NH Solid Waste Legislation Updates: 2026 Session
The New Hampshire Legislature's 2026 session has just begun! NH Recycles tracks bills regarding solid waste and recycling throughout the legislative session. You can check back for updates. This page was last revised on November 5, 2025
Need a refresher about how the legislative process works in New Hampshire? Here's an overview of how a bill becomes a law. A Glossary of Terms is also provided at the end of this update.
Please note: NH Recycles does not take a position for or against any legislation; however, NH Recycles occasionally provides testimony about proposed legislation to educate elected officials about how proposed legislation might impact NH Recycles' member communities.
2026 Legislation
House LSRs
2026-2318 HB: limiting the placement of out-of-state waste going into New Hampshire landfills.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Nicholas Germana, David Watters, Peter Bixby, Karen Ebel, Nancy Murphy, Cindy Rosenwald, Judy Aron, Bill Boyd, Donovan Fenton, Kelley Potenza, Linda Haskins, James Gruber
2026-2360 HB: prohibiting the extraction of groundwater for the purpose of bottling in plastic bottles.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Tony Caplan, Peter Bixby
2026-2483 HB: exempting certain household pharmaceutical wastes from the definition of hazardous waste.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Linda Haskins, Nicholas Germana
2026-2520 HB: establishing a solid waste site evaluation committee.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Peter Bixby , Judy Aron, Liz Barbour, Kelley Potenza, Nicholas Germana, Jared Sullivan, Linda Haskins, James Gruber, David Rochefort
2026-2561 HB: requiring the state to develop additional solid waste disposal capacity.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Linda Haskins
2026-2675 HB: establishing a committee to study ways to manage disposal of vapes and e-cigarettes.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Nicholas Germana
2026-2772 HB: establishing the paint product stewardship program.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Karen Ebel, David Watters, Peter Leishman, Peter Bixby, Kevin Avard, Dick Thackston, Anita Burroughs, Megan Murray, Cindy Rosenwald, Judy Aron, James Creighton, Howard Pearl, Carry Spier
2026-2862 HB: establishing a commission to advise the department of environmental services on food waste diversion.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Lucius Parshall
2026-2908 HB: requiring the department of environmental services to revise the rules for proposed new landfills.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Kelley Potenza, Anita Burroughs, Judy Aron, Denise Ricciardi, Donovan Fenton, Seth King, Liz Barbour, Nicholas Germana, James Gruber, David Rochefort
2026-3191 HB: creating a safe battery recycling stewardship program.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Karen Ebel
2026-3201 HB: establishing a beverage container redemption program.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Alissandra Murray
Senate LSRs
2026-2142 SB: including syringes and similar medical devices in the definition of special waste for purposes of solid waste management.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Keith Murphy
2026-2176 SB: relative to landfills.
- Sponsors: (Prime) Kevin Avard, David Watters, Howard Pearl, Mark McConkey
UPDATE: House Bill 2026-2288 relative to the recycling of film plastics has been WITHDRAWN.
Resources: The General Court of New Hampshire
Glossary of Terms
Indefinitely postpone:
- Bill considered killed.
Inexpedient to legislate (ITL):
- A recommendation by the committee indicating that the committee is against the bill.
- Bill considered killed.
Legislative Service Request (LSR):
- An LSR is a filing made by a legislator for a proposed bill and submitted to the Office of Legislative Services to have a bill drafted. It is then assigned a bill docket number. Draft bills come from the 400 elected members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the 24 members of the New Hampshire Senate.
Ought to pass (OTP):
- A recommendation by the committee indicating that the committee supports the bill.
Ought to pass as amended (OTPA):
- A recommendation by the committee indicating that the committee supports the bill with an amendment(s).
Refer to interim study:
- The committee would like the House or Senate to send it back down to the committee for further analysis.
Tabled:
- A legislative body adopts a motion to suspend consideration of a bill indefinitely.
