Does 'advanced recycling' like plastic pyrolysis count as recycling under Texas law, or is it just incineration?

Plain-English summary

Chambers County signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to reduce plastic waste using "advanced recycling," specifically a process called pyrolysis. Because lawsuits in California allege that advanced recycling is neither real recycling nor environmentally friendly, the county attorney asked the Attorney General whether advanced recycling counts as "recycling" under Texas law.

The AG's answer: yes, when an advanced recycling facility uses pyrolysis on post-use polymers, it is engaged in recycling under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. The Texas Legislature wrote the answer into the statute. The Act defines an "advanced recycling facility" as a manufacturing facility that converts post-use polymers using technologies "including pyrolysis," defines "recycling" to cover collecting, separating, or processing used materials back into raw materials or feedstocks, and expressly identifies pyrolysis of post-use polymers as a form of recycling. "Post-use polymers" are essentially plastics sorted out of the waste stream and used as feedstock.

The AG also rejected the relevance of the California lawsuits. Those cases turn on California law and on the allegation that advanced recycling is really incineration. The Texas statute says the opposite: an advanced recycling facility "is not . . . [an] incinerator," recycling "does not include incineration of plastics," and the statutory definition of pyrolysis itself says it "does not include incineration." Because the Legislature sets Texas public policy through its statutes, out-of-state cases do not change what Texas law plainly provides.

The opinion is limited to pyrolysis of post-use polymers (the process the county asked about) and notes that other heat-based methods like gasification apply to other feedstocks.

What this means for you

If you are a county official weighing an advanced recycling agreement

Under this opinion, an advanced recycling facility that uses pyrolysis on post-use polymers is doing "recycling" as Texas defines it. The classification rests on the statutory definitions in the Solid Waste Disposal Act, not on the policy arguments raised in out-of-state litigation. Note the scope limit: the answer is tied to pyrolysis of post-use polymers; other inputs or processes (like gasification of recoverable feedstocks) are defined separately.

If you operate or are siting an advanced recycling facility

The opinion confirms the statutory footing for treating pyrolysis of post-use polymers as recycling in Texas, and confirms that Texas law classifies advanced recycling as something other than incineration. The plastics being converted have to qualify as "post-use polymers" for the recycling classification the AG describes to apply.

If you follow plastics or environmental policy

This opinion is a statutory-interpretation answer, not a scientific or environmental-impact judgment. The AG read the Health and Safety Code definitions and concluded Texas law already categorizes pyrolysis of post-use polymers as recycling and not incineration. The opinion does not opine on the underlying environmental debate; it answers only what the Texas statute says.

Common questions

Q: Is plastic pyrolysis considered recycling in Texas?
A: Yes. The Solid Waste Disposal Act lists pyrolysis of post-use polymers as a form of recycling and defines advanced recycling facilities to include those using pyrolysis.

Q: Isn't advanced recycling just incineration?
A: Not under Texas law. The statute states that an advanced recycling facility is not an incinerator, that recycling does not include incineration of plastics, and that the definition of pyrolysis itself excludes incineration.

Q: Do the California lawsuits affect Texas?
A: No. The AG explained those cases turn on California law and the incineration allegation, while the Texas Legislature has defined these terms differently. Out-of-state cases do not change Texas law.

Q: Does this cover every kind of advanced recycling?
A: The opinion is limited to pyrolysis of post-use polymers, which is what the county asked about. Other processes like gasification apply to different recoverable feedstocks and are defined separately in the Act.

Background and statutory framework

The Solid Waste Disposal Act (Health and Safety Code §§ 361.001-.992) is a primary framework governing recycling in Texas. It defines an "advanced recycling facility" as a manufacturing facility that receives, stores, and converts post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks using advanced recycling technologies "including pyrolysis" (§ 361.003(1)). Pyrolysis is defined as a manufacturing process that heats post-use polymers in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and converts them into raw materials or products, and the definition adds that it "does not include incineration" (§ 361.003(25-a)). "Post-use polymers" are plastics sorted from the waste stream and used as feedstock (§ 361.003(24-a)).

