Certificate of contribution to CO2 emissions savings
In the 1980s, scientific evidence of global climate change and its consequences became a growing concern among scientists, politicians and the public. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Convention defined a series of obligations for all countries, mostly concerning the development and implementation of a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As the response from developed countries (which are the main “producers” of greenhouse gases) turned out to be very poor, the Berlin Mandate was presented in 1995, establishing a negotiations process in order to strengthen commitment to UNFCCC for the period after 2000. This process finally resulted in the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) in 1997.
The Kyoto Protocol (KP) is a very important step towards limiting the emissions of 6 greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N20, HFCs, PFCs and SF6), as legally binding commitment was specified for the first time. Under KP, developed countries have special obligations: during the first commitment period (i.e. from 2008 to 2012), they needed to lower their total emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 5% compared to 1990 levels. The agreed goals were differentiated between the developed countries (e.g. the U.S. was obliged to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 7%, the European Union (EU) as a whole by 8%, Japan and Canada by 6%), while the same principle was applied within the European Union among member states in accordance with an internally adopted agreement on dividing the obligations. Recently, the U.S. pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol, to the frustration of the entire global community.
The Republic of Serbia, while still not a KP signatory, is following the effects of climate change and is working to decrease emissions of the 6 gases together with the rest of the world.
The experiences of EU countries, which adopted the principle of “extended producer responsibility” (EPR), showed that a significant reduction in the amount of CO2 emissions was possible by introducing a sustainable system of primary selection of packaging waste at the place of its creation, as well as through recycling, i.e. reusing packaging waste. The separation of packaging waste directly decreases the amount of material deposited in unsanitary landfills, which are the majority in the territory of the Republic of Serbia.
Citizens of the Republic of Serbia generate about 2.3 billion tonnes of waste a year, of which in 2014 packaging waste accounted for about 320 thousand tonnes.
Sekopak, which represents over 40% of the Serbian economy, had a share of 65% in total CO2 emission savings (7,831 tonnes of CO2) in 2013, and a share of 67% (10,763 tonnes of CO2) in 2014.
From this it is clear that the rising trend of CO2 emissions savings, observed through the prism of the EPR system, can be secured only by continuing and intensifying the separate collection of packaging waste at its place of creation, to which all citizens of the Republic of Serbia can contribute, as well as all other entities within the packaging waste management system, above all the responsible system operators, through compulsory investments in the primary selection system.
On 16 September 2015, Sekopak will hold the “Green Economy and Recycling Infrastructure” in the conference centre of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Belgrade, in cooperation with the Danas Conference Centre and with the support of the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, at which the CO2 calculator will be presented for the first time.
Fulfilment of national goals
Sekopak is obliged on behalf of its clients to provide packaging waste management in accordance with the Regulation on Determining the Plan of Reduction of Packaging Waste for the Period from 2014 to 2019 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, no. 144/2014) which sets the general goal of 38% of all packaging waste in 2015 to be reused in accordance with the Contract on Assuming Obligations Based on the Law on Packaging and Packaging Waste, as well as specific goals for the recycling of individual packaging materials. In this regard, we are able to confirm to all clients that Sekopak’s performance in 2015, as of today, successfully meets the national goals for reusing packaging waste in 2015, as can be seen in the table below. Table – Fulfilment of national goals for reusing packaging waste – January to August 2015
We would like to say thank you for trust placed in us and we look forward to continued successful cooperation.
“Čistunko” Eco-Festival
This year Sekopak also supported the Eco-Festival held as part of the Eco Regions of Serbia – Banat and Šumadija project, which is implemented by the company A.S.A through its educational programme titled “Čistunko”.
Sekopak participated in the festivals in Batočina on 22 May 2015 and in Topola on 5 June 2016, where the final eco-festivals were held and the “Eco Grand Prix” awards were handed out.
Almost 1000 children from schools in 30 municipalities in Serbia entered their artworks in A.S.A’s competition called “Best Čistunko Mascot”. The awards this year were given to schools, not individuals.
The goal of the festival is to develop in children of all ages a positive relationship with the environment, cleanliness and health, while raising awareness of culture and the environment, through creativity, fun and socialising. The purpose is to change the long-term behaviour of our younger generations and for them to transfer their knowledge and habits to their parents.
Sekopak participated in this cultural event together with its promo team who showed the children how to separate packaging waste. The companies Bambi and Knjaz Miloš, supported the festival with a donation of their products, while Sekopak distributed books to primary schools. Eco-Festival was also supported by many public personalities, such as the children’s writers Ljubivoje Ršumović, Moša Odalović and Minja Subota, and the actors Boda Ninković, Manda and Raša Popov, amongst many others.
The Eco-Olympiad of the Olympic Committee of Serbia, supported by Coca-Cola, Sekopak and the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade, was held in several towns and cities in Serbia, including: Mali Zvornik, Novi Pazar, Subotica and Pirot.
