Mexican plastics pioneer: ‘Act on what you believe in’

‘Last year was the worst year for recyclers in Mexico in a long time,’ says plastics recycler Ruben Valdez when meeting Recycling International at the PRSE expo in Amsterdam. ‘But the show must go on,’ the entrepreneur adds with a grin. ‘There’s never a good time to invest or expand, is there?’

Valdez flew in from Mexico City to represent his family company Alcamare at the PRSE expo. ‘We’re one of the biggest plastics recycling players in our country,’ he tells Recycling International. The fourth-generation family-run business processes 170 000 tonnes of plastic scrap every year, mostly polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene(PP).

Valdez reports Mexican plastics recyclers struggled throughout 2023 due to persistent market uncertainty and volatile scrap prices. ‘Things have been picking up lately. But, you know what, we actually invested in three new balers to expand our recycling line at the very dip of the market.’

‘People in my network called me crazy,’ he laughs. ‘I think you have to plan for the future. Recycling plastics is the future. You have to act on what you believe in.’

Latest available market stats estimate Mexico recycled four million tonnes of plastic scrap in 2020. This is expected to exceed 6.5 million tonnes by 2030. Meanwhile, its overall plastics market was worth US$ 52 billion (EUR 49 billion) in 2022. It is the world’s 11th largest plastic producer and 12th largest consumer.

Many hands on deck

Alcamare owns 16 collection centres. ‘We are based in Mexico City and have a nationwide reach with some material coming all the way from Tijuana and people over the border, up in California,’ Valdez says. ‘The US is our most important business partner. That’s where most of the recycled plastic goes.

He has a workforce of about 500 but adds with a laugh that does not include 27 000 individual waste collectors in his contact book. ‘It’s a massive number, I know. Mexico’s recycling infrastructure is very informal, unlike here in Europe. It pretty much rests on the shoulders of waste scavengers that get up at the break of dawn to get their hands on as much plastic as possible.’

Some people bring in 20kg of plastic bottles daily while bigger players deliver larger batches to the recycling yard. ‘All material is welcome. Every kilogram is valuable feedstock. It’s good to know we are helping so many people make a living, too.’

Family legacy

Valdez is proud to be in the scrap business and continuing his family legacy. ‘I work alongside two brothers who handle different departments, one is in paper recycling and the other oversees the plastics recycling process. I make the purchasing decisions.’

He points out that Alcamare is the first Mexican plastics recycler to get FDA approval in the US. PE output fractions contain below 200 parts per billion of volatiles, while PP contains less than 150 parts per billion. ‘This is far below the 300 parts per billion allowed by the FDA,’ he notes. ‘It’s an achievement we worked hard for.’