Dive Brief:

• The Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee in Vermont unanimously passed a bill created to get ready for the state's universal recycling law. The bill designates a fund to support the infrastructure and capital costs of collection and processing recyclables and organic waste.
• According to the bill, the Agency of Natural Resources will determine where the funding will be allotted. The bill also increases the waste disposal franchise tax from $6 to $7 for every ton deposited at a transfer station.
• The state's universal recycling law, Act 148, is anticipated to increase Vermont's diversion rate from 36 to 50%. It serves to ban recyclables from landfills by July 2015, and food waste by July 2020.

Dive Insight:

Lawmakers want more funding from the bill to be available for rural areas that don't have a strong infrastructure in place. The bill requires that municipalities join a solid waste district in order to share a universal disposal and recycling infrastructure. Should a community choose not to join a district, it will not get any state funding for transitioning into the recycling program. At this time, nine towns have decided to bypass the mandate. 

Many states are experiencing stagnant recycling rates, including Michigan and Washington. If this act is successful, other states could analyze aspects of the bill that would help to increase their own rates.