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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5524
February Session, 2026
AN ACT CONCERNING THE STATE'S MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 22a -226e of the 2026 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2026): 3
(a) (1) On and after January 1, 2014, each commercial food wholesaler 4
or distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 5
resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 6
from an authorized source -separated organic material composting 7
facility and that generates an average projected volume of not less than 8
one hundred four tons per year of source -separated organic materials 9
shall: (A) Separate such source -separated organic materials from other 10
solid waste; and (B) ensure that such source-separated organic materials 11
are recycled at any authorized source -separated organic material 12
composting facility that has available capacity and that will accept such 13
source-separated organic material. 14
(2) On and after January 1, 2020, each commercial food wholesaler or 15
distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 16
resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 17
from an authorized source -separated organic material composting 18
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facility and that generates an average projected volume of not less than 19
fifty-two tons per year of source -separated organic materials shall: (A) 20
Separate such source -separated organic materials from other solid 21
waste; and (B) ensure that such source -separated organic materials are 22
recycled at any authorized source -separated organic material 23
composting facility that has available capacity and that will accept such 24
source-separated organic material. 25
(3) On and after January 1, 2022, each commercial food wholesaler or 26
distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 27
resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 28
from either an authorized source -separated organic material 29
composting facility or an authorized transfer station, or any collection 30
location authorized to receive source -separated organic materials, and 31
that generates an average projected volume of not less than twenty -six 32
tons per year of source -separated organic materials shall: (A) Separate 33
such source-separated organic materials from other solid waste; and (B) 34
ensure that such source-separated organic materials are recycled at any 35
authorized source-separated organic material composting facility that 36
has available capacity and that will accept such source -separated 37
organic material. 38
(4) On and after January 1, 2025, each commercial food wholesaler or 39
distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 40
resort, conference center or institution that generates an average 41
projected volume of not less than twenty -six tons per year of source -42
separated organic materials shall: (A) Separate such source -separated 43
organic materials from other solid waste; and (B) ensure that such 44
source-separated organic materials are recycled at any authorized 45
source-separated organic material composting facility that has available 46
capacity and that will accept such source -separated organic material. 47
For the purposes of this section "institution" means any establishment 48
engaged in providing hospitality, entertainment or rehabilitation and 49
health care services, and any hospital, public or independent institution 50
of higher education building or facility or correctional facility. 51
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(5) On and after July 1, 2027, any entity that generates an average 52
projected volume of not less than twenty -six tons per year of source -53
separated organic materials shall: (A) Separate such source -separated 54
organic materials from other solid waste; and (B) ensure that such 55
source-separated organic materials are recycled at any authorized 56
source-separated organic material composting facility that has available 57
capacity and that will accept such source-separated organic material. 58
[(5)] (6) On and after July 1, 2026, each public or nonpublic school 59
building or educational facility in which students in grades 60
kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, or any combination thereof, are 61
enrolled, that is located not more than twenty miles from either an 62
authorized source -separated organic material composting facility and 63
that generates an average projected volume of not less than twenty -six 64
tons per year of source -separated organic materials shall: (A) Separate 65
such source-separated organic materials from other solid waste; and (B) 66
ensure that such source-separated organic materials are recycled at any 67
authorized source-separated organic material composting facility that 68
has available capacity and that will accept such source -separated 69
organic material. 70
(b) Any such wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, processor, 71
supermarket, institution, resort or conference center that performs 72
composting of source -separated organic materials on site or treats 73
source-separated organic materials via on -site organic treatment 74
equipment permitted pursuant to the general statutes or federal law 75
shall be deemed in compliance with the provisions of this section. 76
(c) Any permitted source -separated organic material composting 77
facility that receives such source -separated organic materials shall 78
report to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, as 79
part of such facility's reporting obligations, a summary of fees charged 80
for receipt of such source-separated organic materials. 81
