The beach town in the middle of Mexico’s new circular sargassum economy

Sargassum is washing up on Mexico's Caribbean coast at 27 times the historical average, with roughly 9,000 tons arriving daily, prompting a $115 million federal investment and a government-identified network of 190 companies to upcycle it. Carbonwave's Puerto Morelos biorefinery, cited by the environmental secretary as central to the effort, turns fresh seaweed into biostimulants, cosmetics emulsifiers and experimental products like seaweed leather.

The company gives hotels discounts on disposal in exchange for usable seaweed and also receives deliveries from Mexican Navy 'sargacero' boats. Seaweed has a 12-hour window before it spoils and must meet strict contamination standards to be processed.

A separate entrepreneur, Omar Vásquez, has built 'sargablock' bricks from sargassum and organic material since 2018, donating 21 houses made from them to local families and hiring workers with backgrounds similar to his own recovery from addiction.

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