Mario Delannays Araya, Regional Secretary of Environment, Bío Bío
The environmental authority announced that one of the commitments of his tenure is to have a Prevention and Atmospheric Decontamination Plan for the Greater Concepción, which will be the second greatest in the country and will incorporate electromobility, more cycle lanes, bus lanes and vehicular restriction, whose objective is to reduce particulate material levels in the air on critical winter episodes.
One of the emphasis of management by Bío Bío’s Regional Secretary of Environment, Mario Delannays Araya, is environmental education, “which is the core idea that couples the Ministry’s different themes and fields of action in the region.”
Therefore, assured Delanays, the diffusion of actions in terms of waste management, circular economy, municipal environmental certification, air quality, climate change, and conservation of natural resources and biodiversity, is a relevant aspect, given that the job “must be done with communities as a group and in a participative way.”
How is air quality in the Bío Bío Region and how is the work done in this area?
Regarding atmospheric decontamination plans, we must specify it’s not just heater replacement, but it also has three core areas: transportation, households and industries, with environmental management being done on these areas, and the main goal being the reduction of particulate material in an appreciable way and within determined periods.
This work also has a strong educational component, as it’s important for children since an early age to know that making fire ina bad way inside the house means pollution for the rest of the community, so future generations are key in this decontamination process.
This is a job we have done fundamentally in Los Ángeles commune, and our next commitment is to have an Atmospheric Decontamination Plan for the Greater Concepción, which will be the second largest in the country and will give us the chance to incorporate elements like electromobility, cycle lanes, bus lanes, vehicular restriction and environmental education, and whose main objetive is to reduce particulate material levels during critical winter episodes.
Does this plan also incorporate new requirements for industries?
Indeed; for example, we were able to publish the regulation on sulfur dioxide emissions applied to thermoelectric power stations, because we have a national commitment to become carbon neutral and eliminate those stations in Coronel within periods already determined.
What are the fields of work in terms of circular economy, especially on waste management?
Today we have the Law no. 20.920, the Extended Producer’s Responsibility Law (REP), which is the main pillar from a normative point of view, where we already have some recycling goals in terms of tyres; we also finished public enquiries for packaging, soon to be followed by oils, lubricants, electronic devices and batteries.
While we publish regulations and decrees that establish the goals, we were able, in a regional level, to create the Regional Recycling Program along with the 33 municipalities in the Bío Bío Region, which is about establishing eco-sites where communities can start recycling more efficiently, because there wasn’t any complete management that made sure that all materials were being recycled, ended at their correct destination or transformed into another product to be available in the market.
This program began last October and we are establishing these eco-sites in different communes thanks to funding from the Regional Government. Once again the Bío Bío Region will be the pioneer in deploying recycling systems in all its communes, helping us to make indicators, make volumes for higher prices, integrate base recyclers and build an ecosystem for circular economy issues.
What is the job being done in terms of organic waste?
One and a half months ago, we finished a public inquiry on the Organic Waste Policy and, just like we did for the REP law, we have national and regional policies, and some initiatives in Santa Juana (it has a composting plant), Talcahuano, Curanilahue and Los Ángeles.
What is Concepción’s Project for a Recycling Environmental Education Center made of?
We decided to do this project in Concepción after the disgrace suffered by the Bío Bío Recyclers Union due to a fire. With this initiative we dared and began to request support from public and private actors that helped the construction of this environmental education centre, where children, youth and school delegations in general could know, step by step, what a base recycler does, appreciate their job, and contribute to the environment and society.
How can the Bío Bío Region consolidate as a leader in terms of environmental management, circular economy and conservation?
We have a quite interesting deployment with many challenges, such as certifying municipalities and help them have an environmental management team or department. We also certify schools, in fact we are number one in Chile for environmental certified educational institutions.
Besides, we have projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), whose objectives are, for example, preserving wetlands, and protecting species like the queule, darwin’s fox and huemul.
Besides many initiatives funded by the National Fund for Regional Development (FNDR) in the Bío Bío Region, like the one seeking to restore lakes in the Arauco Province and the ecologic restoration of the Cayumanque ecosystem; so we are working on all levels, where the main pillars are education and environmental spreading, governance, public enquiries, and a lot of territorial work with communities and guilds.
After the cancellation of COP25 in Chile, how are you going to continue the work on climate action from the Bío Bío Region?
There was clearly a stop after the cancellation of COP25, but this doesn’t mean the job has been stopped; on the contrary, we have to check industrial and economic zones in general, associations and their production means, besides working on restoring native forest and preserving some endangered species.
Also, there is something pending and that is finishing the work done alongside Bío Bío Community Leaders, who have become change agents by themselves, in very important themes such as electromobility, circular economy, recycling, biodiversity, conservation, water and drought.
We are very happy for this milestone, because we have identified 500 entrepreneurships or actions tending to mitigate climate change, so the job still goes on because we must assume our commitments and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon neutral Bío Bío is definitely a mid-term goal we want to achieve to become a sustainable region.
What is the job you’ve been doing alongside indigenous communities in the region?
We are permanently working with indigenous communities through environmental education and local participation. For example, in the Arauco Province, we have a strong program about the restoration of lakes Lanalhue and Lleu-Lleu, initiatives where we’ve been lucky to incorporate traditional knowledge and active participation from communities, in themes related to limits, territoriality and good ancestral practices. Feedback has been important for the progress of this program.