Southern Argentina city finds PET recycling end market

Remote ecotourism town of Ushuaia has worked to make sure its PET bottles can be recycled.


The government of Ushuaia, Argentina, considered the southern-most city in the world, has collected and sent out for recycling two shipments of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles totaling 30 tons.

 

According to an online article from El Diario del Fin del Mundo, the action is part of an environmental policy of the Municipality of Ushuaia.

 

A shipment of PET bottles in early August, the city’s second, was collected by the city in cooperation with Argentina-based Pulpo SA and included inspection by Argentina’s customs agency, which “verified the merchandise and the export procedure.”

 

Pablo Holmes of Pulpo SA is quoted as saying that “a sorting process was carried out, by type of bottle, by color and, once sorted, [the bottles were] wrapped and transported by truck to a second recycling plant that [converted] them back into bottles.”

 

Pulpo SA reportedly received a grant to help it buy recycling equipment to prepare materials in Ushuaia. The receiving plant that converts the scrap back into bottles is in an industrial park near Buenos Aires, according to Holmes, and it is “one of two plants in the country” that can turn old PET bottles into new ones.

 

Ushuaia is located near the southern tip of South America in the Tierra del Fuego region of Argentina. The city has a population of more than 55,000 people and hosts fishing fleets as well as cruise ships and ecotourism activities.

Get curated news on YOUR industry.

Enter your email to receive our newsletters.

Loading...