PLASTIMAGEN ‘19: Braskem Idesa supports PET recycling with BioBox machines

MEXICO CITY (ICIS)–In an effort to support a circular economy and save the environment, Braskem Idesa is sponsoring 15 BioBox machines at the PLASTIMAGEN MEXICO 2019 conference where attendees are able to recycle empty plastic bottles.

The idea to collect bottles stemmed from the low-waste recycling rate in Mexico, which is below 10%, representing about 10,000 tonnes of daily waste being sorted for recycling.

The BioBox project is intended to create awareness about the environment and increase recycling rates in the coming years.

The BioBox machine works like a “reversed vending machine”, which means that you deposit your empty bottle and get reward points in your account, tracked via a card or an application installed on a smart phone for use on Netflix or air time provided by other participating companies.

The BioBox machine is programmable to accept specific types and grades of plastics, and it is smart enough to reject bottles that are not empty of content.

In the case of the 15 machines placed at the PLASTIMAGEN event, they have been programmed to accept only polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

All collected plastic bottles are then delivered to a PetStar or other reclaimer’s facility for further processing.

Braskem Idesa is also participating in other recycling programmes in conjunction with ANIQ (Asociacion Nacional de la Industria Quimica), the National Association for the Chemical Industry.

“PLASTIMAGEN 2019 represents a unique opportunity to meet our customers and present our new products” and initiatives to the market, said Alfredo Prince, commercial director.

“Braskem Idesa, as an environmentally responsible company, joined the BioBox project to facilitate and promote recycling through collection boxes and the Payback loyalty programme,” another company source said.

Braskem Idesa is one of the two polyethylene (PE) producers in Mexico along with PEMEX.

The Braskem Idesa petrochemical complex started operations three years ago and is currently running above 80% of capacity, producing over 2m tonnes of high-density and low-density polyethylene since start of operations in June 2016.

PLASTIMAGEN MEXICO 2019 takes place on 2-5 April in Mexico City, Mexico.