The Act defines "recycling" as collecting, separating, or processing used or discarded materials and returning them to use as raw materials or feedstocks (§ 361.421(8)(C), incorporated by § 361.003(27)), and expressly identifies conversion of post-use polymers through pyrolysis as recycling. Applying the rule that courts adhere to legislative definitions when supplied (Youngkin v. Hines) and that clear text controls (Entergy Gulf States v. Summers), the AG concluded the ExxonMobil arrangement is recycling so long as the plastics are post-use polymers.

On the out-of-state litigation, the AG noted those cases apply California law and rest on an incineration theory the Texas statute forecloses: the Act states an advanced recycling facility is not an incinerator, recycling "does not include incineration of plastics" (§ 361.421(8)), and the pyrolysis and gasification definitions both exclude incineration. Because "[t]he Legislature determines public policy through the statutes it passes" (Fairfield Insurance v. Stephens Martin Paving), those cases give no basis to question Texas law.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Tex. Health & Safety Code ch. 361 — Solid Waste Disposal Act, including the definitions of advanced recycling facility (§ 361.003(1)), pyrolysis (§ 361.003(25-a)), and recycling (§ 361.421(8))

Key cases:
- Youngkin v. Hines, 546 S.W.3d 675 (Tex. 2018) — courts adhere to statutory definitions when supplied
- Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. Summers, 282 S.W.3d 433 (Tex. 2009) — clear text is determinative of legislative intent
- Fairfield Ins. Co. v. Stephens Martin Paving, LP, 246 S.W.3d 653 (Tex. 2008) — Legislature sets public policy through statute

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/ken-paxton/kp-0508
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2026/kp-0508.pdf

Original opinion text

January 23, 2026

The Honorable Ashley Cain Land
Chambers County Attorney
Post Office Box 1200
Anahuac, Texas 77514

Opinion No. KP-0508
Re: Whether "advanced recycling facilities" engage in "recycling" under Texas law (RQ-0602-KP)

Dear Ms. Land:

You ask "whether 'advanced recycling facilities' engage in 'recycling' under Texas law." As background, you tell us that Chambers County recently entered into an agreement with ExxonMobil "to reduce plastic waste in the County, create a cleaner environment, and support a more circular economy for plastics." Request Letter at 2. This agreement involves the performance of advanced recycling via a process called "pyrolysis." Id. You indicate, however, that multiple lawsuits have been filed in the State of California alleging that advanced recycling practices are neither recycling nor environmentally friendly. Id. at 2–3. These lawsuits have prompted you to seek clarification regarding the status of advanced recycling under the laws of Texas. Id. at 3.

Advanced recycling facilities utilize processes that are expressly recognized as recycling under the Texas Health and Safety Code.

The Solid Waste Disposal Act is one of the primary frameworks governing recycling across Texas. See generally TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE §§ 361.001–.992. In relevant part, the Act defines an "[a]dvanced recycling facility" as "a manufacturing facility that receives, stores, and converts post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks using advanced recycling technologies and processes including pyrolysis," id. § 361.003(1); accord 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 330.3(5), 335.1(8)—i.e., "a manufacturing process through which post-use polymers are heated in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the pyrolysis product is converted into valuable raw materials or valuable intermediate or final products." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.003(25-a) (adding that this "does not include incineration"). "Post-use polymers," in turn, are "plastics" that:

(A) are derived from any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or domestic activity, including preconsumer recovered materials and postconsumer materials;
(B) are sorted from solid waste and other regulated waste and may contain residual amounts of organic material and incidental contaminants or impurities such as paper labels or metal rings;
(C) are not mixed with solid waste or hazardous waste onsite or during processing at an advanced recycling facility;
(D) are used or intended for use as a feedstock or for the production of feedstocks, raw materials, or other intermediate or final products using advanced recycling; and
(E) are processed or held prior to processing at an advanced recycling facility.

Id. § 361.003(24-a); accord 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 330.3(118), 335.1(137).

[Footnote: The Act also identifies "gasification, solvolysis, and depolymerization" as advanced recycling technologies and processes that pertain to different types of materials. TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.003(1); see also id. § 361.003(6-a) (defining "[d]epolymerization," which is used on "post-use polymers"), .003(10-a) (defining "[g]asification," which is used on "recoverable feedstocks"), .003(37-a) (defining "[s]olvolysis," which is used on "post-use polymers").]

