Circul-R: Advancing Glass and Plastic Waste Recycling

Glass and Plastic Packaging, The Truth…

crushed glass and plastic pavers

We all know that glass is the more sustainable packaging material because it is infinitely recyclable. It can be pulverized, crushed, or melted, and made into new products. With an Andela crusher or pulverizer, those new products would be clean glass sand and cullet with many uses!

Unfortunately, plastic dominates the packaging market and a plastic bottle doesn’t always become another plastic bottle. In many countries, plastics are imported but there is no local recycling option. Unless a forward-thinking company like Caltech Group in Timor-Leste steps in with new ideas.

Glass and Plastic Waste, A Circul-R Synergy?

You bet there is!

More than 5 trillion tons of plastic are littering roads and floating in our oceans, and beach pollution comprised of plastics and waste glass exceeds 6 billion tons. Any useful thing made from these ingredients is a win-win! Caltech’s Andela pulverizer creates clean glass sand that they then mix with shredded plastics, with this mix they produce glass and plastic pavers — a beautiful and utilitarian use of two waste products.

Caltech’s Co-founder and CEO Jean Vezina, a Civil Engineer from Canada, champions sustainability and innovation and plays the lead role in growing their environmental services portfolio. Caltech has branded its innovative waste solutions division, Circul-R!

At Caltech, end-of-life glass and plastics are sorted and processed into glass sand and shredded plastics. Caltech is committed to diverting large volumes of waste from landfills and processing them into valuable materials, contributing to a cleaner environment and demonstrating leadership in sustainable waste management, actively reversing the traditional linear economy flow of waste, turning it into a valuable resource, and reducing environmental impact.🌱

Glass and Plastic Pavers for the Pope!

Photo credit: CalTech

Caltech Group’s Circul-R factory is proud to have provided all pavers and curbing for the beatification project of the “Cristo Rei” area ahead of His Holiness Pope Francis’s visit in 2024. This project used more than 65,000 pavers made of more than 140 tons of recycled glass and shredded plastic waste! The Pope celebrated Mass for around 600,000 people at the Esplanade of Taci Tolu in Dili.

Emulate Caltech!

♻️ Recycle – Transform end-of-life products into raw materials for new production, closing the loop in the material cycle.

💡From recycling over 500 tonnes of post-consumer materials to crafting sustainable board and landscaping products for the construction industry, CalTech is driving meaningful change for their environment and community. That’s 500 tonnes diverted from landfills, transformed into products for a sustainable future. Together, we’re making a difference.