Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 211.

Under present law, the Tennessee Solid Waste Disposal Act generally prohibits the burning of solid wastes except in a manner and under conditions prescribed by the department of environment and conservation and the Tennessee air pollution control board.<br /> <br /> Subject to certain exceptions, present law defines:<br /> <br /> (1) "Solid waste" to mean garbage, trash, refuse, abandoned material, spent material, byproducts, scrap, ash, sludge, and all discarded material including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, and agricultural operations, and from community activities; and<br /> (2) "Solid waste processing" to mean any process that modifies the characteristics or properties of solid waste, including, but not limited to, treatment, incineration, composting, separation, grinding, shredding, and volume reduction.<br /> <br /> This bill specifies that post-use polymers or recoverable feedstocks processed through pyrolysis or gasification are not solid waste. This bill also specifies that pyrolysis and gasification are not methods of solid waste processing.<br /> <br /> For purposes of this bill:<br /> <br /> (1) "Gasification" means a process through which recoverable feedstocks are heated and converted into a fuel-gas mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the mixture is converted into valuable products;<br /> (2) "Post-use polymer" means a plastic polymer which might otherwise become a waste if not converted to manufacture valuable products using pyrolysis or gasification. Post-use polymers may contain incidental contaminants or impurities such as paper labels or metal rings. Post-use polymers are not mixed with solid waste, medical waste, hazardous waste, e-waste, tires, or construction demolition debris;<br /> (3) "Pyrolysis" means a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are heated in the absence of oxygen until melted and thermally decomposed, and then cooled, condensed, and converted into valuable products. Pyrolysis is not considered "incineration" or solid waste "processing"; and<br /> (4) "Recoverable feedstock" means post-use polymers or materials that contain post-use polymers that have been processed into a fuel or feedstock for which the EPA, department, or underground storage tanks and solid waste disposal control board have made a non-waste determination. Coal refuse is not a recoverable feedstock.<br /> <br /> ON MARCH 25, 2019, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 923, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 makes changes to the definitions of terms used in this bill in order to specify that gasification facilities and pyrolysis facilities are not solid waste facilities or incinerators, post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks are not solid waste, and gasification facilities and pyrolysis facilities are subject to any other applicable environmental, health, and safety requirements for such facilities.<br /> <br />