SB 2689 by Sen. Kelly Hancock would work to expand recycling in Texas, including through the creation of a recycling innovation grant program to support research on or investments in the expansion of recycling and sorting infrastructure, improving services in rural communities in this state, or addressing contamination of recyclable material. I testified in support of the bill at a hearing of the Senate Natural Resources committee this week.
We only recycle about 23% of our waste here in the state—12 points lower than the national average. And part of that is just because a lot of people don’t have access to recycling services. 36% of households in Texas, including 80% of families who live in multifamily properties in Texas don’t have access. And that’s 80% of multifamily properties don’t have recycling services. And then only 58% of Texans who do have access actually participate in recycling. And even if they do participate, a lot of those municipal recycling programs don’t recycle a lot of products that could be recycled.
So we have a lot of room to grow, and this bill does a great job of encouraging more participation, including by helping rural areas that may not have the ability to offer recycling to do so.
Rep. Armando Walle has introduced a House companion bill – HB 4839.
