New study to examine recycling economy in Texas

The State of Texas Alliance for Recycling (STAR), Austin, Texas, has announced that a statewide survey will be launched June 1 to document recycling and the use of recyclables in manufacturing in Texas as well as evaluate multiple recycling economic issues in greater detail. The survey will allow participants to report their recycling data for the 2019 calendar year. The survey will close Aug. 31. 

According to a news release from STAR, survey results will be used to make a Recycling Market Development Plan that will provide recommendations for Texas policymakers to use the economic, environmental and policy issues of interest to Texas businesses, citizens and governmental agencies. 

STAR reports that this effort is the result of a bill passed in the 86th Texas Legislative Session (Senate Bill 649), which requires the creation of a Recycling Market Development Plan to take an updated look at the economics of the recycling industry in Texas and provide details about the current and needed infrastructure to manage the state’s recyclables. The plan will also provide recommendations on how to support and grow the Texas recycling industry. An educational plan will be developed to highlight the economic benefits of recycling, the companies in Texas using recycled feedstock and contamination reduction messaging.

“Senate Bill 649 is an important step toward fostering the continued growth of recycling in Texas,” says Sen. Judith Zaffirini, the bill’s author. “The new law will help promote and expand markets for recyclable materials in our state, protect and create jobs in the industry and educate consumers to recycle properly and reduce contamination. This survey will ensure the Recycling Market Development Plan is grounded in fact, not supposition, and I highly encourage all interested stakeholders to participate.”

According to STAR, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) retained Burns & McDonnell, an environmental consulting firm based in Kansas City, Missouri, to complete the project. Burns & McDonnell previously worked to complete and release the Study on the Economic Impacts of Recycling (SEIR) in 2017. The Recycling Market Development Plan will use the methodology of SEIR with a focus on the economic impacts of the recycling industry in Texas and additionally develop a plan to stimulate the use of recycled materials as well as an educational campaign about recycling and contamination reduction.

“The Recycling Market Development Plan will build on the successful foundation of the Study on the Economic Impacts of Recycling,” says Scott Pasternak, senior project manager at Burns & McDonnell who led the SEIR effort and is now managing the Recycling Market Development Plan. “We invite recyclers and manufacturers from throughout the supply chain to participate in this year’s effort, as their help will be essential to develop resilient, future-looking recycling markets for Texas-generated materials.”

Since the Recycling Market Development Plan will request recycling and economic data from private companies, Burns & McDonnell will take every measure allowed by law to protect confidentiality and will have nondisclosure agreements available for survey participants.

“The data we gather is imperative to the construction of the Recycling Market Development Plan,” says STAR Executive Director Jordan Fengel. “The plan will help us build a stronger, more circular materials management system in Texas, and that means more jobs and revenue for Texas cities and businesses, and less waste.”

According to STAR, the results will be included in the TCEQ report, “Municipal Solid Waste in Texas: A Year in Review.”