Mexican Company Wins Recycling Award

Mexico’s National Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) has awarded Concretos Reciclados with the Recognition of Waste Recycling 2008 award for following the company’s work in processing and recycling construction and demolition debris.

Concretos Reciclados, which was born out of a well-established Mexican mine operation, is the first Latin American company dedicated to C&D recycling.

Originally founded 35 years ago as Mina La Esperanza, the company operates from an eight hectare former mine in the Yehualique Hills at Iztapalapa in Mexico, all of which is dedicated to construction and demolition debris recycling. “Mexico produces approximately 34 million metric tons of construction and demolition waste each year, but until recently, it did not have adequate infrastructure to deal with that level of waste,” says the company’s Arturo Valdez. “As a result, only around 30 percent of it made it to landfill, the remainder being tipped illegally.”

Faced with an increasing environmental issue, the Mexican government responded with legislation to encourage the recycling of construction and demolition material and the use of secondary materials.

Concretos Reciclados invested in an Extec C-12 track-mounted mobile crusher and an Extec S-5 mobile screen to being to tackle the country’s glut of concrete, bricks and tiles. The company is currently processing approximately 300 metric tons of material per day, reducing the 550- to 650-mm material to locally popular 75-, less than 50- and less than 25-mm grades.