STAR 2023 Environmental Sustainability Scholarships Now Open!

See Details and Apply

As a part of STAR’s commitment to the growth of the environmental and recycling business community in Texas, STAR developed two annual environmental sustainability scholarships in 2022 for students, teachers and student groups.

Each year, the Student Scholarship will aid up to two graduating high school seniors or enrolled college students looking to study or currently working towards a degree in Environmental Sustainability or other related major of course work.

The Group and Teacher Scholarship will annually support up to two educators and one officially recognized student group looking to start, enhance, or sustain recycling or landfill reduction programs on their campus or in their community.

Wondering what to do with those old or broken holiday decorations once the holiday is over?

SEE WRAPPING & PACKAGING TIPS HERE

Most holiday decorations cannot go in your recycling cart, but many communities offer recycling drop-offs. Check with your local city or community recycling center to see if they will take them, and see a few ideas below.

String light recycling

• United Electronic Recycling, LLC (Coppell/DFW; with Saturday drop-off events in Plano)
• Austin Recycling and Reuse Drop-Off Center (by appointment only currently)
• City of Georgetown (four special holiday recycling drop-off stations)
  
• City of Houston Holiday Light Recycling Drop-Off Locations
• Check with your local Lowe's or Home Depot
• Mail to the Christmas Light Source Recycling Program. Active all year; all proceeds go to Toys for Tots in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area (Christmas Light Source Recycling Program, 4313 Elmwood Drive, Benbrook, TX 76116)

Christmas tree recycling

• Travis County: (December 26 – January 10) Free Christmas tree recycling for Travis County residents at five locations, 7am–5pm. Make sure your tree does not have any decorations or netting on it. See more on their recycling web page.
• City of Austin: (starting December 26th) curbside tree pickup, plus drop-off at Zilker Park on certain dates; see City of Austin's Holiday Tree Recycling page.
• City of Dallas: Place curbside with Brush and Bulky Items, or drop off at locations listed on their website.
• City of Denton: Denton's Solid Waste & Recycling is offering drop-off or curbside pickup (with call to schedule) to compost your tree. See more details on Facebook here.
• City of El Paso: Trees can be dropped off at five Citizen Collection Stations listed here (type "Christmas tree" in the search).
• City of San Antonio: (first two weeks of January) five locations for drop-off. See details on their website.

2022 Texas Environmental Leadership Awards Winners Announced

STAR is thrilled to announce the recipients of this year's Texas Environmental Leadership Awards!

Recipients will be honored on October 13th during Summit 2022 at the Texas Environmental Leadership Awards Dinner and Reception.

Extraordinary Recycling Special Event

City of Addison

Volunteer of the Year

Mayor Alan Brundrett – City of Azle

Superior Material Recovery

GDB International

Honorable mention – City of Azle

Outstanding Public Outreach

City of Plano

Honorable mention – City of Denton

Innovative Organics Diversion

Texas State University – Bobcat Blend

Honorable mention – City of Farmers Branch

Exceptional Recycling Partnership

Pratt Industries and the City of Denton

Honorable mention – UT Arlington

Excellence in Environmental Awareness Education

Allen ISD

Honorable mention – City of Georgetown & It’s Your Nature

Cis Myers Leadership Award

Debbie Bruner

Honorable mention – City of Wylie

All-STAR Elected Official

Ken Medders – South Padre Island

Honorable mention – Mayor Ken Fulk, City of Allen

STAR is proud to announce the winners of the 2021 Bin Grant Program, sponsored by Busch Systems

Congratulations to this year's Bin Grant winners: Children's Health CVICU (Dallas), DISD Lakewood Elementary and City of Waco Solid Waste Services!

Thank you to all who entered this year's competition, and to Busch Systems for sponsoring this year's competition!

STAR's Bin Grant Program is made possible by our Mission Partner Busch Systems, whose support enables us to provide direct grants of brand new Busch Systems bins to expand or start recycling programs in Texas.

Learn More

March 30, 2022

STAR Board and Members,

I have made the decision to resign as Executive Director. My updated last day with STAR will be April 14, 2022.

I am grateful for the many meaningful projects on which I was able to work, including the Texas Recycling Market Development Plan, outreach to Texas lawmakers, the 2021 Texas Recycling Summit and Texas Environmental Leadership Awards, and the launch of TexasRecyclesDay.org.

I am particularly inspired by the number of dedicated individuals I had the opportunity to work with on smaller projects that often led to crucial conversations and big changes.

