Playa del Carmen Unveils Recycled-Plastic Lifeguard Tower at Playa 72

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Mayor Estefanía Mercado inaugurated a new lifeguard tower at Playa 72 on Tuesday, part of an effort to strengthen water safety along the city’s beaches and to recognize the crews that work year-round to clear sargassum.

The tower is dedicated to aquatic surveillance, and during her visit Mercado greeted members of the Federal Maritime Land Zone (ZOFEMAT) brigades and Mexican Navy personnel taking part in sargassum cleanup operations.

“Families of Playa del Carmen, our objective is to strengthen surveillance, prevention and emergency response capacity in the coastal zone, prioritizing the protection of tourists and residents,” Mercado said.

Recycled plastic structure

Kandy Mendoza, secretary of Sustainable Environment and Climate Change, said the lifeguard tower was manufactured from high-strength recycled plastic made with recovered high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) materials. The structure resists humidity, salt, ultraviolet rays and corrosion, requires little maintenance and has a long service life, she said.

Mercado said sargassum management has been one of her administration’s permanent priorities. In her second state of the municipality address, she reported that the city government allocated 100 million pesos (about $5.4 million) in municipal funds to address the seaweed influx and that crews had removed more than 35,000 tons of sargassum.

Plans to expand operations

The mayor also outlined plans to strengthen operations at sea, expand operational capacity and move toward commercial use of the macroalgae to produce goods such as biofertilizers and biogas.

According to the city government, the visit to Playa 72 served two purposes: reinforcing infrastructure to protect beachgoers and acknowledging the workers who keep the shoreline in suitable condition.