Grassroot PET Recycling Plant Planned for Mexico

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). A newly formed joint venture named Industria Mexicana de Reciclaje SA de CV (IMER) (Mexico City, Mexico) is planning to construct Mexico's first PET (polyethylene terephthalate) recycling plant (Plant 1059138) in Toluca, near Mexico City. This new plant will use waste PET products such as bottles and containers to produce PET flake, to be used as a percentage mixture in the production of consumer grade plastic bottles and containers.

IMER plans to select a general contractor this fall for the construction of the nearly $20 million project (PEC 65000383).

The technology that will be used in this plant is called UnPET and has been licensed from United Resources Recovery Corporation (URRC) for a period of ten years. URRC's UnPET technology chemically cleans and depolymerizes the surface of the PET polymer and removes any contaminants. Civil site construction is planned to begin this fall with full operation of the 50 million pound per year plant by November of 2004.

The IMER joint venture consist of Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Femsa and Alpla Mexico SA de CV. Industrialinfo.com originally reported this project in August of 2002 (See Related IIR Industry Alert: United Resources Recovery has plans for New PET Plastic Recycling Technology North and South of the Border), when URRC was planning to construct the commercial scale plant independently.