The Association of Plastic Recyclers is expanding its efforts in Mexico and Latin America – vital players in North American packaging plastics markets.
“While Mexico has already demonstrated leadership in PET collection, it faces challenges in designing plastic packaging and products that are compatible with the recycling system and developing markets for post-consumer resin (PCR),” APR said in a recent press release.
Martha Ricardi, director of Latin American strategy at APR, said, “We must stop designing plastic packaging for shelf space and start designing for recycling. The government has made a great effort, and public policies must be supported by the plastic recycling industry and consumers to incentivize the use of recycled resins that lead to a true circular model.”
APR owns Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.
In support of these efforts, Georgina Howard, president and founder of communications firm ARGE, wrote the following column, which first appeared in Quadratin Puebla:
Financial Vision: Recycling and APR in Mexico
For decades, Mexico, like much of the world, relied on a linear economy based on extracting, producing, consuming, and discarding—a model that has left its mark on the environment and is now unsustainable.
Against this backdrop, the circular economy is beginning to gain traction, based on the premise of reducing waste and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources through smarter product designs, longer lifespans, and increased recycling.
Within this framework, one of the five key “R’s” is recycling, which involves processing waste to convert it back into raw materials, which also brings advantages such as saving resources, generating less polluting waste, and lower production costs.
In this field, the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), chaired by Steve Alexander, stands out. Based in the United States and with more than 300 affiliated companies covering the entire plastic recycling value chain, the organization begins 2026 with a presence in Mexico, along with its Director of Strategy for Latin America, Martha Ricardi.
APR is recognized worldwide as the authority on the design of plastic packaging for recyclability. Its programs and tools have proven to improve recycling efficiency and productivity, reduce contamination of recycled materials, and lower costs throughout the supply chain.
Recycling and using recycled material not only benefits manufacturers and consumers, but also boosts industrial efficiency, energy savings and emissions reduction, with measurable environmental, economic and social effects.
APR’s approach stems from a central idea: the key lies in design, as it is the most effective way to ensure that more plastics are recycled. Therefore, the organization’s work to align the design of plastic—a material present in more than 80% of production processes—with recyclability criteria takes on special relevance now that it has reached Mexico.
The arrival of APR opens up the possibility for Mexico to assume regional leadership and turn recycling into a true environmental, economic and social engine with reach throughout Latin America.
