AHK Chile4

One of the problems Chile is currently facing relates to the low recycling rate of municipal organic waste. It is mainly disposed in landfills, releasing a large amount of greenhouse gases (GHG), losing many nutrients and in many cases also resulting in high collection and transport costs for the municipalities.

AHK Chile has been supporting legislation on circular economy in Chile since 2016 as part of the program „Export Initiative Environmental Technologies“. The focus throughout the projects has been on capacity building, networking between the various stakeholders, extended producer responsibility and, since 2020, the sustainable recycling of organic waste.

As part of the project, German expertise was used to build up expertise at municipal level in Chile, which contributed to the development of municipal action plans and was needed to implement the objectives of the national strategy for organic waste. At the request of the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, a study was carried out, specifically in three municipalities of the Maule region, to record the current status quo of waste management, existing infrastructure and to identify the main actors. This provided the basis for supporting the municipalities in the preparation of the action plans within the framework of a technical consultancy. In parallel, virtual public-private working group meetings were also organised with the participation of the German experts, in which representatives of all Chilean municipalities could take part. Within the framework of these meetings, the results of the advisory activities of the three municipalities were presented and discussed, so that this know-how will also serve other municipalities in the development of their action plans.

In addition, three virtual study tours were organized to enable an exchange of know-how with German municipalities that have successfully implemented waste management systems. The site visits led to a better visualisation of the implemented solutions and enabled a direct exchange with technology providers and municipal representatives.