IMG Group produces recycled PET bricks in Mexico

Portugal-based packaging producer the IMG Group says it is collaborating with the Sol Pacífico Foundation in Mexico to produce “Eco-Bricks” made from discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

IMG Group says the Eco-Bricks, made by filling empty PET bottles with heavier, nonrecyclable materials, “become the building blocks of ecological building structures” by reducing waste, acting as insulation and providing an affordable building material.

The two organizations embarked on the project in the Costa Alegre area of the Mexican Pacific coast. Through classroom presentations, the foundation “highlights the positive impact that this ecological construction delivers and teaches students how to make their own Eco-Bricks–something that can then be replicated at home and throughout the community,” IMG Group says.

As an additional incentive, eco-bricks can be cashed in as vouchers at some local supermarkets. The first collection of Eco-Bricks produced 1,725 filled bottles that diverted some 110,000 cubic meters of materials from landfill and produced an equal volume of building blocks.

The first collection of Eco-Bricks will be used for the construction of bus stops, according to IMG Group, with two such projects likely to use the majority of the Eco-Bricks from the first collection.

As a packaging product, the IMG Group says it incorporates postconsumer and postindustrial recycled content in both lines of its business: Selenis, a supplier of polyester, and Evertis, a producer of PET-based films.