JAVIERA MATELUNA CUADRA
15 companies with innovative solutions were selected to travel to Dubai, where they will present the work the country has done to respond to the current climate crisis.
This Thursday, November 30, the United Nations Conference on Climate Change COP28 begins. Chilean companies will participate in the event, all of which have been selected by ProChile.
After a hard-fought process that included 63 applications, 15 initiatives were finally selected, which stand out for developing innovative solutions to face the effects of the climate crisis. These range from technologies that biodisintegrate scrap metal, devices that detect forest fires, and even the manufacture of zero-emission mining vehicles.
«Although the selection was not easy, it has been good news to see that the climate change solutions sector, as an exportable supply, has been developing and growing over the years,» says María Pilar Jiménez, head of the ProChile Inclusive Export Development Department.
Here are four of the 15 national companies that will arrive at COP28 to show the world the work being done by Chilean society to provide an effective response to the current climate crisis.
Mercado Circular
This is a technological innovation that makes it possible to eliminate single-use plastic waste and encourage the consumption of refill products in reusable containers. This, through refill machines that refill reusable containers.
The marketing manager of Mercado Circular, Carolina Carrera, mentions that reaching COP28 «is an important recognition of the management we have been doing since 2017 when this project began in Valparaíso, which aimed at the circular economy, through technological innovation for the development of sustainable refill machines».
In relation to his participation in the summit, Carrera explains that, «as part of this delegation, Mercado Circular is going to show its model and also learn about what is being done in the world to move from the current linear economy to the circular one».
In addition to these companies, Herco Equipments, Kilimo, Instacrops, Remote Waters, Aintech, Reborn Electric Motors, Photio, Lader Energy, T Phite, Suncast and Drovid will also attend COP28.
Bioelements
This is a Chilean startup that produces sustainable alternatives to plastic, cardboard and paper packaging thanks to the development of BioE resin, which is composed of biobased and biodegradable material.
«BioE resin allows us to produce a versatile, biodegradable and circular material, capable of decomposing in landfills, landfills, in nature, even in the sea, within a period of three to 20 months,» explains the CEO and founder of Bioelements, Ignacio Parada.
Regarding the participation of this company in COP28, Parada says that «it will focus on how we are promoters of a concrete solution to the problem of climate change, through the development of innovative and biodegradable packaging in all types of environments, based on science».
In addition, the startup will seek to take advantage of the summit to reach other places on the planet. «We have certifications from laboratories and academic institutions in the EU, United States, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Brazil, so we want to continue validating our formulations and products in more countries.»
Rudanac
This startup from Antofagasta stands out for having developed a technology that allows non-recyclable metal scrap to be biodisintegrated. As? Thanks to microorganisms that feed on the metal without generating contaminating waste.
The idea arose from the problem of treating non-recycled metal waste. «Currently, there are mitigation and/or elimination measures to treat waste, such as plastics, tires, bags and others, but there is no method that is capable of controlling the generation of non-recyclable metal waste,» mentions the biotechnologist and founder of Rudanac, Nadac Reales.
With the aim of facing this problem, Reales explains that «we developed a unique and sustainable process worldwide, which allows hybrid steels to be revalued in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, without generating greenhouse gases,» explains Reales.
The biotechnologist anticipates that they have held talks with companies representing the Arab Emirates to begin piloting the technology, so COP28 will mean expanding opportunities. «We are very happy and excited to participate in COP 28 and to be able to have a rapprochement with companies interested in said territory,» he says.
Source: www.cooperativaciencia.cl