PET bottle regeneration plant

7739
Last modified by the author on 03/05/2017 - 15:01
  • Year of commitment : 2014
  • Address 1 - street : CARRETERA LIBRE TOLUCA-ATLACOMULCO KM 1.5 PARQUE INDUSTRIAL SAN CAYETANO TOLUCA, Mexico
  • CO2 Impact : Based on a production of 50 000t recycled PET : reduction of GHG emission = -82500 t CO2e/an
  • Circular economy and waste management : Industrial Ecology, Optimization of ressources, Optical separation, Chemical recycling

  • 500 000 €

Context
Plastic is everywhere in Mexico. The country is the third largest consumer of PET. However, waste treatment processes are not well adapted and plastic is released into the environment or landfilled. Mexico City has some of the biggest open landfill sites in the world.

Project
One of the world's largest recyclers of food-contact-grade PET opened in 2006 in Toluca, around 60km from Mexico. In 2014, 75 000 tons of PET were collected resulting in a production of 50 000 tons of recycled plastic.

Optical sorting equipment was provided by Pellenc ST and installed in 2010. And thanks to the satisfactory return on investment, PETStar has decided to double its sorting line with the latest generation of Pellenc machines.

Greenhouse gas challenges
The plant was built so as to treat plastic waste generated by Mexico and to avoid landfilling. But it also reduces the carbon footprint of bottles made with recycled plastic. We only need 7MJ/kg to produce recycled PET against 84MJ/kg for virgin PET.

Case study 
A. 50 000 tons/year virgin PET production 

System boundaries :

- Emissions from the oil extraction to the pellets production

Datas used for calculations :

- One ton of virgin PET production : 2,15 t CO2e/produced ton (source : Plastics Europe) 

+107 500t CO2e/year 


B. 50 000 tons/year recycled PET production

System boundaries :

- Waste collection and transport to the facility

- Internal transport by freight elevator

- Facilities, equipment and vehicles amortizations 

Datas used for calculations :

- Actual consumption data

- Basic factors of "Base Carbone"


+25 000 CO2e/year 

 GHG emissions reduction : 25 000 - 107 500 = 82 500t CO2e/year

Progress Status

Delivered

Data Reliability

Self-declared

Funding Type

Private

Website Enterprise / Infrastructure

 http://www.petstar.mx/empresa
 http://www.construction21.org/france/data/exports/pdf/.pdf

Sustainable Development

    ​Creation of a museum with educational tools for schools (http://www.petstar.mx/museo)

    ​Petstar optimizes resources giving to waste a second life

     

Testimony / Feedback

    ​Video

Governance

    Petstar

    Private Company

    Other

    Private

    ​Modèle économique : PET bottles recycling plant

Sustainable Solutions

    Optical sorting machine : Mistral

    ​Pellenc ST optical sorters uses near infrared spectroscopy to separate waste strams by material and/or color

    • Circular economy
    • Waste management

Building candidate in the category

Users' Choice

Users' Choice

Sustainable Infrastructure Grand Prize

Sustainable Infrastructure Grand Prize

Green Solutions Awards 2017 - Infrastructures
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Florence Champ

Responsable Marketing et Communication


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