Texas has become the sixth state to pass legislation to improve and enhance advanced plastics recycling and recovery technologies, which would convert post-consumer plastics into raw materials using in chemical recycling processes.
The Texas Legislature passed the HB 1953 bill and it was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott. The bill will restrict the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from using post-consumer polymers or recyclable, recoverable feed stocks as solid waste.
“Advanced recycling and recovery technologies provide a wide array of opportunities for Texas,” Texas Chemical Council President and CEO Hector Rivero said in a press release on the new legislation.
Texas is the third state in the U.S. this year that has enacted similar legislation, joining Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Iowa and Tennessee.
Supporters believe the HB 1953 bill will ultimately increase the recycling and reuse of traditionally non-recyclable, single-use plastics.