IFCO Recycling Inc. to build new $9M regional recycling plant in Ponce
IFCO Recycling Inc., a firm based in Ponce, has identified a warehouse in the southern town’s port zone in which it will invest $9 million to establish an operation to segregate and handle recyclable materials.
The 80,000 square foot facility should be operating at full capacity within 18 to 24 months, Jean Paul González, the municipality’s director of planning and economic development, confirmed.
Once the facility reaches its optimal level of operation, the company plans to export up to 100,000 tons of recycled materials through the port of Ponce.
The operation is expected to generate 40 jobs to handle different aspects of the operation, such as the establishment of a residential recycling program in all Ponce, on-site recycling in strategic places, crushing plant material, and collecting debris and scrap metal, among others.
“With this opening we leave a cleaner and more eco-friendly city to the new generations, he said. “This is just the beginning of great things to come. Soon we will have more important announcements to communicate to all Ponceños,” Ponce Mayor Luis M. Irizarry-Pabón confirmed.
IFCO Recycling Inc. — which has been in business for 50 years — expects that with the establishment of and metals, plus the management of consumption in the west and central area, around 40 direct jobs would be created in the city, not counting indirect ones.
“When I assumed the reins of this office, we embarked on a mission to revitalize the economy of the city, establish agile and efficient processes for entrepreneurs and merchants, by creating a holistic and dynamic environment where we serve as an ally and direct link with companies and investors who would like to establish themselves in the city, while we shore up new sources of capital for the municipal administration,” González said.
“That’s why the arrival of this plant is a vital step in that direction. In addition to that, it provides us with a unique opportunity toward the activation of the Rafael Cordero Santiago Megaport, because brokers and shipping companies require that ships reach up to 80% of occupied capacity, and with this material they have the possibility of reaching that amount and that way, we would comply with one of the elements that we need to have an international caliber operator,” González noted.
Once operations start and the port begins operations, IFCO would be exporting up to 400 containers per year.
The start of the recycling operation in the city and the region will extend the useful life of the municipal landfill, while the handling of scrap metal and metals would attract additional profits to the municipal coffers, Ponce municipal officials said.
