Texans for Clean Water Hosts Lawmaker Tour of Dallas Recycling Facility

Last week, Texans for Clean Water welcomed legislators from across the country to Dallas for a behind-the-scenes tour of Indorama Ventures’ PET recycling facility, spotlighting how modern recycling infrastructure supports both cleaner waterways and a stronger American economy. The visit gave lawmakers a firsthand look at what happens after a plastic bottle goes into a bin—and why a steady supply of recyclable material is now a strategic resource for manufacturers.

Indorama Ventures is one of the industry leaders investing in recycling infrastructure in North Texas and around the globe. At the Dallas facility, PET plastic bottles are sorted, cleaned, and transformed into high-quality recycled material that can be used in new packaging and countless consumer products. Instead of shipping in foreign scrap or relying on virgin plastic, American manufacturers can tap into locally processed recycled PET, cutting transportation costs, strengthening domestic supply chains, and reducing the environmental footprint of everyday products.

For Texas, the stakes are especially high. Our state is home to world-class manufacturers and growing demand for recycled content, yet far too many bottles and cans still end up in landfills, ditches, and rivers. Tours like this highlight the missing link between regulators, facilities, and the industrial demand, but we need more efficient systems to capture those containers in the first place.

Around the country, deposit recycling or “recycling refund” systems have proven they can dramatically increase collection rates and deliver exactly the kind of clean material facilities like Indorama depend on.

Texans for Clean Water will continue connecting policymakers with the people who make recycling work on the ground—facility operators, brand owners, and community leaders—so that future legislation reflects both environmental priorities and economic realities. When Texas captures more bottles and cans for recycling, the payoff is immediate: less litter in our waterways, more reliable domestic supply for American manufacturers, and stronger local economies built on turning yesterday’s waste into tomorrow’s raw material.