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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Breakfast with Ambassador, Before Crashing De Havilland Comet

John Elkington · 4 November 2014 · Leave a Comment

Insider's view of the Grand Hyatt
Insider’s view of the Grand Hyatt
Behind the scenes at the Ambassador's Residence
Behind the scenes at the Ambassador’s Residence: we walked on the grass
Back of the house
Back of the house, Fernando snapping
Fernando's car parked outside
Fernando’s car parked outside
Banners out front
Banners out front
Fernando, habitually green tied, at the wheel
Fernando, habitually green tied, at the wheel

Up bright and early for a breakfast session hosted by the UK Ambassador, Fiona Clouder, at her residence, with people from the mining and retail industries, and a number of others. Very engaged discussion.

Then Fernando and I drove across town to the Recycla recycling site, where it all started. A prototypical triple bottom line operation, with a clear environmental benefit, a workforce partly made up of former prison inmates, and a financial bottom line which, though precarious at times, is largely funded by corporate CSR budgets.

To get the business onto a truly sustainable financial footing, Chile would need to adopt its own version of the EU Extended Producer Liability framework, to ensure that those who made products took responsibility from cradle to  grave.

Truck outside the Recycla depot, letting sleeping dog lie
Truck outside the Recycla depot, letting sleeping dog lie
Tere takes my bag into the container which is Mission Control
Tere takes my bag into the container which is Mission Control
Two superheroes
Two superheroes
Circuit boards waiting to be recycled
Circuit boards waiting to be recycled
Green superhero
Green superhero
More debris
More debris
The recycling team
The recycling team
I'm encouraged to drop in
I’m encouraged to drop in
The Madonna of recycling?
The Madonna of recycling?
Tere and Fernando as we get ready to leave
Tere and Fernando as we get ready to leave

Next port of call was the Ibáñez Atkinson Foundation, where the lunch was co-hosted by Felipe Ibáñez and his wife Heather (née Atkinson) and members of their family.

It all started with a small tragedy, in terms of the size of the victim. As I walked in, I espied a brilliant red model of a DH88 De Havilland Comet, one of my favourite aircraft of all time.

De Havilland DH88 Comet
De Havilland DH88 Comet
The accidentally adapted DH88
The accidentally adapted DH88 – and looks as if the plane code is identical

When I asked about it, Felipe took me through to see it. Picked up, it was dropped (happily not by me), and at least one propellor came adrift.

When we looked at the plaque on the model’s base, it turned out that it was the plane flown by one of Felipe’s forebears, C.W.A. Scott – winner of the London to Sydney Air Race, the “the world’s greatest air race,” in 1934.

Scott flew a DH88 named ‘Grosvenor House,’ as is – by no means coincidentally – the model plane we partially crashed.

A fascinating glimpse into a very different part of Chilean society – and a wonderful lunch. We would meet Felipe and Heather later in the day at the Awards ceremony, though that is the subject of the next blog.

And then, after the lunch we headed across to Recycápolis Central to meet another part of the team – and to engage in another book signing session. wonderful people, great buzz.

We are obviously in the right place
We are obviously in the right place
Carol helps with the signing process
Carol helps with the signing process
Fernando is a badge fetishist, like me
Fernando is a badge fetishist, like me – I have bags of these things
Backing to the future
Backing into the future

 

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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