Primary and secondary school students in the city of Aguascalientes collected close to 100,000 plastic bottles over the last seven weeks which were then used to create the tallest Christmas tree in the world made with recycled materials.

The record was sanctioned by Guinness World Records and its representative in Latin America, Carlos Tapia Rojas, who measured the tree and officially declared it to be 27.84 meters tall.

“Congratulations, Aguascalientes,” said Tapia, “congratulations, Mexico, you are now officially amazing.”

The plastic collected by students at more than 70 schools, in collaboration with the beverage company Coca-Cola, was used by 120 municipal public works staff to create a structure that, once finished, resembled a Christmas tree.

Following the same theme, the tree was then decorated by municipal staff who reused materials such as cardboard and metal.

Aguascalientes’ record-breaking recycled Christmas tree is now one attraction more at a Christmas Village set up by the state government in the capital city.

Once the festivities are over, the tree will be disassembled and the plastic used to create it will be transported by Coca-Cola to a recycling plant it operates in Toluca, México state.

Source: El Financiero (sp), El Universal (sp)