The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises
The Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) presented a set of worthy cases, as part of its Annual General Assembly 2019, that consists of examples for society to emulate, advocating high values that can form alternative, different Greece. SEV through 11 tangible cases of people who stand out for their business activities and for their contribution to society, has shown that r different Greece is not only feasible but already present and what the country needs is these positive examples and the values that they inspire to become the rule, rather than an exception. Mr. Ioannis Polychronopoulos was included in these 11 cases for his life work and achievements. Mr. Polychronopoulos has been active in industrial waste management and environmental protection through the provision of services and marine equipment, and is the founder of Polyeco, Environmental Protection Engineering and ERMA FIRST, as well as a number of other pioneer companies. He is self-made and passionate about his work and the environment, he supports young people and new ideas and he has developed intense cultural and social activity over the past years both in Greece and abroad.
Since the beginning of his business activity about 50 years ago, Mr. Polychronopoulos believed in the importance of environmental protection and is now considered as one of the pioneers in Greece in the great endeavor towards the development of environmental consciousness of society as a whole.
Moreover, the values that define Mr. Polychronopoulos, as were mentioned during his interview for the Annual General Assembly of SEV, “Tomorrow-today: For a Greece of values and the worthy”, are love for the environment, persistence, and patience. Moreover, he added: “For us, the environment comes first, then our good name, and then profit.”
Finally, regarding the “means” that our country has to use to succeed in this new era, Mr. Polychronopoulos revealed that there are no “secret recipes”. It takes passion,monitoring developments, research, innovation and productivity. However, a prerequisite for making these efforts worthwhile, especially for a country like Greece where the majority of businesses are small and medium-sized, as he mentioned, are synergies and partnerships.