America built the strongest industrial economy in the world by understanding the value of materials, manufacturing, and hard work.
But today, we are throwing enormous amounts of valuable material away.
Every year, Texas wastes billions of aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and glass containers that could otherwise support American manufacturing, strengthen domestic supply chains, and reduce pollution in our communities and waterways.
In 2021 alone, Texans threw away more than 50 million beverage containers every single day.
That’s not just litter.
That’s American aluminum, American manufacturing feedstock, American economic value.
In fact, the lost recyclable value of beverage containers wasted in Texas in a single year totaled more than $372 million.
At a time when manufacturers across the country are searching for reliable domestic materials, America simply cannot afford to keep burying valuable resources in landfills or watching them wash into rivers, bays, and storm drains.
Texans see the consequences every day.
Plastic bottles collect along highways and waterways. Aluminum cans drift through drainage systems and bayous. Local communities spend millions cleaning up litter and illegal dumping while valuable recyclable materials are lost forever.
We can do better than that.
Across the country, states are proving that smarter recovery systems can dramatically reduce litter, recover valuable materials, and strengthen domestic supply chains — all while operating through industry-led, self-funded models that do not rely on taxpayer dollars.
This is not about creating more waste.
It’s about wasting less.
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we should be asking ourselves an important question:
What kind of country are we building for the next 250 years?
One that throws valuable materials away?
Or one that puts them back to work for American communities, American manufacturing, and a stronger future?
At Texans for Clean Water, we believe cleaner waterways and stronger supply chains can go hand in hand.
America built great systems before.
We can build better ones again.
Sincerely,
Joe Trotter
Texans For Clean Water
