Playa Cares Community Recycling Projects Celebrates 3 Years of Success in Mexico

Playa Hotels & Resorts’ (PHR) Playa Cares sustainability platform has been celebrating its success in carrying out community projects in Mexico over the past few years. Playa Cares Projects have a regional scope where each project is planned, executed and monitored to maximize the positive impacts of PHR’s actions on a destination´s environment and communities. The term “destination” is very important for PHR because not only does it include the group’s hotels and the tourism industry where people work, it also covers the actual territory, natural resources and wonderful places where staff live and want to have a sustainable future with their families.

Community Recycling Project
The Community Recycling Project in Mexico is one of Playa Cares favourite sustainability initiatives because it is a low cost, high Impact way to engage staff members, families, waste management collection partners and the local community. Working together, each person or company can play an active role in the management of waste that is generated in a specific destination - not just inside the hotel grounds, but in the surrounding communities.

The basis of the project is that each participant gathers recyclable materials from home or its community and delivers them to central collection points at PHR hotels. Items include plastic bottles and plastic bottle tops, paper, aluminium cans, cardboard and polystyrene. These materials are separated into clearly designated bags and boxes by hotel staff members and collected by the same recycling companies that collect the hotel’s recyclables. Through this initiative, a highly effective model was created that can be easily replicated, not only by other hotel companies, but also throughout the entire tourism industry and by any other organization or group of individuals seeking to create a local circular economy solution to a global challenge.

The simple yet impactful recycling approach is in operation inside PHR properties and more recently, has been introduced in Mexico Regional Offices. Since starting the community recycling initiative 3 years ago, Playa Cares has managed to divert 10,557 kg of residential recyclable waste from the landfills in destinations where recycling at a residential level is still a big challenge. This waste problem is apparent even in high-income residential areas, so it is hoped the recycling model will be embraced in the wider community.

A Pepenice Recycling Center

Extending the Program to Quintana Roo
One of the most important aspects of this project is identifying strategic partners in each individual destination where Playa Hotels & Resorts are located. In this sense, Pepenice Cancún in Quintana Roo has been instrumental in the implementation of the Community Recycling Project at a national level. Pepenice Cancún is a Mexican company with a social and environmental focus. The company has successfully implemented recycling practices and created jobs for workers who help with the management of the recycling locations. Pepenice also supports various causes including environmental education and promoting the benefits gained when communities support recycling efforts. Pepenice has installed two public recycling centres in Cancún that are open 6 days a week to the public and responsible waste management campaigns are conducted year-round. Playa Hotels & Resorts decided to enter into partnership with Pepenice this year when they discovered that through these campaigns, the organization is able to raise funds that finance social projects in the region.

In August 2025, PHR’s Regional Offices in Mexico joined a Pepenice initiative for a very special project -Tus útiles aún son útiles (Your school supplies are still useful). For this campaign used notebooks, books, coloring pencils, pens, folders and any other used stationary were collected by employees. Local partner Pepenice then transformed them into brand new school kits for children in need in local communities.

Green Globe Certification’s video of Playa Cares community recycling initiatives can be viewed here

Contact

David Andrés Ortegón-Martínez 
Sustainability Director
Playa Hotels & Resorts
Marina Town Center, Av. Bonampak,
Puerto Cancun, Cancun,
Benito Juarez, Q. Roo, C.P.77500
Mexico
E: David.ortegon@hyatt.com
T: (52) 998.881.5791 
M: (52) 551.759.74.86