TX Business Requirements

Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1956 is administered by the Texas Department of Public Safety. A person may not act as a metal recycling entity, or represent to the public that they are one, unless registered under that chapter (Sec. 1956.021).

A metal recycling entity includes a business predominantly engaged in purchasing or otherwise acquiring scrap, used, or obsolete ferrous or nonferrous metal for processing into raw material, or in that processing itself (Sec. 1956.001(7)). Copper and brass wire, aluminum, and similar regulated metals are in scope. A certificate is valid for two years (Sec. 1956.023). An expired certificate cannot be used to keep operating or to keep making that public representation.

Chapter 1956 does not apply to a purchase of regulated material from a public utility, a telecommunications, cable, or video provider, or a manufacturing, industrial, commercial, retail, or other seller that sells regulated material in the ordinary course of that seller’s business (Sec. 1956.002). It also does not apply to certain steel manufacturers, or to the mere transport of recyclable material to or from a metal recycling entity.

Many of Southern Surplus Buyers’ plant, refinery, and contractor pickups may fall inside that purchase exception. The exception does not, by itself, answer whether the company is a metal recycling entity or whether it may advertise as one. That determination belongs with DPS, using the actual mix of sellers and what the company does with the metal. Do not publish an MRE number, or a sentence that implies registration, until that status is confirmed.

• Fixed location. The business must keep a structure or facility with a physical address, attached to real property, and use it at least partly for the regulated activity. One certificate per location. A service-area story on Google does not replace this address on a DPS application (Sec. 1956.030 and 1956.022).
• Secretary of State paper. DPS asks for a Certificate of Filing or an Assumed Name Certificate from the Texas Secretary of State. Administrative rules also look for a Certificate of Existence or Certificate of Authority and Comptroller good standing (37 TAC § 36.11).
• Local permits. Any city or county permit required where the business is conducted, including a Houston metal-recycler permit if the fixed location is in Houston.
• People. The owner with a controlling interest must clear a criminal-history check. Each regulated location needs a statutory agent. Business contacts need a working email. DPS recycler training is part of the application (37 TAC § 36.34).
• Catalytic converters. If the business will deal in converters removed from motor vehicles, the application must include the DPS declaration. If it will not, say so. Do not leave this blank.
• Fee. Paid online by card. DPS states the fee is not refundable. The amount should be read from the current TOM application, not from this report.

DPS has told TOM users to update accounts to a unique email by November 2, 2026, or full access can be interrupted. If a registration already exists, confirm the login email before that date.

• Record of purchase (Sec. 1956.033). Place and date, seller name and address, the identifying number on the seller’s personal identification, and a trade description of the type and quantity. Records are kept and are subject to inspection.
• Seller notice and identification (Sec. 1956.031 and 1956.032). The seller is told what the law requires, and the identification the statute calls for is captured.
• How the seller is paid (Sec. 1956.0381 and 1956.0382). Cash or a debit card is available only when the seller has a cash transaction card. Check, money order, or direct deposit are the other paths. The payment record stays with the purchase record. On-site cash, as the website currently describes it, has to follow this rule when the chapter applies.
• Reporting and holds. Transactions are reported through the statewide system. Certain items can be placed on hold. Additional rules apply to catalytic converters and to fire-salvaged insulated communications wire.
• Hours. Sec. 1956.039 limits when regulated material may be purchased. The published 8 AM–7 PM weekday schedule should be checked against that section before it is treated as the legal buying window.

• Entity or assumed name. The legal name on the website, Google, and the DPS certificate must be the same name on the Secretary of State filing. An assumed name that is only a website headline is not enough for the application packet.
• Sales and use tax. Confirm an active Texas Sales and Use Tax permit and Comptroller good standing. DPS uses good standing as application proof. This report does not decide which purchases are taxable.
• Insurance and demolition authority. Liability insurance, and any demolition or contractor license, are business facts to inventory. They are not a substitute for an MRE certificate. Publish them only with the document in hand.
• Vehicles. If trucks move regulated material, confirm the registrations and any weight or cargo rules that apply to those vehicles. Hauling to or from an MRE is addressed separately from the purchase rules in Sec. 1956.002(3).

1. Legal name, assumed name, and the Secretary of State file number.
2. Comptroller taxpayer number and a current good-standing printout.
3. MRE certificate number, expiration, and the fixed-location address on that certificate — or a written conclusion that registration is not required, with the reason.
4. City or county permit, if one is required for that address.
5. Insurance certificate and any demolition credential, if those will be mentioned.
6. The email that will own the TOM account, if one exists.

Sources checked: Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1956, including sections 1956.001, 1956.002, 1956.021, 1956.022, 1956.023, 1956.030, 1956.033, 1956.0381, and 1956.0382; 37 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 36; and the Texas DPS Metals Program registration instructions. Confirm any change in the statute or rules before relying on a certificate number in public.