The Eni Award 2024 awards ceremony took place on Tuesday 15 October 2024 at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, Italy, in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Eni Giuseppe Zafarana and the CEO of Eni Claudio Descalzi. The Special Mention “Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship” was awarded to three start-ups that particularly stood out for the innovation and sustainability of the entrepreneurial projects proposed, including RarEarth, a young innovative company incubated in I3P.
Now in its sixteenth edition, the award is considered an international point of reference for research in the fields of energy and the environment and demonstrates the importance that scientific research and technological innovation have for Eni and its commitment to promoting sustainability and access to energy, in accordance with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Since its inception in 2008, there have been more than 11,000 nominations. The Scientific Commission, which evaluated the research submitted, is composed of scientists from the most advanced research institutes worldwide and over the years has seen the participation of 6 Nobel Prize winners.
Innovation for sustainability
Also this year Eni, through Joule, its business school, has therefore assigned the Special Mention "Eni Joule for Entrepreneurship", intended for innovative start-ups, university spin-offs and entrepreneurial teams to promote the application, valorization and transfer of technologies while promoting the creation of a sustainable innovation ecosystem. The award was presented to Enrico Pizzi, Co-Founder & CEO of RarEarth, in the presence of Giuseppe Scellato, President of I3P.
In addition to RarEarth, a start-up based in Milan that has developed an innovative chemical process for recycling rare earths from electric motors of two-wheeled vehicles, the mention was also awarded on equal terms to HBI - Human Based Innovation, a young company from Bolzano that has developed and patented a technology for the circular treatment of sewage sludge, and to SLY, a startup from Santa Caterina dello Ionio (Catanzaro) that has developed cutting-edge AI technologies for the ultra-early identification and classification of forest fires.
"We are honored to have received this prestigious recognition from the Eni Award", commented Enrico Pizzi, Co-Founder & CEO of RarEarth. "Our entrepreneurial project aims to address one of the most critical challenges in the raw materials sector: the sustainable management of rare earths, essential resources for modern technologies and for the energy and technological transition we are experiencing. Through the recycling of these essential raw materials, we want to make Europe a strategic country in the supply of natural resources, reducing dependence on imports and promoting self-sufficiency. This award represents recognition of the impact we are trying to achieve by building a more sustainable future. It is only the beginning of our journey: we are determined to continue innovating, convinced that the recycling of rare earths will be increasingly central to the ecological transition and to the economic competitiveness of our country."
