Tulum Plastic-to-Fuel Startup Wins Startup World Cup Regional Semifinal

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Waste Neutral Technologies, a Tulum-based startup that turns plastic waste into fuel, won the Quintana Roo regional semifinal of the Startup World Cup and will represent the state in the national finals next month.

The company was named the winner at a competition held Aug. 27 in Playa del Carmen and organized by Mayma, a nonprofit that brings the Silicon Valley-based startup competition to Mexico. Waste Neutral Technologies will compete in the Startup World Cup Mexico National Final on Sept. 24 in the northern city of Chihuahua.

Carlos Segura, a Mayma representative, said the event brought together 70 guests and a panel of judges who heard from 10 startups pitching solutions to regional challenges. Several of the proposals dealt with sargassum, the seaweed that has piled up on Caribbean beaches in recent years, and those projects will continue to receive support, he said.

Waste Neutral Technologies already operates a plant in Tulum, where it uses recyclable and non-recyclable plastics to produce fuel and additives. The company is seeking the competition’s $1 million grand prize to build three more plants in Mexico, in addition to its Tulum facility, and to expand to Asia, where it says it is already in talks to install similar operations.

“They transform plastics and generate fuels and additives for engines — gasoline made from plastics,” Segura said.

Olmo Torres, Mayma’s director in Mexico, said the regional event was designed to bring together entrepreneurs, investors and conservation groups around a shared vision for the region.

“We are beginning to connect conversations that for a long time were separate: entrepreneurship, investment, tourism, conservation and territorial development,” Torres said. “The challenge is not only to accelerate startups; it is to create an enabling environment for companies to scale their positive impact and, in doing so, generate value for the territory.”

The winning startup will advance from the national final to the Startup World Cup Silicon Valley grand final, where it can compete for $1 million in angel investment.