Mérida, July 13, 2024.- Committed to sustainability and part of the 2030 Agenda, the Bepensa corporation stands out at the 2024 Environmental Expo Forum—open to more than 20,000 visitors—for its work in disseminating and raising awareness in favor of the environment among current and future generations.
This was acknowledged by the Secretary of Economic Development and Labor, Ernesto Herrera Novelo, the president of the National Chamber of Commerce, Services, and Tourism, Levy Abraham Macari, and the mayor of Mérida, Alejandro Ruz Castro, during the inauguration of the exhibition in the Ek Balam Hall of the Yucatán Siglo XXI Convention Center in Mérida.
Agustín Menéndez Reyes, Corporate Affairs Manager for Bepensa, welcomed executives and staff members to the expo stand, which will be open until Sunday, July 14. They acknowledged the firm's work promoting a healthy environment.
"What we want to convey to all visitors with this stand is, on the one hand, the efforts Bepensa is making through its five business divisions to implement responsible processes that generate well-being in the communities where we operate, which also have a sustainability component," he emphasized.
He explained that Bepensa's stand at the Expo is divided into three sections. The first is a general welcome area where visitors can hydrate themselves with purified water for free. Visitors then move on to the Cinema, where they can learn about the company's efforts to recycle the resin it obtains from PET bottles.
Accompanied by Jessica Saade, Bepensa's Public Relations Manager, he explained that the Beverage Division is linked to Petstar, the world's largest food-grade recycling plant for the circular economy, which converts PET plastic into recyclable resin.
Last May, Grupo Bepensa and PetStar jointly announced more robust PET collection and recycling efforts in Yucatán, following an investment of at least 90 million pesos to double the recovery capacity of this material at the Umán plant. This will result in the collection of 11,000 tons, equivalent to more than 495 million PET bottles.
"We want to convey a very important message: when consumers buy a beverage in a PET container, they not only own the beverage, but also the packaging, which generates a very powerful impact," the executive stated in an interview.
Every time we finish consuming a beverage, we empty the bottle, crush it, close it, and dispose of it properly in a dedicated PET container. We are changing our ecosystem," he emphasized.
"With this process, we're changing our environment and giving that bottle the opportunity to be part of a circular economy process so that it can once again be converted into food-grade recycled resin, which is Petstar's fundamental goal. This way, companies like Bepensa can once again incorporate it into our industrial processes."
"For us, creating packaging from recyclable resin represents a process of great social value, because it's not just the component itself, but also the efforts of those involved in this value chain, such as partners, collectors, transporters, and families within a social ecosystem," he emphasized.
The next section of the Bepensa stand is dedicated to the Nergic company of Bepensa Motriz, one of the corporation's five business divisions. He explained that all the electricity for the lighting and operation of the module is powered by batteries, which are rapidly charged with renewable energy from solar panels.
In this way, he added, we want to convey to all visitors that they can also contribute to sustainability by doing something as everyday as, for example, disposing of a PET bottle.
In keeping with the forum's motto, "The health of the planet, the health of all," the executive expressed his confidence in the future of the world: "We must take advantage of the new generations, who already have a sustainability component in their DNA. They are young people who are concerned about what is happening around them."
“This commitment to the community is demonstrated by the participation of more than 20 students from the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY) who voluntarily joined the Bepensa team to serve as staff at our booth. These young people, from the faculties of Chemical Engineering, Industrial Logistics Engineering, Food Engineering, Industrial Chemical Engineering, the Faculty of Architecture, and the Pharmaceutical Biologist program, worked with enthusiasm and dedication, demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and professional development. We are grateful for the collaboration coordinated by Professor Miguel Ángel Ley Sánchez, Technical Secretary of the UADY Sustainable Program.”
The Bepensa Group is aligned with the 2030 Sustainability Agenda, as it continuously works on operational efficiency, improving water consumption per liter produced and energy efficiency, as well as reducing emissions from its Bepensa Beverage production plants, which are certified as zero waste.
We are working to make Bepensa a company that is increasingly responsible with its surroundings and, of course, more committed to its communities. For this reason, he added, the group has earned the Socially Responsible Company distinction awarded by the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (Cemefi) for 15 consecutive years.
He shared that Bepensa, through its five divisions with 14,000 employees and a presence in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and the United States, strives, with a strong sense of responsibility, to generate well-being and development in the communities where it operates.
Sustainability is part of our strategic pillars that serve to improve decision-making in our businesses, along with financial discipline and customer centricity, the executive emphasized.
Sergio Ricardo Aguilar, Director of Planning and Climate Change at the Ministry of Sustainable Development (SDS), and Manuel Redondo, President of PRONUS, also learned about Bepensa's activities and other stands at the Expo.
