MEXICO CITY — Mexico's foremost independent designer and manufacturer of plastics extrusion and blow molding machinery has developed the technology for building polycarbonate and recycled polyethylene greenhouses that he believes should interest large agricultural concerns and individual home owners.
"These greenhouses will last five times longer than traditional ones and are very easy to assemble and maintain," Sergio Beutelspacher Sandoval told Plastics News at the four-day Plastimagen México trade show in Mexico City in mid-March, where he displayed his invention.
The design is based on a system of recycled PE profiles covered with strips of corrugated PC lamina. The profiles can support weights of about 220 pounds per square feet and incorporate gutters for collecting rain water.
The greenhouses are 13, 19 and 26 feet wide but the height and length can vary, according to Beutelspacher. "We plan to test the design on a large scale as soon as an agricultural company buys it," said his son, Abraham Beutelspacher, the company's product manager. "The technology has not been purchased yet."
Beutelspacher, who founded his own company, Beutelspacher SA de CV, in southern Mexico City 35 years ago, did $1.6 million worth of business in 2012, up from $1.2 million in 2011 but still below the $2 million worth of sales it achieved in 2008.
However, just in the first three months of this year the company sold technology worth $640,000 to the automotive and agricultural sectors, the senior Beutelspacher said. It employs 100.
Beutelspacer SA de CV has sold in excess of 1,000 extruders and blow molders across the Americas and as far afield as China.

By Stephen Downer (CORRESPONDENT)