- Ekopak Bosnia and Herzegovina various initiatives:
- Ekopak delivered 90 special containers for collecting glass packaging
Ekopak participated in successfully implemented project of Coca-Cola and SFF “Recycle me. Give me a new life”
Management of glass packaging in the Western Balkans – Regional glass packaging management project expanded, eight new municipalities will receive glass recycling containers - Ekopak participates in project “Improving the living conditions and health of citizens in the local communities of Sarajevo Canton
Ekopak delivered 90 special containers for collecting glass packaging
Symbolically, on World Recycling Day, the first and leading operator for packaging waste management system in BiH – Ekopak, ogether with GIZ and REDAH, delivered 90 special containers (bells) for collecting glass packaging, of which 50 will be delivered to Municipality Ilidža and 40 to Municipality Konjic.
Previously, 100 such containers were procured and 69 were delivered to the Municipality of Bihać and 31 to the Municipality of Novi Travnik. German Development Cooperation and Ekopak provided a total of 190 special containers within the regional project “Management of glass packaging in the Western Balkans”, which includes Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Northern Macedonia through their system operators Ekopak, Sekopak and Pakomak with the support of the German Organization for international cooperation – GIZ, NALED, ZELS and REDAH.
Due to the insufficient number of containers for the disposal of glass packaging but also the lack of appropriate recycling facilities, glass is less recycled in the Western Balkans than is the case in the member states of the European Union. EU countries recycle about 70% of glass packaging annually, while in BiH the amount is 12%. Most of the used glass in our country ends up in landfills or illegal dumps and in such conditions it takes as much as 5,000 years for it to decompose.
Given that glass is the only packaging material with 100% recycling efficiency and can be recycled indefinitely, we are free to award it the title – “star of the recycling industry”! Therefore, before we put an empty glass bottle or jar after usage in the container with other municipal waste, we should keep in mind some of the following facts:
- By recycling one glass bottle, a 100W bulb can work for a full 4 hours!
- By recycling one glass bottle, you save energy to power your computer for 25 minutes!
- Recycling one ton of glass saves 42Kwh of electricity or 19 liters of oil!
- By recycling 1000 kilograms of glass, the emission of harmful gases is reduced by 3 kilograms in relation to the production of new glass.
- By recycling glass we can save about 40% of energy and 50% of water needed to produce new glass and reduce air pollution by 20% and water by 50%.
In order to make the situation, regarding the management of glass packaging waste in the region, more favorable in the coming period, the project “Management of glass packaging in the Western Balkans” is being implemented. Thus, 190 special containers for the disposal of glass packaging will be installed in the municipalities of Bihać, Novi Travnik, Konjic and Ilidža as well as in selected cities and municipalities of Northern Macedonia and Serbia.
The goal is to increase the amount of collected glass packaging in the region by 20%, as well as to reach a sustainable model of collection and recycling of glass packaging that would gradually expand to other municipalities in BiH in the coming years. In addition to this technical part, an appropriate campaign was developed aimed at raising citizens’ awareness of the importance of recycling this packaging material. The campaign is unique for all three countries and at the same time respects the specifics of each of the countries. It will be implemented at the local level in the local communities involved in the project. The project in BiH is implemented by Ekopak, GIZ and REDAH.
Ekopak participated in successfully implemented project of Coca-Cola and SFF “Recycle me. Give me a new life”
One of “Ekopak” founders, company Coca-Cola HBC in cooperation with the Sarajevo Film Festival, Ekopak and PUC RAD, during the largest film festival in Southeast Europe “Sarajevo Film Festival” implemented the initiative “Recycle me. Give me a new life “, which is part of the global program “World without waste”.
The activities within the initiative were aimed at creating new habits, educating and raising awareness of citizens about the importance of proper disposal, sorting and recycling of waste.
Containers for plastic bottles, cans and mixed waste were set up at the busiest locations in the center of Sarajevo and mobile teams were circulating around the city with backpacks for disposal of plastic bottles and cans. All collected waste, in cooperation with the utility company “Rad” and company “Ekopak” was sent for recycling.
Coca-Cola HBC as a socially responsible company and a leader in the application of the postulates of sustainable business has clear set of goals related to reducing environmental impact. One of the company’s strategic commitments globally is the “World without Waste” program. This directly contributes to reducing the environmental impact and offers solutions to the challenges associated with packaging waste.
