A federal judge in Oregon is about to decide a case that will shape how — and whether — states can require companies to pay for recycling the packaging they sell, and Texas has a stake in the outcome even though it has no such law.
The first courtroom test of a state packaging-recycling mandate went to trial last week in Oregon, and Texas has a stake in the outcome on two fronts.
Oregon has published the first hard results from its producer-funded recycling system, offering a working example of the kind of stable, self-financing collection infrastructure Texas could build.
While the price of recycled plastic has cratered this year, one container in the bin still holds real value: the aluminum can.
The market for recycled plastic bottles has fallen so far that the material Texas buries by the millions is now worth almost nothing at the curb — a collapse that supports say strengthens the argument for a container-deposit system in a state that has none.
Texas keeps burying material it could sell.
The first trash fee in Houston's history takes effect Wednesday, a $5 monthly charge that city leaders say will begin to rebuild a solid waste system that recycles just 16% of residents' waste — about half the national rate — and sends millions of tons of material to landfills, bayous and parks each year.
Texas sent 41.3 million tons of municipal waste to landfills in its most recent fiscal year and recovered only about 2 million tons for recycling or reuse — roughly one ton diverted for every 20 buried — according to the state's latest waste accounting, even as volunteers keep pulling tons of bottles and cans from Texas rivers and beaches.
Two Texas sorting plants have renewed the highest national rating for glass recycling, even as most of the glass Texans drop into their bins never becomes a new bottle — a gap that recycling groups say a statewide container-deposit system would help close.