News archive
2010 Clean energy trade mission to Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia
September 2-10, 2010 MetaSus took a group of 12 Dutch companies in renewable energy and energy efficiency on a trade mission to Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia. In all three countries the entrepreneurs were met with keen interest to explore opportunities in biomass / bio fuels, waste 2 energy, solar and wind energy as well as energy efficiency. The Dutch participants included Biddle, ECN, Eltomation, Eneco Energy Trade, Fugro, GMSP, KEMA, KOZ Products, Priva, Ra Solar, Thermaflex and UT Innovation. In Colombia, the entrepreneurs were joined by the Energy and Climate Section of Agentschap NL which is planning to support local initiatives in biomass. All in all, the Dutch mission delegates had individual encounters with 250 local entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. On top of this, in Costa Rica a seminar was organized by the Chamber of Industries with almost 100 local businesspeople attending and in Colombia the group hooked up to the fifth Conference on Eco-efficiency and Industrial Competitiveness, organized by the Colombian Association of Industries. The mission was organized together with the Dutch umbrella organization DE Koepel, in the framework of the CPA program of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency and with active support of the Dutch Embassies in Costa Rica and Colombia as well as the Consulate in Panama.
Colombian/Dutch team redesigns Colombian Recycling Decree
In the week 24-28 August Colombian and Dutch waste experts tour the Netherlands in search of waste recycling options applicable in Colombia. Ports of call include the waste incinerator in Harlingen, the OMRIN Mechanical Biological Treatment plant in Oude Haske, the Twence waste facility and a plastics recycling plant. The goal is to identify feasible recycling options for Colombian Decree 838 on waste utilization and disposal. Team members are Mrs. Magda Correal and Mrs. Angela Osorio of the Colombian company MAG Consultoría, Mr. Frans Lamers of DNV GL Energy and Mr. Herman Huisman of Rijkswaterstaat Leefomgeving. The project is supported by the Inter-American Development Bank. It is a spin-off activity of the ongoing Partners for International Business / Government-to-Government program on waste between the Netherlands and Colombia. In December the team will deliver the new Decree to the Ministry of Housing in Colombia, taking the country an important step further on its path towards sustainability.
Photo clockwise, starting upper left: Mr. Herman Huisman, Mr. Frans Lamers, Mrs. Magda Correal and Mrs. Angela Osorio.
Dutch-Colombian Waste (water) Business in 2016
2016 again offers good opportunities for the Dutch private sector in waste and waste water management to gain a foothold in Colombia or to strengthen business relations. The calendar of events reads as follows:
- 8-12 February: Road show "Integral Solid Waste Management - the Dutch way" to Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Medellín (together with ANDESCO and Findeter)
- 29 May - 3 June: Incoming mission to the Netherlands including a visit to IFAT Munich
- 24 - 26 August: ACODAL AIDIS Latin American Congress in Cartagena
The Partners for International Business Project: "Waste and Waste Water Management Colombia" continues. Participants are now VDL Translift, Wequips/Bollegraaf, Hofstetter/AWT and GMT.
Coming up: Dutch Cleantech events in 2022
Check out the cleantech events to be held in the Netherlands in 2022:
- Plastics Recycling Show Europe, Amsterdam RAI Exhibition Center, 22-23 June
- The Energy Trade Fair (Vakbeurs Energie) will be held 11 to 13 October 2022. This event will take place at the Brabanthallen in Den Bosch.
- The Recycling Trade Fair 2022 will be held at the exhibition center in the city of Gorinchem 15 to 17 November. The Expert Group Waste Management of ENVAQUA will be present with a booth.
For more information on these events, check out the linked web sites or send an email to keesman<at>metasus.nl.
Maturity Matrix on Waste and Circular Economy presented at ISWA Conference
On Wednesday October 6, 2021, Bert Keesman of MetaSus presented his paper on the "Maturity Matrix for Waste and Circular Economy applied in eight countries of Latin America" at the ISWA World Congress on Waste Management in Athens, Greece. The abstract is included below.
ABSTRACT
The waste management sector at a local, national or regional scale tends to develop along clearly recognizable milestones. The first milestone is when waste actually gets collected, another one is the emergence of recycling activities, yet another one is the implementation of EPR systems, etc. For anyone planning to interact with the sector, be it as a salesperson of products or services, an NGO working on awareness building or a governmental agency prioritizing improvement actions, it is important to know the stage of development of the waste/CE sector. This is where the “Maturity Matrix for Waste and Circular Economy” (MMWCE) comes in. It was developed as part of a market study on waste/CE in eight countries of Latin America. It contains general country indicators, plus quantitative and qualitative indicators on the waste/CE sector. The MMWCE was applied to Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. The results offer a user-friendly insight in the stage of development of the waste/CE sector. If one wishes to work on EPR systems in Latin America, Chile and Colombia already have a strong foundation. Chile is advanced in creating public awareness, maybe other countries can benefit. And Ecuador needs support in financing the waste system and in information management. Such conclusions can be drawn through one glimpse at the MMWCE bar charts. No doubt the Maturity Matrix can still be improved. Suggestions for version 2:0 are welcome.
Click here to download the full paper.