The Toluca, Mexico RPET plant will grow its capacity from 58 kilotons per year to 84 kilotons per year. | Courtesy of PetStar

In pursuit of recovering and recycling every Coca-Cola PET bottle sold in Mexico by 2027, a local recycler is undergoing a $167 million expansion. 

PetStar S.A.P.I. is looking to boost the number of facilities it has from eight to 40 by 2027 and is also expanding its recycling plant in Toluca, Mexico, increasing its capacity from 58 kilotons per year of food-grade RPET to 84 kilotons annually by August 2024 and finally 110 kilotons per year in January 2027. 

Jaime Cámara, PetStar CEO, said in a statement that “innovation and continuous improvement” are the heart of PetStar’s business model, as is adherence to “the highest quality standards, from collection to recycling.” 

The project comes after PetStar announced in June that it planned to spend $14.8 million adding 15 PET collection facilities across Mexico in 2023 and expanding existing facilities. 

One of those expansions is at its Escobedo, Nuevo León, facility. The $2.8 million project there will triple PET container collection capacity, allowing the facility to recycle 18,400 tons of material per year. 

In June, PetStar said another $5.4 million would go to expanding plastic collection points in the Baja California cities of Ensenada and Mexicali, increasing collection there to more than 543 million PET bottles by the end of the year. 

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