Cancún Project Aims to Build Educational Infrastructure from Plastic Waste

Cancún, Quintana Roo — An environmental organization is developing an innovative project to repurpose plastic waste into sustainable community infrastructure, with plans to expand into educational facilities this year.

The group Ecoliiks is creating “ecoladrillos”—bricks made from plastic bottles filled with clean, dry waste—to produce reusable “superblocks.” These materials can be used to build functional public elements like eco-benches, which can be installed in parks, schools, community centers, dining areas, and bleachers.

Danny Benítez, director of Ekoliiks, said the organization has been engaging with school administrators over the past three months to conduct workshops on creating these bricks. “We want children and young people to learn how to transform their trash into sustainable school infrastructure,” Benítez explained.

The initiative aims to prevent waste from reaching public dumps or landfills by teaching reuse techniques. Benítez emphasized, “They learn to reuse these residues before they end up in public garbage dumps or the landfill.”

In Cancún, the group has already demonstrated the concept by building an ECOmedor at the Fábrica de Artes y Oficios (FARO) using 177 recyclable bricks, equivalent to 70 kilograms of repurposed waste. Now, they plan to bring similar projects to schools.

Ecolinks, a civil association founded in 2021, focuses on environmental education and managing non-recyclable waste. The organization uses reduction and compaction strategies to mitigate environmental impact in the Mexican Caribbean.

The current goal is to reach 13 schools in Cancún, ranging from kindergarten to university level, with workshops and environmental training. Benítez noted that while 13 schools are already registered, more could potentially participate. The organization is also seeking support from private companies to expand these initiatives.

Through their “Construye tu Comunidad!” project, Ecoliiks has already impacted hundreds of young people in Quintana Roo, transforming hundreds of kilograms of waste into art and functional infrastructure. Since their first project in Cancún in 2021, they have created 19 ECObanca projects in the state, with 1,080 ecoladrillos representing approximately 540 kilograms of diverted waste.