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They hope it will recover 12 million kg of waste and generate 50 direct jobs
Gonzalo NavarroJune 19, 20220 19 3 minutes of reading
RFG is the winner of the tender to manufacture synthetic sleepers that will serve to condition the 20,000 km of existing railways in the country.
This project will set the first precedent for a circular economy project, with triple impact, in the country. During the next 3 years they will reuse 12,000 tons of plastic that is difficult to recycle, generating new sources of work.
RFG is a family SME that won the tender called by Trenes Argentinos after competing with 20 other local and foreign companies. After little more than a year of negotiations, the Frola family obtained the tender to produce 100,000 sleepers that must be delivered within 3 years.
The 20,000 km of railways in the country have wooden sleepers as seats. “In some sections, the trains cannot exceed 10 km per hour, because the wood is rotten; the plastic sleepers are going to replace those pieces where they are needed”, says Giuliano Frola.
The 100,000 plastic sleepers will cover the need for replacement materials, but they are waiting for Trenes Argentinos to expand their demand.
The second factory of its kind in Latin America
Synthetic sleepers are already used in Russia, Europe, the US and Brazil; are produced using virgin plastic and others from recycling. RFG is the first company in Argentina and the second in South America to produce them.
The manufacturing process was achieved by R&D of the company itself. They developed their own machinery to obtain a specimen 18 meters high and 5 meters wide. The material is heated to achieve homogeneity between the different types of plastic. After adding additives and with a molding system, they make continuous track sleepers, change of tracks and the so-called "work of art" that are used in bridges; squarer and thicker.
start a family
Under the premise of implementing new ways of manufacturing from reuse, in 2013 RFG was born. It currently has an interdisciplinary team of 25 people at its industrial plant in Monte Cristo.
Since 2016, they recover polyacrylate and cellulose, discarded from the diaper industry, and reuse it by manufacturing cords, blankets, and absorbent pads; all this with machines built by themselves. With these products they won one of the first important tenders for the SME that consisted of supplying the Carlini and Marambio bases in Antarctica.
The company also advises another 180 on waste management, engineering their reuse; improving environmental and economic management.
Generation of director and indirect jobs
With the materials that they began to recover from customers, RFG began to manage sub-brands. They produce (through cooperatives) compost bins and flower beds with recycled wooden pallets; and handbags and backpacks with scraps of fabric discarded by automakers (vehicle seat linings) and by the aeronautical industry (parachute fabric).
RFG gives industries the possibility of donating recyclable materials to different entities. “With this we can give companies a sense of social responsibility; you have to care what you do with your waste because it is yours; we must assist the planet through the classification, treatment and reuse of materials”, says Giuliano Frola.
They aspire to generate more than 100 jobs. The plant will incorporate, when it is fully functional, 45 people and, indirectly, through cooperatives, another 160 approximately. These organizations receive materials from industries or municipalities, then classify and compact them to sell them to companies that use them. "Currently they are throwing away the No. 7 plastics, so for them our proposal implies a new income," explains the entrepreneur.
The convenience of synthetic sleepers
The use of plastic instead of wood means an investment that raises costs by 15%, however the wooden sleeper has an estimated useful life of 15 years maximum, while a plastic sleeper can last 50; to this it is necessary to emphasize the environmental benefit. The 12,200 tons of plastic that will be recycled will replace the equivalent of 27,600 trees.
The management of plastic waste represents a major ecological challenge since it is generated in large quantities and little is reused. This project will immobilize these plastics for 50 years, giving them a use instead of adding them to landfills. "We make the immobilization of the material with anticipation of a future recovery", explains Giuliano, estimating that once the useful life of the sleeper is over, the plastic can be re-incorporated into the process, in the manufacture of a new one.
RFG, thanks to the agreement with Trenes Argentinos, has the railway lines to bring plastics to Córdoba from other provinces. The plan is to incorporate a wagon that carries the material from northern Argentina. |
