BID-FEMSA Award 2024: Meet the Finalist Teams for Their Innovative Solutions in Water, Sanitation, and Solid Waste

As part of an ongoing effort to improve quality of life and address environmental challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and FEMSA are hosting the 2024 edition of the BID-FEMSA Award. This prestigious program aims to recognize and reward the most innovative solutions in water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors, fostering creativity and ingenuity across the region.

Since its inception in 2009, the BID-FEMSA Award has highlighted entrepreneurs, organizations, and projects that have achieved significant advancements and measurable results in improving access to and quality of these essential services.

In this edition, from over 207 applications, nine teams were selected as finalists. Their projects offer innovative solutions and embody the best of creativity and commitment to sustainable development.

Key Categories and Topics

The BID-FEMSA Award 2024 is organized into three key categories:

1. Water:
   • Disinfection systems for rural water services.
   • Reduction of water losses and network management optimization.
   • Providing safe and permanent potable water sources.
   • Mitigating the impact of extreme events on water supply services.
   • Enhancing the climate resilience of water sources against drought-related extreme events.
   • Accessing data for vulnerability assessments and water security plans.
2. Sanitation:
   • Sanitation technologies for peri-urban areas and informal settlements.
   • Reuse of wastewater and sludge for boosting local productivity.
   • Nature-based systems for wastewater treatment.
3. Solid Waste:
   • Prevention and reduction of household waste generation.
   • Smart and sustainable waste collection systems.
   • Innovative income-generation mechanisms to enable cost recovery in waste management.
   • Waste management innovations for rural and hard-to-access areas.

Finalist Teams

Water

• Água 4.0 - IoT Solution with AI for Operational Efficiency in Water Treatment Plants:
  Utilizing machine learning and cloud computing, this solution automates chemical dosing in water treatment plants, offering a low-cost, accessible technology for resource-limited areas.
• Lata de Agua - Treating Rain as a Vital Resource:
  This project harvests and stores rainwater to provide vulnerable communities in Venezuela with water for seven months each year, accompanied by educational programs for climate change adaptation.
• Poseidon by Ainwater:
  A SaaS platform leveraging IoT, AI, and Big Data to monitor and optimize water systems in real time, offering preventive solutions and enhancing operational efficiency in the sanitation sector.

Sanitation

• BIZU Platform:
  Empowers field technicians with tools for mapping and monitoring sanitation systems via smartphones, integrating real-time data into dynamic maps and dashboards for effective management.
• Green Engineering - Ecological Wastewater Treatment Systems for Rural and Peri-Urban Communities:
  Floating natural filters reduce operational costs and improve water quality, allowing treated water to be reused for agriculture in Panama, Peru, and Colombia.
• Río Azul - Biological, Circular, and Sustainable Wastewater Treatment:
  Employs artificial wetlands with local microorganisms to purify wastewater at various scales, transforming it into a reusable resource and reducing environmental impact.

Solid Waste

• Blau App/Web:
  Digitizes waste management with mobile and web tools, optimizing collection, automating reporting, and reducing environmental impact through real-time monitoring and transparency.
• Panambi Recicla:
  Transforms organic waste into high-quality compost, reducing landfill accumulation and greenhouse gas emissions while promoting environmental education.
• Huella Verde - Reusable Cups Instead of Disposables:
  Implements reusable tableware in food courts, reducing plastic pollution, creating jobs, and fostering sustainable consumption practices.

Next Steps, Awards, and Recognition

The finalist teams will participate in a virtual bootcamp to refine their proposals. Workshops on value propositions, business models, finances for start-ups, and pitch presentations will equip them with tools to enhance their projects.

Winners of the BID-FEMSA 2024 Award will receive a $15,000 prize and an opportunity to present their projects to an international audience of experts and potential investors.

Driving Innovation for Sustainable Development

The Inter-American Development Bank works tirelessly to improve the quality of life in Latin America and the Caribbean, supporting health, education, and infrastructure through financing and technical assistance. FEMSA Foundation, for its part, has spent more than a decade creating positive impacts on people and communities through social investment projects focused on sustainability.

Both institutions are committed to developing innovative solutions to address the most pressing challenges in the water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors. By launching the 2024 edition of the IDB-FEMSA Award, they aim to encourage the creation of proposals that tackle these issues and promote a paradigm shift toward more sustainable and resilient resource management.

Long-Term Impact

The impact of the IDB-FEMSA Award goes beyond recognition and the monetary prize. The awarded solutions have demonstrated a lasting effect on communities, improving access to essential services, promoting environmental sustainability, and fostering economic development. By encouraging innovation and creativity, the IDB-FEMSA Award contributes to building a more sustainable and equitable future for Latin America and the Caribbean.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) aims to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 1959, the IDB works with the region's public sector to design and implement innovative solutions that drive sustainable and inclusive development. By leveraging financing, technical expertise, and knowledge, it promotes growth and well-being in 26 countries. Visit our website: https://www.iadb.org/en

About FEMSA

FEMSA is a company that generates economic and social value through its businesses and institutions, striving to be the best employer and neighbor in the communities where it operates. FEMSA participates in the retail industry through its Proximity Americas Division, which includes OXXO, a chain of small-format stores, along with other related retail formats, and Proximity Europe, encompassing Valora, its European retail unit that operates convenience and foodvenience stores.

In retail, FEMSA also operates through its Health Division, which includes pharmacies and related activities, as well as Digital@FEMSA, which includes Spin by OXXO and Spin Premia, among other digital financial service initiatives. In the beverage industry, FEMSA operates Coca-Cola FEMSA, the world's largest Coca-Cola bottler by sales volume. Additionally, FEMSA is involved in the logistics and distribution industry through FEMSA Strategic Businesses, which also provides point-of-sale refrigeration and plastic solutions to its companies and external clients.

Through its Business Units, FEMSA employs more than 350,000 collaborators in 18 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones MILA Pacific Alliance Sustainability Index, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index, and the S&P/BMV Total Mexico ESG Index, among other indices that assess its sustainability performance.

About Tekuoia

Tekuoia is a B Corporation committed to fostering a human and regenerative economy. Through open innovation challenges, hackathons, bootcamps, and other programs, we support solutions that help individuals, companies, and organizations build a better world. Our goal is to promote impact-driven businesses that address the world's most pressing challenges by designing innovation processes and facilitating the transformation toward practices with positive social, environmental, and economic impact.

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