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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina Requires State Agencies to Report Recycled Purchasing and Funds Plastics Study
Last action · July 31, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate (Senate action)Sponsors: Harry Warren and 15 others
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What This Bill Would Do
State departments, educational institutions, and local school administrative units must annually report purchases and collection of compostable, recyclable, and recycled-content materials to environmental officials under a new legislative measure. The act also directs the to study and single-use plastics, appropriates $50,000 for the research, and mandates waste-reduction pilot programs in legislative facilities and state-operated sites.
State and local educational agencies face new annual reporting requirements regarding recycled and compostable purchasing, while legislative operations and five selected state facilities must phase out single-use .
- The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory was established by the General Assembly to utilize expertise from the University of North Carolina system to tackle practical environmental and policy issues. context
- The Environmental Review Commission is a standing legislative oversight body in North Carolina that examines environmental protection and natural resource matters. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
State departments and educational agencies
Must submit annual reports to the Department of Environmental Quality regarding purchases of compostable and recycled-content materials and recycling collection volumes.
North Carolina Policy Collaboratory
Receives a $50,000 appropriation to study food service ware and submit findings and legislative proposals to the 2026 General Assembly.
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
Must implement a pilot program to eliminate single-use food service ware across five agency-operated facilities and report on implementation progress.
Key Facts
- State departments, institutions, agencies, community colleges, and local school administrative units must report annual purchases of materials with compostable and recycled content to the Department of Environmental Quality by October 1 of each year.
- State agencies and schools must report amounts and types of materials collected for recycling to the Department of Environmental Quality by October 1 annually.
- The Department of Environmental Quality must report annually by April 15 to the Environmental Review Commission, Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, and Fiscal Research Division regarding solid waste management status, including summaries of agency purchasing and recycling reports.
- The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is directed to study food service ware, plastics recycling, environmental impacts, and waste reduction alternatives.
Show all 12 facts
- The North Carolina Policy Collaboratory must report its findings, recommendations, and legislative proposals to the 2026 Regular Session of the General Assembly upon its convening.
- The Legislative Services Officer must evaluate and implement measures to reduce single-use food service ware in General Assembly food and beverage services without impairing existing contracts.
- The Legislative Services Officer must issue a preliminary report on legislative food service ware reduction by September 1, 2025, and a final report by March 1, 2026, to the Environmental Review Commission.
- The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources must implement a pilot program eliminating food service ware across five operated facilities.
- The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources must submit a preliminary report by September 1, 2025, and a final report by March 1, 2026, on its pilot program to the Environmental Review Commission.
- Food service ware is defined as single-use products designed for serving or transporting prepared food or beverages, excluding compostable or recyclable products.
- The sum of $50,000 in nonrecurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is appropriated from the General Fund to the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory for the study.
- Section 5 of the act becomes effective July 1, 2025, while the remainder of the act becomes effective when it becomes law.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who must report their recycled and compostable material purchases?
What entity is responsible for conducting the study on food service ware?
How much money is appropriated for the food service ware study?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
24 actions- Jul 31, 2025SenateRef To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
- Jul 31, 2025SenatePassed 1st Reading
- Jul 31, 2025SenateRegular Message Received From House
- Jul 30, 2025HouseRegular Message Sent To Senate
- Jul 29, 2025HousePassed 3rd Reading
- Jul 29, 2025HousePassed 2nd Reading
Show 18 earlier actions
- Jul 28, 2025HousePlaced On Cal For 07/29/2025
- Jul 28, 2025HouseCal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- Jul 28, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Jun 17, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Jun 17, 2025HouseReptd Fav Com Substitute
- Jun 10, 2025HouseRe-ref to the Com on Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Jun 10, 2025HouseWithdrawn From Com
- Mar 20, 2025HouseRe-ref to the Com on Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 20, 2025HouseWithdrawn From Com
- Mar 18, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 18, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Feb 26, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On State and Local Government
- Feb 26, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Feb 3, 2025HouseRe-ref to the Com on Agriculture and Environment, if favorable, State and Local Government, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Feb 3, 2025HouseWithdrawn From Com
- Jan 30, 2025HouseRef To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Jan 30, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Jan 29, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 11 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Mandatory Annual Waste Reporting
The bill broadens existing state purchasing policies into strict annual reporting obligations for all state agencies and school units regarding compostable and recycled materials.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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