With Heartfelt Thanks: Milestones for a Cleaner Texas

As the 2025 Texas legislative session comes to a close, we want to pause and say thank you—from the bottom of our hearts—for the incredible support, hard work, and commitment that brought HB 2048 and SB 728 further than ever before.

Together, we achieved something historic: we took a bold, bipartisan, pro-business, and pro-environment recycling refund bill all the way to the floor of the Texas House. That simply would not have happened without the extraordinary efforts of so many of you.

To the thousands of individual Texans who signed on in support of the bill—thank you. Your voices mattered. You reached out to legislators, attended hearings, shared our message with your communities, and reminded lawmakers that the people of Texas care deeply about protecting our waterways, reducing litter, and strengthening our economy. This was grassroots advocacy at its finest, and it made all the difference.

To our private sector partners—companies large and small, trade associations, recyclers, manufacturers, retailers, and innovators—we are deeply grateful. You showed up, testified, and worked tirelessly to advance a mission that will impact us all. Your leadership made it clear that the private sector is ready to step up and lead the way on recycling reform. You demonstrated that this isn’t about mandates—it’s about market-driven solutions that deliver real results for Texas businesses and communities alike.

We owe a special thanks to our legislative champions.

Representative John Lujan fought relentlessly to carry this bill forward in the House, earning it unanimous support in committee and getting it scheduled for a floor vote. His passion, tenacity, and commitment to cleaner communities and smarter solutions never wavered. In the Senate, Senator Nathan Johnson provided steady leadership and a powerful voice for this commonsense reform. These two leaders proved that when we set aside politics and focus on outcomes, we can make real progress.

We also want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the joint and co-authors of HB 2048, whose leadership and support gave this legislation the momentum it needed. Representatives Lujan, Button, Morales Shaw, Cook, and Ordaz signed on early as joint authors, helping to build bipartisan credibility and propel the bill forward. And we are grateful to our co-authors—Representatives Anchia, DeAyala, LaHood, Plesa, Reynolds, Toth, and Villalobos —for standing with us and signaling to their colleagues that this was a solution worth supporting.

Your willingness to lend your names, your voices, and your reputations to this cause meant the world to us and helped move Texas one step closer to a cleaner, stronger future.

While time ran out before a final vote, this was a powerful step forward—and it’s only the beginning. Rep. Lujan has pledged to continue this fight through the interim, and Texans for Clean Water will be there every step of the way. We’ll keep working with legislators, industry leaders, and all of you to build on this success and come back even stronger next session.

We are proud of what we’ve accomplished together, and more determined than ever to finish the job. Clean parks, safe waterways, a stronger supply chain, and a cleaner Texas are within reach—and with your continued support, we will get there.