Mexican startup turns discarded plastic into homes, builds 500 rooms in 3 years

Workers at a recycling plant in central Mexico are turning five and a half tonnes of discarded plastic bottles and old toys every day into strong building materials, helping low-income families get better homes while keeping waste out of local dumps. The process, developed in 2013 by social enterprise EcoDom in Puebla state, turns melted plastic waste into strong wall and roofing panels. Within three years of starting operations, the company had built 500 rooms for municipal housing programmes and won public contracts to construct 300 complete homes across nearby towns. A report by media organisation Unreasonable Group explains how founder Carlos Daniel González created the company to tackle two problems at the same time: pollution and a serious shortage of affordable housing. González grew up in Puebla, where government figures and regional data cited by Unreasonable Group show that 64 per cent of people live in poverty.