Download PDF
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) announced the completion of a report titled:
Study on the Economic Impacts of Recycling (“Study”)
The Study was required by House Bill 2763 from the 84th Legislature.
The focus of the Study is an assessment of the economic benefits of the recycling industry in the State of Texas. It included a Recycling Industry Survey that addresses market conditions.
A key goal of the Study was to give Texas policymakers information needed to examine the economic, environmental and policy issues related to recycling. Other topics required to be addressed by HB 2736 included:
-
Current recycling efforts
-
Methods to increase recycling (i.e., development of new markets for recycled materials and new businesses that may result from increased recycling)
-
Funding methods to increase recycling
-
Job creation from recycling
-
Infrastructure needs and opportunities for rural and underserved areas
Some of the conclusions from the Study included:
-
Approximately 9.2 million tons of municipal solid waste were recycled in Texas in 2015
-
Recyclables (paper, plastics, metal, and glass), organics (yard trimmings, brush, green waste, food and beverage materials), and construction and demolition materials accounted for 8.7 million tons (i.e., 94.4% of the total tons of recycled materials in Texas)
-
$702 million of materials were recycled in Texas in 2015
-
The 2015 recycling rate for municipal solid waste in Texas was 22.7 percent
-
Recycling of municipal solid waste produces more than 17,000 person years of direct, indirect, and induced employment during 2015
-
Overall impact of recycling municipal solid waste on the Texas economic exceeded $3.3 billion
A link to the Study can be found here.
