A law recently signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott prohibits the siting of commercial composting facilities in any county that does not have a commercial organics diversion ordinance. Such facilities include those that accept source-separated yard trimmings, clean wood material, vegetative material, paper, manure, meat, fish, dead animal carcasses, dairy materials, or meat and vegetable oils and greases from a municipal, commercial, or institutional source.
The bill comes after months of public backlash against a proposed compost
facility in Lee County The law does not apply to agricultural operations or composting facilities approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before January 1, 2025. It goes into effect in September.
This article appeared in the August 2025 issue of Journal of Nutrient Management on page 5.
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