During 2022 Eurochile Business Foundation supported entrepreneurs in the field of sustainability and circular economy who were interested in participating in the Ecomondo & Key Energy Business Mission, an event that took place at the Rimini Exhibition Centre, Italy, dedicated to the environment and sustainable energy.

Ecomondo focuses on waste, water and soil management and treatment, energy efficiency in industrial processes and resource recovery, and is an international trade fair with a special focus on the European market. Key Energy, on the other hand, focuses on renewable energies and energy efficiency in buildings and transport. There, exhibitors present technologies and solutions for solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and other energy sources. Innovations in energy storage and sustainable mobility will also be highlighted.

The entrepreneurs who participated in the business mission included Cristián Morales of Espyral, Bárbara Bernucci of Consorcio Santa Marta, Hugo Muñoz of Ecología en tu Barrio Compostera, Juan Carlos Bello of Bellbast Chile LTDA, Álvaro Tapia of Rubtec SpA, Ricardo Dottone of Comercializadora Agrícola y Forestal Pinares Limitada and Margarita Sepúlveda of ITE Tecnología.

For this reason, Eurochile authorities had a meeting with the entrepreneurs, where they were able to exchange experiences and future projects inspired by the new technologies applied to sustainability and circular economy that were part of the Ecomondo & Key Energy 2022 Business Mission, where participants had the opportunity to generate links with European companies in order to replicate various projects in Chile.

Juan Carlos Bello of Bellbast Chile says that “we are currently in talks with an Italian company, exchanging knowledge and trying to visualise what they are doing so that we can replicate it in Chile and seek efficiency in electronic waste”.

Also, Barbara Bernucci from Consorcio Santa Marta, adds that, “I saw many interesting things with the theme of our company that has to do with household waste, and it is impressive to see how advanced they are in other countries compared to what we have here in Chile regarding the circular economy”.

On the other hand, the experience of being able to exchange ideas and information at the different stands of the fair, sharing and visiting other companies, is fundamental to broaden the vision of entrepreneurs in terms of future projects for their company, as Hugo Muñoz of Ecología en tu Barrio, points out that, “it was a very interesting and positive experience to be able to go around and assess what was being done with various topics of interest, the new ways of carrying out innovation and addressing the environmental problems that the country has and to make contact with other companies to be able to develop projects for the future“.

Likewise, Cristian Morales of Espyral, points out that, “going with the Eurochile mission allowed us to be accompanied and to take advantage of field visits, where we met municipal and local waste managers that allowed us to have a broader vision, especially on the subject of waste management in Italy, which is more developed than our country”.

In this sense, this trip meant several opportunities both for the entrepreneurs and for Eurochile Foundation, so this allows to show the different actions that can be generated in terms of synergy between the different companies from both continents, as Margarita Sepúlveda from ITE Tecnología shares, “very grateful for everything that Eurochile Foundation gave us to appreciate the advances that had a great impact and to replicate it in the companies and institutions with everything shown in the Ecomondo fair”.

Similarly, Ricardo Dottone from Forestal Pinares, adds that, “I would like to thank Eurochile for the cordiality, willingness and openness to take me to this meeting, the visit to the fair was very instructive and enriching regarding the different matters that have to do with circular economy, which opened a window for me to try some kind of business”.

One of the main objectives of the Eurochile Business Foundation is to build links with different European companies so that SMEs can find companies of the same interest and work together. In this aspect, Vicente Caruz, President of the Foundation, states that, “Eurochile’s mission is to try to bring together the advances in organisational and technological matters of small and medium-sized European companies with Chilean companies, which is why we were able to carry out this concrete action with the Ecomondo & Key Energy 2022 business mission, as Italy is a living example of how to work together with companies in the sector”, says Caruz.

In short, the Ecomondo and Key Energy 2022 Business Mission is an instance where Eurochile is present and helps entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises in Chile to create links with European companies, so that they can learn about the various technological innovations in the field and what is being carried out with respect to sustainability and circular economy.  For this reason, Eurochile Foundation expects that this year it will be able to add 20 SMEs throughout the country so that they can obtain the benefits that Ecomondo 2023 brings with it.