(d) Not later than January 1, 2022, the Commissioner of Energy and 82
Environmental Protection shall establish a voluntary pilot program for 83
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any municipality that seeks to separate source -separated organic 84
materials and ensure that such source -separated organic materials are 85
recycled at authorized source -separated organic material composting 86
facilities that have available capacity and that will accept such source -87
separated organic material. 88
(e) On or before March 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, each 89
wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, processor, supermarket, resort, 90
conference center or institution that is subject to the provisions of this 91
section shall submit a report to the Department of Energy and 92
Environmental Protection in electronic format. Such report shall 93
summarize such entity's amount of edible food donated, the amount of 94
food scraps recycled and the organics recycler or recyclers and 95
associated collectors used. On and after March 1, 2027, and annually 96
thereafter, such reporting requirement shall apply to any entity that is 97
subject to the provisions of this section. 98
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2028) (a) No food service establishment, 99
restaurant, dining facility, caterer or other entity engaged in the sale or 100
service of prepared food shall sell, use or provide food service ware 101
composed, in whole or in part, of expanded polystyrene. 102
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a local or regional 103
board of education shall be deemed in compliance with this section if 104
such board participates in a program for the collection and recycling of 105
expanded polystyrene food service ware and ensures that such 106
materials are separated, collected and delivered to a facility authorized 107
to accept and recycle such material. 108
(c) For purposes of this section, "expanded polystyrene" means blown 109
polystyrene or expanded or extruded foam polystyrene. 110
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a 111
municipality from adopting or enforcing an ordinance that imposes 112
requirements or restrictions on expanded polystyrene that are stricter 113
than the provisions of this section. 114
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(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any packaging 115
product composed of polystyrene or containing polystyrene loose fill 116
that: 117
(1) Is used for prepackaged food that was filled and sealed prior to 118
receipt by a retail establishment, business or food vendor; 119
(2) Is used to contain or store raw or frozen meat or seafood sold from 120
a butcher case or similar retail appliance; 121
(3) Is a cooler or ice chest, provided such polystyrene is fully encased 122
in another material; or 123
(4) Is reusable polystyrene used for agricultural purposes. 124
(f) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to 125
any patient care unit in any hospital or rehabilitation facility. 126
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2027) (a) On and after January 1, 2028, 127
no food service establishment shall provide single -use food service 128
items, including utensils, napkins, condiment packets or drinking 129
straws, except upon request of the customer or through the use of a 130
utensil dispenser. 131
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the provision 132
or use of drinking straws, provided no single -use drinking straw 133
provided by a food service establishment shall contain PFAS, as defined 134
in section 22a -255h of the general statutes, that is intentionally added. 135
For purposes of this subsection, "PFAS that is intentionally added" 136
means the addition of PFAS during the manufacturing process to 137
provide a functional or technical effect in the finished product. 138
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2026) On and after July 1, 2027, any 139
entity subject to the commercial organics diversion requirements of 140
section 22a-226e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, shall 141
prioritize the donation of surplus edible food for human consumption 142
prior to the use of recycling, composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic 143
digestion or disposal and shall adopt and maintain a written policy 144
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establishing procedures for the safe storage, handling and transfer of 145
such food for donation. 146
Sec. 5. (NEW) ( Effective July 1, 2026) Notwithstanding any provision 147
of title 22a of the general statutes, for purposes of any municipal or 148
regional materials management grant program administered by the 149
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, including, but not 150
limited to, materials management infrastructure or sustainable 151
materials management grant programs, eligible project costs may 152
include equipment, infrastructure, facility improvements, 153
implementation systems and operational components necessary to 154
support waste reduction, reuse programs, food recovery, source 155
separation, organics diversion or materials processing, including, but 156
not limited to, storage infrastructure, cold storage equipment, reusable 157
food service systems, dishwashing equipment, sanitation infrastructure, 158
sorting systems and collection systems. 159
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2026 22a-226e
Sec. 2 July 1, 2028 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2027 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2026 New section
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.
APP Joint Favorable