An advanced recycling facility that uses pyrolysis on post-use polymers is engaged in recycling under the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

With this background in mind, we turn to your question regarding "whether advanced recycling in Texas . . . constitutes legal recycling under Texas law." Request Letter at 1. "Our ultimate purpose when construing a statute is to discover the Legislature's intent." City of Round Rock v. Rodriguez, 399 S.W.3d 130, 133 (Tex. 2013). "Where text is clear," of course, "text is determinative of that intent." Entergy Gulf States, Inc. v. Summers, 282 S.W.3d 433, 437 (Tex. 2009). Furthermore, we "must adhere to legislative definitions of terms when they are supplied." Youngkin v. Hines, 546 S.W.3d 675, 680 (Tex. 2018).

Here, of course, there can be no doubt that pyrolysis of post-use polymers constitutes recycling under Texas law. The Act defines "[r]ecycling" as "a process by which materials that have served their intended use or are scrapped, discarded, used, surplus, or obsolete are collected, separated, or processed and returned to use in the form of raw materials or feedstocks used in the manufacture of new products." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.421(8)(C); see also id. § 361.003(27) (incorporating this definition). Moreover, the Act makes clear that an "[a]dvanced recycling facility" uses "advanced recycling technologies and processes" that include "pyrolysis" of "post-use polymers." Id. § 361.003(1); accord 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 330.3(5), 335.1(8). This plain-text reality is further confirmed by the fact that "conversion of post-use polymers . . . through pyrolysis" is expressly identified as an enumerated form of "recycling." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.421(8)(C). As such, the arrangement you describe—where "communities' plastic waste" will be collected, sorted, and ultimately pyrolyzed by ExxonMobil's advanced recycling facilities, Request Letter at 2—constitutes recycling under Texas law so long as the plastics being converted are post-use polymers. See generally TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.003(24-a).

[Footnote: We also received briefing from ExxonMobil that confirms its facilities "exclusively process[] post-use polymers and recoverable feedstock" by first applying "heat[] in the absence of oxygen" and then "convert[ing] [that material] into intermediate raw materials," "remov[ing] contaminants," and converting "the raw materials . . . to monomers" that are ultimately "converted to polymers" as well as "other products." Brief from Eloissa D. Wells, Dir. of Circular Prods., ExxonMobil (July 23, 2025) (on file with the Op. Comm.).]

[Footnote: Pyrolysis cannot be conducted on recoverable feedstocks that do not constitute post-use polymers, for example, because that process is defined as one "through which post-use polymers are heated . . . and . . . converted." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.003(25-a) (emphasis added); see also id. § 361.003(26-a)(A)–(B) (providing that "[r]ecoverable feedstock" includes "post-use polymers" in addition to other materials). Recoverable feedstocks beyond post-use polymers are instead processed through "[g]asification," which also uses heat-based conversion "in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere." Id. § 361.003(10-a). But we were only asked about pyrolysis and therefore limit our answer accordingly.]

Neither does the out-of-state litigation you reference alter this conclusion. Those cases turn on California law and, above all else, the allegation that advanced recycling is merely a form of incineration. Request Letter at 1–3. But the Texas Legislature has made clear that "an advanced recycling facility is not . . . [an] incinerator." TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 361.003(1); accord id. § 361.421(8) (providing that "'[r]ecycling' . . . does not include incineration of plastics"), 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 335.1(89), (146). Indeed, the statutory definition of pyrolysis—an enumerated example of advanced recycling, TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE §§ 361.003(1), .421(8)(C)—echoes as much by providing that the process "does not include incineration." Id. § 361.003(25-a). The same is true of other heat-based forms of advanced recycling. See, e.g., id. § 361.003(10-a) (defining "[g]asification" as "a process through which recoverable feedstocks are heated and converted," which "does not include incineration"). Realizing that "[t]he Legislature determines public policy through the statutes it passes," Fairfield Ins. Co. v. Stephens Martin Paving, LP, 246 S.W.3d 653, 665 (Tex. 2008), these out-of-state cases provide no basis on which to question what is otherwise clear under Texas law.

S U M M A R Y

Advanced recycling facilities that use pyrolysis on post-use polymers are engaged in recycling under the Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Very truly yours,

KEN PAXTON
Attorney General of Texas

BRENT WEBSTER, First Assistant Attorney General
LESLEY FRENCH, Chief of Staff
D. FORREST BRUMBAUGH, Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel
JOSHUA C. FIVESON, Chair, Opinion Committee
ALLISON FREED, Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee