NYSAR3’s Legislative Outreach & Engagement Day

Save-the-Date:  February 24, 2026

More Details Coming Soon! 

 

Help support crucial funding and advance important legislation for the 3R's and Sustainable Materials Management in 2026.

 

TENTATIVE 2026 AGENDA: 

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM:   Arrival / Complimentary breakfast provided

10:00 AM – 10:45 AM: Advocacy Training

Provided by NYSAR3, using resources graciously shared by our friends at the NYS Association of Counties (NYSAC).

11:00 AM – 3:30 PM: *Meetings with your Legislators

To discuss some of NYSAR3’s 2026 top priorities:

    • Packaging & Paper Products EPR, including funding for municipal recycling
    • Bottle Bill expansion of redemption center funding and other improvements
    • Mattress EPR
    • Increased and/or dedicated funding for Composting Infrastructure, Reuse and Deconstruction Grants, and the Center for Sustainable Materials Management
    • Textile EPR, recovery and waste reduction

3:30 PM - 4:00 PM: Group Debrief for those available

 

*Meetings will take place in small groups which will be assembled in advance, including matching constituents with their legislators where possible. Additionally, we may have a press event around 11 AM, exact timing and details to be announced.

 

Legislative Committee

For more than two decades, the New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse, and Recycling (NYSAR3) -- and its members from the public and private sectors -- have played a leadership role in establishing environmental initiatives to reduce waste and increase recycling. This effort includes advancing legislation on the state level that promotes public and environmental health while shaping the sustainable materials management economy of the future. 

All are welcome to join our Legislative Committee efforts.

For information and to join, contact Bodhi Piedmont-Fleischmann, Legislative Committee Chair.

 

Contact your Representatives

Use draft letters from NYSAR3 to contact your State Senators and Assemblymembers and advocate for legislation related to waste and recycling.

Contact your Representatives

 

2025 Legislative Priorities for NYSAR3

NYSAR3 SUPPORTS Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Paper Products:

NYSAR3 supports Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging and paper, requiring brand owners and manufacturers to finance the recycling of materials they produce. EPR programs engage producers in the end-of-life management of products and encourage circularity by reducing the amount of packaging and paper used in product production, redesigning to be more readily recyclable, incorporating post-consumer content, and leveraging market forces to maximize material recovery.

NYSAR3 SUPPORTS Improvements to the Returnable Container Act (Bottle Bill) Redemption Funding Scheme:

Beverage container collection through the provisions of the Bottle Bill provides a segregated, marketable, clean source of recyclable materials. To increase the incentive for redemption and support the redemption centers that manage and implement the Bottle Bill program, NYSAR3 supports an increase of the deposit and redemption value to ten cents (10¢), setting of the deposit and redemption value for wine and liquor at twenty-five cents (25¢), and an increase in the handling fee that is paid to redemption centers to five or six cents (5¢ - 6¢). In coordination with the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Paper Products, NYSAR3 also supports the expansion of the Bottle Bill to include wine, liquor, and other glass beverage containers.

NYSAR3 SUPPORTS Textile EPR, Recovery, and Waste Reduction:

According to the US EPA, almost 2 billion pounds of textiles are generated as waste in NYS each year and eighty-five percent of textile waste is estimated to be disposed through landfilling and incineration. The market value of the discarded textiles is over $650 million based on salvage market prices and forecasts indicate that the U.S. reuse/second-hand apparel market will double within the next five years. As municipalities strive toward zero-waste programs and more cost-effective operations, and brands seek circular solutions for their products, textile recovery presents an attractive opportunity. However, textile collection, sorting, and processing systems lag behind other recycling systems, such as those for metal, glass, plastic, and paper. EPR (such as S6654/A8078 from the 2023-24 session) can jumpstart the market for textile recovery by leveling the competitive playing field, de-risking investment, and incentivizing reuse and recycling.

NYSAR3 SUPPORTS Expansion of Funding for Organics Management Infrastructure:

NYSAR3 supports an additional $7.5 million allocation in the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) dedicated to grants for capital projects that establish or expand food scrap composting programs and facilities managed by municipalities or non-profits. This would be in addition to the existing $2.5 million which is currently divided between grants for composting and food rescue. These additional funds are vital to ensure the infrastructure exists to meet the requirements of the newly expanded Food Scraps Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, as well as the goals set by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). NYSAR3 also supports an expansion of the entities eligible to apply for grants for composting and food rescue to include other non-profit organizations that are not classified as municipalities or food banks, but who play critical roles in composting or food rescue and donation efforts.


NYSAR3 SUPPORTS Increased Sustainability and Circularity in the Building and Construction Industry:

NYSAR3 partners closely with CR0WD (Circularity, Reuse, Zero Waste Development), a collaborative network launched in 2020 that is working to create a more sustainable built environment in New York State through the creation of a circular building and construction economy. Through this collaboration, NYSAR3 supports efforts to expand deconstruction and material reuse rather than demolition. NYSAR3 supports the development of statewide parameters for comprehensive deconstruction legislation.