The New Jersey Senate’s Environment and Energy Committee has combined two bills designed to analyze the state’s recycling challenges and recommend ways of reusing more recyclable materials, NJ Spotlight reports.

The combined bill (S-3939/3-944) calls for the creation of a Recycling Market Development Council that would report on best practices to reduce the contamination of recyclables and recommend ways to stimulate demand for the materials. The move comes amid a statewide market demand for some recyclable materials.

NJ Spotlight has more:

New Jersey households are recycling less of their waste than they did a few years ago because of a decline in market demand for some materials, China’s recent decision to stop recycling plastic and other materials from overseas, and an increase in the contamination of recyclables because of collections that mix different materials.

Now, the decline in recycling of paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum and other materials has prompted legislation that would set up a statewide council to find markets for recyclables and stop them ending up in landfills.

The Senate’s Environment and Energy Committee this week combined two bills that were designed to analyze the state’s recycling challenges and recommend ways of reusing more recyclable materials.

Read the full article here.