TEL AVIV, ISRAEL and CULICAN, MEXICO, October 26, 2022 - Netafim, an Orbia business and a global leader in precision agriculture solutions, today announced the opening of Mexico’s largest agricultural plastics recycling facility in Culiacán. The facility will operate with an initial processing capacity of over 3,000 tons of plastic per year.
As of 2021, Mexico’s agricultural economy exported goods worth $44.4B, with demand for its seasonal produce growing given the country’s favorable soil and climate conditions and consolidated trade agreements. In turn, the country generates more than 300,000 tons of agricultural waste each year.
Located in Mexico’s vegetable heartland and designed with full circularity in mind, Netafim’s state-of-the-art facility will collect used driplines from farmers across the country, where end-of-life irrigation pipes from any manufacturer will be shredded, washed and pelletized. The regenerated material will then be incorporated into new driplines, that maintain the high performance and quality standards that have been synonymous with Netafim since its invention of drip irrigation in 1965.
The 40,000 square meter Culiacán plant will incorporate a water recirculation system for all material processing, a photovoltaic setup for 100% renewable power and a modern laboratory to ensure that every regenerated pelletis manufactured to the strictest industry standards.
Said Sameer Bharadwaj, CEO of Orbia, “Sustainability is deeply embedded in our businesses, is a core component of our growth strategy and drives our culture. Our new facility in Culiacán is another step towards circular solutions that address climate change and contribute to global resilience.”
“At a time when precision irrigation solutions are needed to combat extreme weather and waste challenges, our advances are helping to make farming more environmentally responsible,” said Gaby Miodownik, Orbia’s Executive Vice President & President, Precision Agriculture (Netafim). “Mexico is one of our key markets and a major agricultural exporter. Our Culiacán facility provides the region’s farmers with an efficient and holistic solution to help them achieve their goals, sustainably.”
Netafim is leading the global irrigation industry’s approach to ‘zero waste in farmland’ and the sustainable treatment of end-of-life plastics. The business has used over 170,000 tons of regenerated plastic in the last several years in its manufacturing. On the journey to full circularity, Netafim currently operates a variety of recycling programs across its plant in Fresno, California as well as sites in Australia, Israel, Peru, Chile and Spain, among others.
By 2030, Netafim aims to ensure that all of its driplines contain at least 45% recycled content.