Contents
People in our country are ready for separate waste collection. They just need help understanding sorting features. What are the largest manufacturers and enterprises doing for this?
For several years now, the topic of environmental protection has been on the front pages of major publications. Experts and environmental activists are unanimous in their opinion that in the fight against the growing volume of MSW (municipal solid waste) it is necessary to act as a united front. Otherwise, ecological catastrophe cannot be avoided.
In 2020, 48,5 million tons of waste ended up in garbage containers throughout our country. On average, one inhabitant of the country produces 450 kg of garbage per year. Of the total amount of MSW, 36,1 million tons were sent to landfills and landfills. 24,1 thousand tons were spent on incineration, and the percentage of processing still does not exceed 7%. But in the near future, everything should change. The “garbage” reform, which started working in 2019, will transform the entire waste management system. By 2030, at least 36% of MSW should be sent for recycling.
Residents of the country can help achieve global national goals. According to the latest survey of the Foundation “Public Opinion” (FOM), our country’s respondents are firm in their determination to study the intricacies of separate waste collection (SW). The survey involved 1,5 thousand people over the age of 18. The vast majority – 87% of respondents – admitted that they are ready to throw away bottles, packs and glass in different containers. However, there is no suitable infrastructure near their place of residence yet. This reason was voiced by 71% of our countries.
While the state is looking for ways to install RSO containers for the convenience of residents, representatives of the business community have already moved from words to deeds. Large enterprises and corporations create large-scale projects that help to figure out why and how to properly sort their garbage. How do companies draw the attention of residents to the issue of separate waste collection? Imagine a number of organizations that have a lot to learn from.
“Beach without waste”, Coca-Cola
Coca‑Cola has been implementing “green” initiatives in our country for several years now. In 2021, the company decided to take up the beaches of Novorossiysk. Every year, thousands of our countries choose this city to relax with friends and family. To make the city even more attractive for tourists, Coca‑Cola in our country launched a project called “Beach without Waste” as part of the “Share with Us” environmental program.
Containers for RSO have been installed on city beaches. In three months, we managed to collect and send for processing more than 3 tons of waste. But the initiative did not end there. On September 29, an interactive exposition “Beach without Waste” or Zero Waste Lab opened in Novorossiysk. By visiting it, residents and guests of the city can learn about the rules for sorting waste, an environmentally friendly lifestyle and the problem of recycling in our country. There was also an installation that demonstrates the stages of waste recycling. The exposition was also equipped with recreation areas and recycling points with a bonus program to motivate visitors.
Facebook post by user cocacola.russia
“Together with the administration of Novorossiysk, we have opened a new multimedia space called Beach Without Waste. For Coca-Cola in our country, this project is part of the global strategy “World without waste”: we have set ourselves the goal of moving to fully recyclable packaging by 2025, and by 2030 to ensure that 100% of the packaging put on the market is collected and recycled. We believe that any packaging can and should be recycled and reused. As part of the “Waste Free Beach” project, we are creating a convenient infrastructure for this in Novorossiysk, telling local residents and guests of the resort town about how to properly sort waste, drawing their attention to the problems of caring for the environment, ”explained director for external relations, communications and corporate social responsibility of the Coca-Cola company in our country and Belarus Elena Kovaleva.
In the first year after the launch of the Zero Waste Beach in Novorossiysk, the company plans to collect and send for recycling more than 16 tons of plastic, metal and glass. Urban furniture made from recycled plastic appeared in public places. In total, 60 containers for separate collection of waste, 16 information stands, 20 benches, 12 sun loungers, 2 swings were installed.
For the residents of Novorossiysk and guests of the city, monthly master classes will be held to help increase the level of environmental education in the region. Novorossiysk is the second city in our country where ****Coca-Cola has implemented the concept of “City Without Waste”. For the first time, the Zero Waste Lab exhibition space appeared in Kazan in 2020.
Museum of Sea Containers, Synergy+
The cultural capital was replenished with a new educational facility. In June 2021, a project called “Museum “PRO Trash”” was opened in St. Petersburg. The idea of a socially oriented startup came to the leaders of the Synergy+ holding.
The museum complex is located not indoors, but in sea containers 12 meters high. The total area of the museum is 1000 square meters. m. The main feature of the project is mobility. The container building can be dismantled and reassembled. This function allows the creators to transport the exhibition complex to different cities of our country and even the country. Engineers have also worked on the insulation system. It allows you to maintain a certain temperature inside the room, regardless of the season outside.
Visitors can get acquainted with the main exposition of the museum “From ancient times through the USSR to the modern world.” The creators of the exhibition recreated the life of a Soviet apartment, invented garbage sculptures, and placed multi-colored bags on the walls. And all this for the sake of one goal – to change the usual view of people on garbage. Also in the complex there are:
- scientific laboratory;
- lecture hall;
- eco goods store;
- summer open terrace;
- ecotechnopark.
As told founder of the world’s first interactive educational exhibition complex PRO trash German Khilchenko, the main task is to popularize and educate the culture of waste management from an early age.
“We want to instill a simple idea in people. Waste is not trash. This is the raw material for the production of valuable products,” Khilchenko summed up.
Ecobaskets and playgrounds, P&G and Magnit
Each company has its own way of communicating the importance of separate waste collection. Procter & Gamble and retail chain Magnit joined forces by installing 100 eco-baskets to collect soft packaging from shampoo and hair conditioner refills, liquid soap and used toothbrushes.
A network of eco-baskets appeared in Magnit Cosmetic in Moscow, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg. The collected packaging will be sent for recycling. Ballpoint pens will be made from toothbrushes, and soft packaging will become the basis for the production of tiles or benches.
Also, as part of the partnership between the two companies, two more playgrounds made of recycled plastic will open by the end of 2021: in Kazan and Orel. Cities have become leaders in open voting as part of the Give Plastics a Second Life program. Recycled sites have already appeared in Krasnodar, Dzerzhinsk and Arkhangelsk. Musician Dima Bilan visited the opening ceremony in Krasnodar.
Playgrounds are created from recycled materials, which are collected by buyers through the established network of vending machines to receive plastic containers. A fence, a sandbox, benches, a covering, bins, as well as part of the children’s town itself are made of recycled plastic.
Magnetic board game, “The Tenth Kingdom”
Children should be told about environmental problems and separate waste collection from an early age. It is at a young age that it is important to instill environmental consciousness with simple and understandable actions: throw garbage only in the trash, turn off the light and water in time, do not tear plants, sort household waste, help homeless animals. And all this should happen in a playful way.
This principle was adhered to by the manufacturer of games and toys “The Tenth Kingdom”. The company has released a magnetic board game “Learning to sort garbage”. As the description says, this is an ecological game for a child from three years old. It has:
- magnetic fields-tanks for sorting garbage – 5 pcs.;
- magnets with the image of various garbage – 60 pcs.;
- hint brochure.
The game will be useful not only for children, but also for parents. Together with your child, you can distribute more than 60 types of garbage into five containers, separating waste into plastic, paper, glass, organic waste and metal. If you have any difficulties with game sorting, then a hint brochure will help you cope with them.
Magnetic board game “Learning to sort garbage” is not just a game. This is a complete tutorial from which you can learn not only how to sort, but also what happens to the waste next.