REUSE Act of 2025

This section gives the Act a short title: the Research for Environmental Uses and Sustainable Economies Act of 2025, also called the REUSE Act of 2025.

This section would set up definitions and then require a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on reuse and refill systems. The Administrator means the Administrator of the EPA. A reuse and refill system means a set of mechanisms tied to refillable or reusable products and beverage containers, with the specific mechanisms decided by the Administrator, that is backed by adequate infrastructure at the producer level and adequate, convenient availability and retail infrastructure at the consumer level, so that the products and containers can be repeatedly recovered, inspected, repaired if needed, and put back into the supply chain by producers for reuse or refill over multiple cycles, and can also be conveniently and safely reused or refilled by producers and consumers over multiple cycles. State has the meaning given to that term in section 1004 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). Not later than 2 years after this Act is enacted, the Administrator would have to make a report publicly available describing the feasibility of, and best practices for, reuse and refill systems across various sectors chosen by the Administrator. Those sectors may include food service, consumer food and beverage products, consumer cleaning products, personal care products, transportation and shipping of wholesale and retail goods, and public educational institutions, including colleges and universities. The report would have to include an evaluation and summary of: the types of reuse and refill systems for product delivery that work best at different scales; methods to ensure equitable distribution of reuse and refill systems, where economically feasible, for product delivery in communities of different population sizes; job creation opportunities from using or expanding reuse and refill systems; the economic costs and benefits for businesses that deploy reuse and refill system technologies and for parties responsible for waste collection and management; the types of local, State, and Federal support needed to expand the use of reuse and refill systems; and the existing barriers to widespread use of reuse and refill systems. In preparing the report, the Administrator would have to take into consideration relevant information about reuse and refill system programs and approaches used in States, local governments, and foreign countries, and would have to consult with relevant reuse and refill system stakeholders.