A. The Legislature hereby recognizes and declares that it is necessary for the public interest, health and economic welfare to encourage and promote the recycling and reuse of recoverable materials. The recycling and reuse of recoverable materials substantially reduces disposal costs and the tremendous flow of solid waste to Oklahoma's dwindling solid waste sites. It is equally necessary that Oklahoma preserve, expand and encourage economic growth. The recycling and reuse of recoverable materials will create new employment, provide and allow for expansion of existing manufacturing, thereby increasing employment and payrolls as well as upgrading the state's natural resources.

B. In addition to the benefits of cost-effective recycling and reuse outlined in subsection A of this section, the measurable energy efficiency achieved through the cost-effective recovery and reuse of recyclable materials by energy-intensive industries shall be a priority of this state and encouraged by state regulatory agencies. For purposes of this section, "energy-intensive industry" means an industry that uses significant quantities of energy as part of its primary economic activities and includes the following industries:

1. Information technology, including data centers containing electrical equipment used in processing, storing and transmitting digital information;

2. Consumer product manufacturing;

3. Food processing; and

4. Materials manufacturers, including aluminum, chemicals, forest and paper products, metal casting, glass, petroleum refining, mining and steel.

C. The Legislature declares that the goal of this state, hereinafter called the Oklahoma Recycling Initiative, is that each incorporated municipality with a population greater than five thousand (5,000), as determined by the most recent decennial census by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, should develop and operate a recycling program which will generate raw materials for the manufacturing industries located in this state. Due to the importance of the paper industry to Oklahoma's economy, each cost-effective recycling and reuse program should at a minimum include the collection of waste paper.

In implementing any recycling program pursuant to the Oklahoma Recycling Initiative, the municipality may:

1. Consider the overall status of the solid waste collection system and management within the municipality, including generation, recycling and disposal;

2. Review five-, ten-, and twenty-year municipality-wide goals for reducing the amount of solid waste through the recycling of recoverable materials;

3. Evaluate alternative methods for achieving the Oklahoma Recycling Initiative through municipality-wide collection systems or through integrated recoverable materials management on a regional basis;

4. Establish a comprehensive and sustained public information and education program concerning the recoverable materials program's features and requirements; and

5. Include in the program such other information recommended by the Department of Environmental Quality.

D. The Legislature in an effort to increase statewide recycling efforts hereby encourages a goal of recycling ten percent (10%) of the entire solid waste stream produced in this state by December 31, 2011. The Department of Environmental Quality shall coordinate this effort with the Oklahoma Recycling Association (OKRA) and any other interested parties and issue a report to the Legislature by December 31, 2011.

Added by Laws 1995, c. 311, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 1995. Amended by Laws 1998, c. 401, § 1, emerg. eff. June 10, 1998; Laws 2008, c. 125, § 1, emerg. eff. May 6, 2008; Laws 2013, c. 263, § 1, emerg. eff. May 13, 2013.

NOTE: Laws 1998, c. 364, § 11 repealed by Laws 1999, c. 1, § 45, emerg. eff. Feb. 24, 1999.