QCOSTARICA – The first big step on the planet in transforming unwanted plastic waste into construction products took place in Costa Rica on June 20 with the inauguration of the first industrial-scale plant.
CRDC Global, an international company, and PEDREGAL combined forces to open a state-of-the-art plant, the first of its kind in the world with an innovative solution, capable of converting non-recoverable plastic waste into a value added called RESIN8™ for use in the construction industry.
In the world, between 6% and 16% of plastic waste is recycled. The remaining volume ends up in landfills, in the ocean, or is incinerated, causing an impact per year of more than 150 million tons of CO2 and greenhouse gases.
One of the key steps in consolidating CRDC Global was partnering with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, a global non-profit organization made up of 90 member companies committed to ending plastic waste in the environment by creating and expanding innovative solutions to the world.
In addition to the plant in Costa Rica, CRDC Global will expand its presence in the North American market, in the second half of this year, with a new 1,300 m2 production plant in York, Pennsylvania, with which around 9,000 tons can be processed. of plastic waste per year.
There are currently smaller-scale plants in South Africa. In immediate plans, work is being done in plants in the United Kingdom, Mexico, Somoa, Australia and Chile. In the medium term, more plants will be installed in the United States, Portugal, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.
First plant in the world
At full capacity, the plant in Costa Rica will be able to process up to 90 tons of plastic waste per day.
The Ministry of Health estimates that 110 tons of plastic material are discarded in the environment daily in the country. With this patented technology, around 80% of this waste can be transformed.
Designed for the construction industry, RESIN8 is unique in the world as it is made from any type of plastic waste (resins 1-7). The aggregate has been extensively tested to improve the integrity of concrete or asphalt and creates a viable solution for the construction industry.
To achieve RESIN8, they spent three years on innovation and development. RESIN8 is suitable for numerous applications, including concrete blocks and pavers, precast concrete elements, ready-mix concrete, mortars, and even hot mix asphalt. The resulting material is up to 15% lighter or stronger depending on its use, with up to 20% better thermal and acoustic insulation properties than traditional concrete.
“The product was born in Costa Rica. It also fills us with pride and satisfaction to be able to carry out this launch precisely here. This allows our country to continue positioning itself as a world benchmark in sustainable development and in protecting the environment. We feel very proud to be able to present an innovative, efficient, sustainable and scalable solution,” said David Zamora, Commercial Director of PEDREGAL, at the official launch of the plant.
For his part, Donald Thomson, founder and president of CRDC Global, emphasized that this is just the beginning: “We are on a journey to offer a scalable, regenerative and circular solution to end global pollution from plastic waste once and for all. .
Alliance to End Plastic Waste President Jacob Duer said the Alliance is on a mission to end plastic waste in the environment, which means finding viable solutions to advance a circular economy and ensuring its ability to scale for impact. “Together with CRDC, we can help drive the environmental, economic and social value of hard-to-recycle plastics,” he said.
