Marybel Villegas Highlights Sargassum-to-Footwear Project in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Marybel Villegas Canché, who is seeking the Quintana Roo coordination of the Defense of the Transformation and National Sovereignty, visited Sargazo Sandals, a company that turns sargassum into footwear, and praised the initiative as a model of innovation that can turn an environmental problem into an economic opportunity.

During the visit, Villegas learned about the project developed by Mario Alberto Robledo Garavito and María Alvarado, who spent nearly two years creating a process to use sargassum collected from the Mexican Caribbean.

Robledo, a shoemaker originally from León, Guanajuato, arrived in Quintana Roo during the pandemic. Seeing the large amounts of sargassum on the coast, he began experimenting with the seaweed as a possible raw material.

Sargazo Sandals now sells its products in hotels and boutiques across the Riviera Maya, with a catalog that includes sandals, children’s and sports footwear, as well as water shoes.

The company collects about five tons of wet sargassum at sea, before it reaches the beaches. After processing, it yields around 200 kilograms of pulp and powder, which is mixed with EVA, a polymer, and shaped into shoe parts using molds.

According to the entrepreneurs, each pair of shoes contains between 15 and 20 percent sargassum, and a ton of the final mixture can produce between 700 and 1,300 pairs.

The project works with Grupo Ensol for sargassum processing and has the backing of Mayma México. It also collaborates with organizations focused on climate change, pollution and damage to coral ecosystems in the Caribbean.

Sargazo Sandals is now looking to expand beyond Quintana Roo. The company will compete in the regional final of the Startup World Cup, which could lead to a spot in Silicon Valley and a chance to win up to US$1 million in investment.

“These are the examples we need to promote in Quintana Roo: talent, creativity and innovation to turn an environmental problem into an opportunity,” Villegas said. “Sargassum can become raw material, generate products, jobs and new alternatives for our economy.”

She also stressed the need to back projects developed in Quintana Roo that propose ways to use sargassum and move toward a more sustainable economy.

“Mario and María have shown that when there is determination, knowledge and innovation, we can find ways to address our problems and turn them into opportunities for Quintana Roo,” she concluded.