Recycling: Am I Regulated?

If you receive, process, and return to use only nonputrescible, source-separated recyclable materials diverted from a municipal solid waste stream, or source-separated nonhazardous recyclable materials from industrial sources, your facility will be exempt from permitting and registration requirements provided you comply with general requirements and certain storage, reporting, and recordkeeping requirements for exempt recycling facilities.

All other facilities that separate recyclable materials from a municipal solid waste stream must be permitted or registered as a municipal solid waste processing facility in accordance with Title 30 Texas Administrative Code (30 TAC), Chapter 330, Section (§) 330.7 or § 330.9.

Facilities that manage recyclable hazardous material from industrial sources must comply with the applicable industrial solid waste and municipal hazardous waste requirements of 30 TAC § 335.2 and § 335.24.

If your recycling operation involves storing combustible material outdoors or poses a significant risk to public health and safety, you may also be required to establish financial assurance.

See also information for all recycling facilities.

Requirements for Recycling Facilities Exempt from Permitting and Registration

Under 30 TAC § 330.11 (e), a facility that is used as a collection and processing point for only nonputrescible source-separated recyclable material is exempt from municipal solid waste permitting and registration requirements, provided that the facility complies with:

• General requirements for all recycling facilities (30 TAC § 328.3)

and, for facilities other than those owned or operated by a government or goverment agency or which meet the exclusions of 30 TAC § 328.4(a) and § 328.5(a):

• Limitations on storage of recyclable materials (30 TAC § 328.4), including:
  
  
  • Only source separated, non-putrescible recyclable materials may be accumulated or stored
  • 25 percent of materials accumulated or stored 90 days from commencement of facility operation must be recycled or transferred to a different site for recycling, within 270 days from commencement of operation
  • During any subsequent six-month period, at least 50 percent of materials accumulated or stored within that period must have been recycled or transferred to a different site for recycling
  • 
    
• Reporting and recordkeeping requirements (30 TAC § 328.5), including:
  
  
  • Submitting and updating forms:
    
    
    • Notice of Intent to Operate a Recycling Facility (Form TCEQ-20049) (in PDF; help with PDF)
    • TCEQ Core Data Form (Form TCEQ-10400)
    • 
      
  • Maintaining records
  • Establishing a fire prevention and suppression plan, if managing combustible materials
  • Establishing financial assurance, if storing combustible materials outdoors

If you recycle source-separated nonhazardous recyclable materials from industrial sources, you should read the following information and complete the applicable forms:

• Can I Recycle Some of My Industrial or Hazardous Wastes? (RG-240)
• Notification Form for Receiving and Recycling Hazardous or Industrial Waste (Form TCEQ-0524, in PDF) - use this form if you receive nonhazardous industrial materials for recycling
• Generator Notification Form for Recycling Hazardous or Industrial Waste (Form TCEQ-0525, in PDF) - use this form if you recycle industrial materials within your industrial facility

Financial Assurance Requirements for Recycling Facilities

If you store combustible material outdoors or your operation poses a significant risk to public health and safety, you are required by 30 TAC §328.5(d) to establish financial assurance unless your facility is excluded by 30 TAC §328.5(a). The following documents provide additional information:

• Guidelines for Complying with Financial Assurance Requirements for Recycling, Composting, and Mulching Facilities (in PDF)
• Financial Assurance for Recycling, Composting, and Mulching Facilities - Summary of Adopted Rules (in PDF)

Information for all Recycling Facilities

• Requirements for Nonhazardous Recycling and Composting Facilities (RG-410)
• Table summarizing applicability of rules affecting recycling activities and facilities (in PDF)

Examples of common source-separated recyclable materials include cardboard, paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, and metals that are separated from the solid waste stream at the point of generation.

Recycling facilities must limit non-recyclable waste to “incidental amounts” (no more than 10 percent per incoming load, and no more than 5 percent of all materials received by a facility in a 6-month period) to continue to qualify for exemption from solid waste permit and registration requirements. However, 30 TAC §328.2(2) allows certain non-recyclable materials to be accepted without counting toward these limits, including non-recyclable components of manufactured products, such as automobiles, appliances, or other items that require dismantling, grinding, or some other process that is not practical at the point of generation to separate recyclable and non-recyclable materials; source-separated recyclable material that has been broken or damaged during collection, unloading, and sorting, and is no longer recyclable, such as broken glass from a public collection program; “tramp materials” that commonly accompany recyclable materials, such as glass from recyclable metal windows, nails and roofing felt attached to recyclable shingles, nails and sheetrock attached to recyclable lumber from a demolition site; and pallets and packaging materials.

Incoming material being processed or sorted into marketable fractions must be shipped out on a schedule that prevents accumulation on site over an extended period of time. Nonrecyclable and nonmarketable materials must be disposed of properly.

Contact us if you have questions about recycling materials from the municipal solid waste stream.