The Indian company Gravita Nicaragua has started operating its new plastic, aluminum and cardboard recycling plant in Managua.
Gravita Nicaragua, part of Grupo Gravita India Ltd, invested $2.2 million in setting up the recycling plant.The company processespolyethylene, cardboard and paper, aluminum, copper and bronzecontainers, among other things.
While businesses and organizations try to reduce consumption of products such as plastic straws, bags or food packaging, the plastic industry is warning about the economic, health and environmental risks of these measures.
Measures to discourage the consumption of plastic products such as straws and bags pose significant challenges to companies that implement them, such as increasing costs when replacing plastic products with other reusable or recyclable products.
In 2016 the value of imported plastic and its manufactures in the region amounted to $3.668 million, equivalent to 1.7 million tons, 9% more than the volume purchased in 2015.
Figures from the information system on the Central American Market for Plastics and its Manufactures, compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption = "Click to interact with the graph"]
So far in 2016 exports of scrap metal, cardboard, glass, iron and other materials to be used for recycling, amounted to nearly $20 million, while in 2015 $24 million worth was exported.
Although it is an export sector that is growing in the country, businessmen linked to the sector believe that much of this waste being exported for recycling in other countries could be treated in Nicaragua and could generate additional revenue.
In 2015 the countries of the region exported $1000 million worth of plastic and plastic products, led by Costa Rica and El Salvador, with $354 million and $337 million respectively.
MarketDataon Plastics and Plastic Products in Central America,compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData.com, shows that in 2015 the countries of the region exported 480 thousand tons ofplastics and articles made of plastic, with a total value of $1056 million.
The National Recycling Strategy announced by the administration Solis contemplates the implementation of a virtual stock exchange in which companies from different sectors can sell waste materials.
The initiative aims to give value to industrial and waste materials that can be reused as raw materials in different productive activities.
Nacion.com reported that "...This is a digital platform where users, mainly companies, may offer waste and, likewise, seek waste materials that could serve as inputs for their respective activities. The goal, according to the official document, is to 'boost the supply and demand of waste in a practical, user-friendly and simple manner'. "
The Mayor of Managua has approved granting a concession of 30 years to W2ee Ecoenergy Development Nicaragua to build a plant to generation fuel from plastic waste.
The plant must still obtain an environmental license, explained the representative of the concessionaire, Andres Fernandez. The plant will process disposable plastic to generate up to 100 barrels of diesel per day.
In the first quarter of the year, 9647 metric tons of recycled material were exported, 8% more than in the same period in 2014.
Data from the Plastics Commission at the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (AGEXPORT) indicates that during the first quarter exports of recycled plastics totaled $10 million.
AGEXPORT reported that Central America, Mexico and the United States are the main buyers, followed by China and other countries.
On June 3rd and 4th representatives from companies in the sector will gather together in the capital to discuss issues related to technology in the management of solid and liquid waste, and water use efficiency.
This conference will focus on the issues of waste management and recycling, it will be aimed primarily at industrialists, environmental consultants and engineers, public sector and NGOs.
The main destinations for recycled plastic materials were El Salvador, with 22% of the total, Honduras, with 15%, China 9%, Costa Rica, 8%, the US, 7.5%, Mexico, 7%, and rest of Asia and Europe.
From a statement issued by the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (-AGEXPORT-):
In 2014, the Guatemalan plastic recycling industry exported to 25 international markets, recording more than $42 million in income, which represents growth of 8% compared to 2013.
A year into its tenure, the government of Costa Rica has announced the formation of a joint committee to study a national plan for recycling and recovery of waste.
EDITORIAL:
In another grim example of the difficulties faced by rulers in Costa Rica to make executive decisions on public works, existing plans - which are currently on hold, and will probably disappear - for investment in the waste management and recycling sector, including generating power from them, due to the fact that the current government has decided to start from scratch with the formation of a committee to "develop strategies" on the topic. As if there were not already enough information on his issue, and as if the respective participants and those responsible had not expressed themselves sufficiently in this respect. It is the same case with the commission on energy introduced by this government.
In a country where about 1,200 tons of electronic waste are generated each year, there are no plants to recycle and properly dispose them.
In 2014 approximately 33 metric tons of technological waste, most notably batteries, televisions, computers, cell phones, etc. were collected. The country currently does not have a plant to treat this type of waste.
Flour made from plantains can be used to produce biodegradable plastic products with high capacity.
From an article by the Costa Rica Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
Biodegradable plastic made from plantain flour
Experts from the National Polytechnic Institute of Mexico (IPN) have created a flour made from plantain, which can be used to produce biodegradable plastic products with high capacity.
In 2013 the value of exports amounted to $343.4 million, with the main destination for these products being Guatemala.
77% of plastics exports from El Salvador are destined for Central America, especially Guatemala and Honduras, where 29% and 24%, of the products arrive respectively.
An article on Eleconomista.net notes that "the export of plastic products brought $343.4 million into the country in 2013, according to the Central Reserve Bank (BCR), $13.7 million more than the $329.7 million exported in 2012. This is a positive variation of 4.2% in plastic products sold abroad. "
Beverage Industry Digital Magazine established in 1942, the oldest Spanish trade journal and the only beverage trade magazine serving the Latin American beverage market. It serves soft drink bottlers, brewers, bottled water...