The goal of the Eco-Olympiad is to develop an Olympic spirit and instil the importance of looking after the environment in primary school children through sport, fun and participation in various workshops.
Part of the programme also included the planting of 5 trees in selected schools. The trees represent the 5 Olympic values which the young should adopt in their everyday lives: joy of effort, fair play, respect, pursuit of excellence and balance of spirit, body and mind. Coca-Cola gifted footballs, basketballs and handballs to schools with the aim of encouraging pupils to take up sport.
Various sports players, judo players, shooters, athletes and others took part in the Eco Olympiad Playground environmental workshop together with the school children. The slogan of this action was “My School Yard”.
The main idea of this action was to tidy up the school yard by raising young people’s awareness of recycling and waste separation.
For this purpose, Sekopak donated recyclable waste sorting bins to schools.
The Nordic Business Alliance in Serbia organised the educational event “Nordic Design and Innovation” on 1 June 2015 in the Radisson Blue Hotel.
Sekopak participated as a member of the Nordic Alliance. IKEA, Telenor, Volvo, DSV, Triplan, Astra Zeneca, SFK and others also participated in the Fair alongside Sekopak.
At the opening of the event, Nordic Business Alliance Executive Director Andreja Pavlović underscored that the NBA, as a non-for-profit association that promotes Nordic business ethics, corporate values and principles, serves as an incubator of ideas and projects important for the local business community.
Apart from companies which are geographically from the Nordic countries, the members of the Nordic Business Alliance also include local companies which do business with Nordic corporations.
They have by and large adopted the values of Nordic companies, and because of this they can serve as a model, which through joint efforts can offer an example of good practice for the entire local business community.
Sekopak garnered huge interest from visitors with its original appearance and interesting stall.
“For a Clean Beach, Recycle Your Packaging” Action
For the first time this summer the sorting of packaging waste for recycling was organised and promoted in Novi Sad at the Štrand beach. The primary waste selection action was initiated by the Gradsko Zelenilo public utility company in cooperation with Sekopak and the plastics recycling company Greentech.
For this purpose Sekopak donated 35 bins for disposing of packaging waste.
The company began with the environment-themed performance titled “Dirty or Clean – Not the Same Thing” on 4 June 2015, featuring the actors Slobodan Boda Ninković, Marija Maki Veljković and Jovica Jocke Tišma. The actors answered the following questions for the youngest visitors to the Štrand: What is ecology, and what is recycling, where is rubbish disposed and can it be useful?
The next day, on 5 June 2015, Sekopak and the companies Greentech and Recan organised a joint action to mark World Environment Day.
Through a series of interesting and education activities and talks with company promoters, visitors to the Štrand had the opportunity to learn why recycling is important, how to recycle packaging waste and how they, themselves, can contribute to the recycling of waste.
In July and August, a further two actions were organised where Sekopak promoters were tasked with teaching visitors to the Štrand as much as possible about recycling, packaging waste and Green Point.
Containers for sorting glass packaging
In ly 2015, Sekopak in collaboration with the Gradska Čistoća public utility enterprise, set up 2 recycling containers for glass packaging. The containers were placed in the centre of Belgrade in Obilićev Venac near the entrance to the public car parking garage.
The plan is to set up a further 80 recycling containers in all important locations in Belgrade in the upcoming period. The placement of recycling containers is important for both us and Gradska Čistoća and the capital city of Serbia, since this is one in a series of projects which we are implementing in order to establish primary packaging waste selection in Belgrade together with the public utility enterprise Gradska Čitsoća.
“This is one part of the puzzle which will in the end lead to our capital standing shoulder to shoulder with other metropolises,” said Violeta Belanović Kokir, the general manager of Sekopak.
The goal of the action is to raise citizens’ awareness of the importance of recycling and looking after the environment.
The first containers were placed in the centre of Belgrade in Obilićev Venac near the entrance to the public car parking garage. A further 43 containers were placed in 29 locations over the weekend: Ada Huja, Cvetni Trg, the corner of Njegoševa and Kralja Milutina streets, the corner of Resavska and Kralja Milutina, the corner of Tadeuša Koščuška, Strahinjića Bana, Milan Gale Muskatirović Sports Centre, Beton Hala, Savamala, the park opposite Palace Hotel, the island by the Pevac cafe-bar (corner of Gračanička and Cara Lazara streets), Ušće under Branko’s Bridge (Brankov Most), Asterix Restaurant at Ušće, Zemun Quay Grand Casino, Zemun Quay Lido, Venecija Restaurant, Zemun Green Market (Gospodska street), Glavna street opposite Robna Kuća in Zemun, Belville settlement, the corner of Kralja Petra and Cara Lazara streets, 27. mart street at the Business College, ZeleniVenac, Brankova street no. Topalovićeva street, Makedonska street by Piraeus Bank, the fountain on Terazije, Kej Oslobođenja at the terminus for bus 82, Terazije outside Kasina bar, the roundabout in Vračar by Kalenić traditional restaurant and Republic Square.