Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-102
§6941a Energy and Materials Conservation and Recovery; Congressional Findings
Title 42 › CHAPTER 82 — SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL › SUBCHAPTER IV — STATE OR REGIONAL SOLID WASTE PLANS › § 6941a
Summary
Congress says saving materials and getting energy and useful stuff out of trash can cut how much waste we make and lower disposal needs. Trash holds energy and recoverable materials that can replace scarce fossil fuels and new raw materials. The needed technology already works in business. Because towns and cities have different needs and abilities, federal help to plan and run these programs must be available fairly to all.
Full Legal Text
Title 42, §6941a
The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The Congress finds that—
(1)significant savings could be realized by conserving materials in order to reduce the volume or quantity of material which ultimately becomes waste;
(2)solid waste contains valuable energy and material resources which can be recovered and used thereby conserving increasingly scarce and expensive fossil fuels and virgin materials;
(3)the recovery of energy and materials from municipal waste, and the conservation of energy and materials contributing to such waste streams, can have the effect of reducing the volume of the municipal waste stream and the burden of disposing of increasing volumes of solid waste;
(4)the technology to conserve resources exists and is commercially feasible to apply;
(5)the technology to recover energy and materials from solid waste is of demonstrated commercial feasibility; and
(6)various communities throughout the nation have different needs and different potentials for conserving resources and for utilizing techniques for the recovery of energy and materials from waste, and Federal assistance in planning and implementing such energy and materials conservation and recovery programs should be available to all such communities on an equitable basis in relation to their needs and potential.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Codification Section was enacted as part of the Solid Waste Disposal Act
Amendments
of 1980, and not as part of the Solid Waste Disposal Act which comprises this chapter.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
42 U.S.C. § 6941a
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102