STAR has an important mission and a bright future ahead of it. I look forward to participating as a member and partner.

Sincerely,

Brittany Rosenberg
Executive Director, STAR
Brittany.rosenberg@recyclingstar.org
512-537-7862

During the March 24 STAR Board of Directors (BOD) meeting, the STAR BOD elected and confirmed the following new Officers and Executive Committee:

Jason Keller, BOD Chair

Wendy Chance, BOD Vice Chair

Steve Kassen, BOD Treasurer

Amy Thomaides, BOD Secretary 

Robert Trevino, At Large Ex Com

Heather Douglas, At Large Ex Com

STAR Members may contact the STAR BOD or Executive Committee members by logging in at the top right and accessing the Member Directory on the Members page. 

March 11, 2022

STAR Members,

Earlier this week, I notified the STAR Board of Directors that I will be stepping down as Chair on March 24, 2022.   Though I will be stepping back from the position of Chair, I expect to remain active with the Board from an ex-officio position in the coming year.

The STAR Board of Directors will consider new leadership roles at the next Board of Directors meeting on March 24, 2022.

I have been honored to serve on the State of Texas Alliance for Recycling (STAR) Board of Directors since 2016.  In that time, I have worked closely with three Executive Directors and served as Treasurer, Vice-Chair, and Chair (since 2019).    I would like to thank each of the Board members and STAR staff that I have worked with for their spirit of collaboration and teamwork. 

During my time on the Board, I have played a role in re-writing the STAR mission, the founding of the STAR Reuse Council and STAR Business Council, supporting statewide recycling as an essential pandemic service, as well as providing support for the TCEQ Texas Recycling Market Development Plan.  I am proud to be part of this impactful organization which creates opportunity for a true circular economy in Texas.

Sincerely,

Jason McCombs

Board Chair, State of Texas Alliance for Recycling (STAR)

jmccombs.star@gmail.com

View this letter as a pdf

Into The Green Bin:

Collecting Food Waste from Institutional Settings

Hosted by Busch Systems in Partnership with EcoSafe

Wednesday January 12, 1:00pm - 2:30pm EST (Zoom Webinar)

With landfilled food waste increasingly seen as a significant source of methane emissions, and states like California and Massachusetts beginning to mandate diversion programs organizations across the US and Canada are moving compost collections to the top of their priority list. Along the way, however, sustainability managers from several sectors are confronting both familiar and novel challenges. What steps can be taken to increase participation and avoid contamination? How does one avoid odors and pests, not to mention inflated perceptions about them. How do you integrate organics recovery with existing food service operations and waste collections?

This FREE webinar will feature a panel of veteran program managers from a range of different institutions sharing the lessons they’ve learned through case study presentations and an extended panel discussion.

Register HERE: Webinar - Into The Green Bin | Collecting Food Waste (buschsystems.com)

On Nov 11, the STAR Board of Directors voted unanimously to send the following documents to Texas Lawmakers for consideration during the session interim:

STAR TX RMDP One Page Overview

STAR - Letter of Transmittal - Interim Charge

STAR Proposed Senate Interim Charges

STAR Proposed House of Representatives Interim Charges 

These documents were developed with great help from the STAR Business Council and STAR Board Policy Committee and were informed by comments from STAR membership, STAR affiliates, and other Texas recycling industry stakeholders. 

To submit an informal comment or question over the Texas Recycling Market Development Plan, fill out this form. 

Click here to read the Texas Recycling Market Development Plan in full. 

Join us for two in-depth sessions over the RMDP at Summit 2021!

The Recycling Market Development Plan

The RMDP provides tools and mechanisms that can be utilized by state and local governments to address identified barriers, opportunities and infrastructure needs to increase the overall recycling rate. This includes both material specific and cross-material strategies for market development.

• HOT Recycling Market Development Plan 
  

S.B. 649

This Study was required by Senate Bill 649  of the 86th Legislature.

About the Study

The TCEQ hired Burns & McDonnell to conduct a study on the promotion of using recyclable materials as feedstock in processing and manufacturing; produce a Recycling Materials Development Plan (RMDP) and educational suggestions and materials; and other activities that meet the requirements included in Senate Bill 649.

The overall impact of recycling MSW on the Texas economy exceeded $4.8 billion in 2019. This puts the recycling industry on par with both the petroleum and furniture industries in Texas. 

• RMDP Informational Handout 

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 

The above information is available from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality at  https://www.tceq.texas.gov/p2/recycle/recyclable-materials-feedstock-study.