EPA Backs Recycling Formerly ‘Hazardous’ Materials, But States Get Final Say

States will decide whether to let companies recycle some substances that until this week had been classified as hazardous, opening new business opportunities but also a potential regulatory minefield with a “hodgepodge” of rules, analysts tell Bloomberg Environment.

By changing its definition of solid waste, the Environmental Protection Agency’s May 30 regulation allows more material—like catalysts used in refining petroleum products—to be recycled rather than trashed, but companies still face a tangled web of solid waste management regulations at the state level.

Some states, such as Texas and Louisiana, are likely to adopt the provisions allowing more recycling, which would ...