By 2030, Codelco has publicly signed six sustainability commitments. One of them, specifically on the circular economy, involves recycling 65% of non-hazardous industrial waste.

In this context, the El Teniente Division had set itself the goal of reaching 48.1% this year, which was successfully achieved and even surpassed during the month of June, when the figure, during the last measurement, reached 53.8%.

“We have many examples of how we are implementing the circular economy at El Teniente and transforming waste into raw materials and energy. We are five points above the goal that had been set and this shows that it is possible to valorise waste, so reaching 65% by 2030 is feasible,” says Eric San Martín, head of the Circular Economy Unit at El Teniente.

To achieve this goal, San Martín is clear in pointing out that there are also a series of challenges, such as the correct segregation of waste at source and also innovation and creativity as key factors: “We have to find a use for waste, for rubble, which today may seem unthinkable, but we have to do these tests. If we don't do them, we are not going to solve the problems, so we are starting out, in a modest and orderly way, with a scientific method, to find solutions.”

Thus, to date, Codelco El Teniente Division has recovered, through various initiatives and contracts, 16 tons of cardboard; 30 tons of bottles; 500 tons of end-of-life tires (ENDT); 46.6 tons of copper cables; 6 thousand tons of ferrous scrap and the installation of more than 120 clean points both on the surface and inside the mine.

A pioneering division in the circular economy

The acting manager of Sustainability and External Affairs at El Teniente, Héctor Castillo, emphasized that the division “stands out for having created the first Circular Economy Directorate of the Corporation and we have seen the good development in recent years in this area, with concrete initiatives in various areas, both in the mine and the plants and the foundry.”

However, although this year's percentage has already been reached, Castillo points out that energies and efforts will not be relaxed or diminished.

And it was precisely this work that was recognized at the first corporate seminar on the circular economy, hosted by El Teniente and attended by senior executives of the Corporation, who highlighted the progress made, in addition to representatives from all Codelco divisions.

“We are grateful for the demonstration carried out by the Circular Economy Unit and the El Teniente Division, who showed us in situ, at the Industrial Waste Management Center (CMRIS), what they do and the initiatives, which were also a trigger for the other divisions,” stated Bernardita Mancilla, corporate director of Circular Economy and Responsible Production.