We were among the first to injection-mold plastic in this country and the first to build the crate that retired the wooden crate. Sixty years later we still manufacture here, in our own plant.
Sixty years don't fit well in a list of dates. This is the story as we tell it, with photos from the plant where it's still happening.
Mexican harvests traveled in wooden crates that splintered, dropped nails, and survived few cycles. That year Walter Garlatti de Mozzi, a young Italian who believed in Mexico, founded Europlast in Mexico City and bet on a process almost no one in the country had mastered, plastic injection molding. From that bet came the washable, returnable agricultural crate that ended up retiring the wooden crate.
The plant expanded and 1,200-ton injection machines arrived. In 1983 the company brought in a 2,600-ton machine to manufacture pallets and large-format containers, the first of that size to reach Mexico. Growth, here, has always been measured in clamping force.
In 1997 the ERNI plant opened with 8 injection machines, dedicated to contract manufacturing. It was modernized in 2010 and certified in 2013 to serve the automotive and electronics industries, where one out-of-spec part stops an entire line. Today ERNI is the group's contract manufacturing house, certified to ISO 9001 and IATF 16949, with its own metrology and engineering labs to verify every specification before it leaves the plant.
In 2003 the group added a plant in Atitalaquia, Hidalgo, and in 2008 opened 2,000 square meters of corporate offices. In 2019 Atitalaquia expanded its molding capacity. Growing without leaving home: every new square meter is a plant of our own, not rented capacity.
Europlast celebrated 60 years of continuous manufacturing in Mexico. The original Atizapán plant, five product lines, and the same logic as in 1965, making here what each customer's operation needs.
Today Europlast is a group with 45,000 m² of industrial floor space across three plants of its own, 55 injection molding machines —from 60 to 2,600 tons— and 470 employees working three shifts, 7 days a week. Three plants under one quality control: Europlast Matriz, ERNI and Europlast Atitalaquia.
Mexican harvests traveled in wooden crates that splintered, dropped nails, and survived few cycles. That year Walter Garlatti de Mozzi, a young Italian who believed in Mexico, founded Europlast in Mexico City and bet on a process almost no one in the country had mastered, plastic injection molding. From that bet came the washable, returnable agricultural crate that ended up retiring the wooden crate.
The plant expanded and 1,200-ton injection machines arrived. In 1983 the company brought in a 2,600-ton machine to manufacture pallets and large-format containers, the first of that size to reach Mexico. Growth, here, has always been measured in clamping force.
In 1997 the ERNI plant opened with 8 injection machines, dedicated to contract manufacturing. It was modernized in 2010 and certified in 2013 to serve the automotive and electronics industries, where one out-of-spec part stops an entire line. Today ERNI is the group's contract manufacturing house, certified to ISO 9001 and IATF 16949, with its own metrology and engineering labs to verify every specification before it leaves the plant.
In 2003 the group added a plant in Atitalaquia, Hidalgo, and in 2008 opened 2,000 square meters of corporate offices. In 2019 Atitalaquia expanded its molding capacity. Growing without leaving home: every new square meter is a plant of our own, not rented capacity.
Europlast celebrated 60 years of continuous manufacturing in Mexico. The original Atizapán plant, five product lines, and the same logic as in 1965, making here what each customer's operation needs.
Today Europlast is a group with 45,000 m² of industrial floor space across three plants of its own, 55 injection molding machines —from 60 to 2,600 tons— and 470 employees working three shifts, 7 days a week. Three plants under one quality control: Europlast Matriz, ERNI and Europlast Atitalaquia.
Walter Garlatti de Mozzi founded Europlast when plastic injection molding was just beginning in Mexico. Under his leadership, the company pioneered the process in the country and brought the plastic crate to a farming sector that still packed in wood.
“young Italian… with his drive and the faith he had in our country”
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years manufacturing, without changing trades
Lomas de Atizapán, State of Mexico, and Atitalaquia, Hidalgo, the latter acquired in 2003 and expanded in 2019.
That's the processing capacity documented by the national press in 2014. Today Atizapán and Atitalaquia together employ 380 people in operation.
Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Sigma, Alfa, and Pilgrim's are among the customers reported by the national press in 2014.
Quality system certified within the group for general industry and automotive. The EUROPLAST® trademark is registered; anything that carries that name came out of our plant.
We injection-mold in plants of our own, in the State of Mexico and Hidalgo, with quality control on the floor. Being the manufacturer means answering firsthand — if a part doesn't meet the spec you asked for, the answer and the fix come from our own plants.
A national group dedicated to plastic injection molding and related services, with more than 60 years of experience, environmental commitment and circular economy.
To be the leading group, nationally and internationally, in the plastics industry.
Values
From harvest to shelf, the same part answers to different standards depending on the industry that uses it.
Returnable crates and bins for harvest and transport, resistant to moisture and the continuous cycle of field use.
Stackable crates for poultry and egg handling, built for frequent washing and intensive rotation cycles.
FDA-compliant food-grade materials for direct and indirect food contact.
UV-protected resins for outdoor display and transport, without degrading the container.
Baskets and containers for point-of-sale display and logistics.
Industrial containers for material handling and floor storage.
Container line in anti-static (ESD) material, approved for handling electronic and automotive components.
Containers for controlled handling of supplies and work-in-process product.
High-capacity pallets and containers for storage and distribution.
Part of our catalog is made with reprocessed material, not just virgin. It's the same 1965 logic applied to material, using what already exists instead of always starting from scratch.
See sustainability and its one real limitationAv. Ruiz Cortines No. 57, Lomas de Atizapán, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Estado de México, C.P. 52977.
View on Google Maps60 years manufacturing plastic in Mexico, in our own plant. Tell us what your operation needs and we'll quote it by exact specification, not by generic catalog.
