasing;

(3) that siting of new landfills, transfer stations, incinerators, recycling facilities, or other solid waste management facilities and the expansion of existing facilities is very difficult due to the public concern and competition with other land uses for suitable sites;

(4) that more effective and efficient management of solid waste is needed in a manner that promotes economic development, protects the environment and public health and safety, and allows the most practical and beneficial use of the material and energy values of solid waste;

(5) that state government policy and programs should be developed to assist local governments and private industry in seeking solutions to solid waste management problems;

(6) that the purchase of products or supplies made from recycled materials by public agencies in the State will divert significant quantities of waste from landfills, reduce disposal costs and stimulate recycling markets, thereby encouraging the further use of recycled materials and educating the public about the utility and availability of such materials;

(7) that there are wastes for which combustion would not provide practical energy recovery or practical volume reduction, which cannot be reasonably recycled or reused and which have reduced environmental threat because they are non-putrescible, homogeneous and do not contain free liquids. Such wastes bear a real and substantial difference under the purposes of the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act from solid wastes for which combustion would provide practical energy recovery or practical volume reduction, which can be reasonably recycled or reused, or which are putrescible, non-homogeneous or contain free liquids;

(8) since it is the policy of the State as set forth in the Environmental Protection Act to assure that contaminants discharged into the atmosphere or waters of the State are given the degree of treatment or control necessary to prevent pollution, that wastes generated as a result of removing contaminants from the air, water or land bear a real and substantial difference from other wastes in that the generation of wastes containing pollution treatment residuals can improve the environment in Illinois and should be encouraged;

(9) since it is the policy of the State as set forth in the Environmental Protection Act to promote conservation of natural resources and minimize environmental damage by encouraging and effecting recycling and reuse of waste materials, that wastes from recycling, reclamation or reuse processes designed to remove contaminants so as to render such wastes reusable or wastes received at a landfill and recycled through an Agency permitted process bear a real and substantial difference from wastes not resulting from or subject to such recycling, reclamation, or reuse and that encouraging such recycling, reclamation or reuse furthers the purposes of the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act;

(10) that there are over 300 landfills in Illinois which are permitted to accept only demolition or construction debris or landscape waste, the vast majority of which accept less than 10,000 cubic yards per year. By themselves these wastes pose only a minimal hazard to the environment when landfilled in compliance with regulatory requirements in an Agency-permitted site without commingling with other wastes and, as such, landfills receiving only such wastes bear a real and substantial difference from landfills receiving wastes which are commingled. Disposal of these wastes in landfills permitted for municipal wastes uses up increasingly scarce capacity for garbage, general household and commercial waste. It is the policy of the State to encourage disposal of these wastes in separate landfills.

(b) It is the purpose of this Act to reduce reliance on land disposal of solid waste, to encourage and promote alternative means of managing solid waste, and to assist local governments with solid waste planning and management, and to promote conversion into environmentally safe products. In furtherance of those aims, while recognizing that landfills will continue to be necessary, this Act establishes the following waste management hierarchy, in descending order of preference, as State policy:

(1) volume reduction at the source;

(2) recycling and reuse;

(3) thermal conversion;

(4) (3) combustion with energy recovery;

(5) (4) combustion for volume reduction;

(6) (5) disposal in landfill facilities.

(Source: P.A. 85-1440.)

(415 ILCS 20/2.1) (from Ch. 111 1/2, par. 7052.1)

Sec. 2.1. Definitions. When used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms have the meanings ascribed to them in this Section:

"Agency" means the Environmental Protection Agency.

"Department", when a particular entity is not specified, means (i) in the case of a function to be performed on or after July 1, 1995 (the effective date of the Department of Natural Resources Act) and until the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (now Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity), as successor to the former Department of Energy and Natural Resources under the Department of Natural Resources Act; or (ii) in the case of a function required to be performed before July 1, 1995, the former Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources.

"Deinked stock" means paper that has been processed to remove inks, clays, coatings, binders and other contaminants.

"End product" means only those items that are designed to be used until disposal; items designed to be used in production of a subsequent item are excluded.

"High grade printing and writing papers" includes offset printing paper, duplicator paper, writing paper (stationery), office paper, note pads, xerographic paper, envelopes, form bond including computer paper and carbonless forms, book papers, bond papers, ledger paper, book stock and cotton fiber papers.

"Paper and paper products" means high grade printing and writing papers, tissue products, newsprint, unbleached packaging and recycled paperboard.

"Postconsumer material" means only those products generated by a business or consumer which have served their intended end uses, and which have been separated or diverted from solid waste; wastes generated during production of an end product are excluded.

"Recovered paper material" means paper waste generated after the completion of the papermaking process, such as postconsumer materials, envelope cuttings, bindery trimmings, printing waste, cutting and other converting waste, butt rolls, and mill wrappers, obsolete inventories, and rejected unused stock. "Recovered paper material", however, does not include fibrous waste generated during the manufacturing process such as fibers recovered from waste water or trimmings of paper machine rolls (mill broke), or fibrous byproducts of harvesting, extraction or woodcutting processes, or forest residues such as bark.

"Recycled paperboard" includes recycled paperboard products, folding cartons and pad backing.

"Recycling" means the process by which solid waste is collected, separated and processed for reuse as either a raw material or a product which itself is subject to recycling, but does not include the combustion of waste for energy recovery or volume reduction.

"Thermal conversion" means the process by which a solid feedstock can be converted to produce environmentally safe products, including, but not limited to, liquid fuels, chemicals, hydrogen, and other products.

"Tissue products" includes toilet tissue, paper towels, paper napkins, facial tissue, paper doilies, industrial wipers, paper bags and brown papers.

"Unbleached packaging" includes corrugated and fiber boxes.

"USEPA Guidelines for federal procurement" means all minimum recycled content standards recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

(Source: P.A. 102-444, eff. 8-20-21.)