” We are happy to have the opportunity to participate in Coca-Cola’s global initiative “World without Waste” through partnership of the Sarajevo Film Festival with the world’s strongest brand, a leader in the field of corporate social responsibility. It is especially important that the initiative “Recycle me. Give me a new life. ” in Bosnia and Herzegovina started at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Culture, art and a successful society are based on a culture of responsible and sustainable living. Part of that culture is responsible waste disposal, collection and recycling and that is why we are honored that the Sarajevo Film Festival is participating in the first steps of the initiative”, said Mirsad Purivatra, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“We want to contribute to the reduction of environmental impact through cooperation with all our stakeholders. Therefore, already traditional partnership in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Sarajevo Film Festival is opportunity for initiative “Recycle me. Give me a new life.”. We encourage citizens to have a responsible attitude towards packaging waste. At the same time, we promote sustainable and responsible business practices by reducing the environmental impact of the communities in which we operate” said Bruno Jelić, World Waste Free Project Manager at Coca-Cola HBC Adria.
“We were extremely honored to be part of this project and give support for initiative of our founder Coca-Cola HBC. In cooperation with colleagues from PUC RAD, Ekopak was in charge of setting up the infrastructure as well as collecting and transporting the collected packaging waste for recycling. The results were extraordinary and I hope that this year’s Coca-Cola initiative will grow into the practice not only during SFF but as part of all major sport and cultural events in BiH” said Amela Hrbat, Managing Director of Ekopak.
In addition to Coca-Cola, its customers from the hospitality sector as well as Konzum and Mercator, are also participating in the initiative.
Management of glass packaging in the Western Balkans – Regional glass packaging management project expanded, eight new municipalities will receive glass recycling containers
Responsible glass disposal available to 1.5 million citizens of BiH, Serbia and Northern Macedonia. After 1,000 glass packaging recycling containers began arriving in the region in December, the Western Balkans Glass Packaging Management project was expanded to eight more municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Northern Macedonia.
Apart from Sombor, Niš, Bihać, Novi Travnik, Štip and Ilinden, the containers will be distributed in Kragujevac, Varvarin, Konjic, Ilidža, Skopje, Bitola, Gevgelija and Tetovo. The complete equipment will be installed by the end of March, in the city cores, restaurants as well as in the suburbs.
One of the main goals of the project, launched by the German Development Cooperation – GIZ, in cooperation with packaging waste operators – Ekopak, Sekopak and Pakomak, is to increase the amount of collected glass packaging in these municipalities by 20% and achieve profitability of glass recycling.
Thus, by the end of March, Ekopak, with the help of project partners and local communities, will set up 69 containers for glass packaging in Bihać, 31 in Novi Travnik and 40 in Konjic and 50 in Ilidža.
“With the aim of increasing the rate of glass packaging recycling by 20% in BiH, we joined the original municipalities of two more municipalities Konjic and Ilidža, and provided them with the required number of containers for the collection of glass packaging waste. Monitoring of the collection will include the city center, rural settlements and catering facilities, and the project will be accompanied by an educational campaign intended for citizens and institutions. Upon completion of the project, a Guide will be developed that will contain all data on the achieved results, which would serve for the development of systems in municipalities where it is not implemented and to establish an efficient and economically viable glass packaging management system, “ said Managing Director of Ekopak, Amela Hrbat.
Only 44% of glass packaging is recycled in Serbia, 30% in Republic of Northern Macedonia and 12% in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is insufficient to establish a cost-effective recycling system in the Western Balkans. Since there are no recycling plants in the region, glass packaging must be exported and this is an additional cost for packaging waste operators. Consequence of such a system is that most used glass packaging ends up in landfills or illegal dumps, where glass needs more of 5,000 years to disintegrate.
The project will prepare a Guide for local governments to establish an efficient and cost-effective glass packaging management system and the project also aims to contribute to improving the implementation of laws and regulations in the field of environmental protection which is also a direct contribution to further EU accession and harmonization of rules and regulations.
The project is implemented in BiH, Serbia and Northern Macedonia within the development cooperation program with the private sector – develoPPP.de funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and implemented by NALED, the Association for Economic Development REDAH and the Association of Local Governments (ZELS) ) from Republic of Northern Macedonia.
Ekopak participates in project “Improving the living conditions and health of citizens in the local communities of Sarajevo Canton
Ekopak is involved in another important project for Sarajevo Canton. Czech Embassy in Sarajevo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Czech Development Agency launched a project called “Improving the living and health conditions of citizens in local communities of Sarajevo Canton”, and KJKP Rad Sarajevo and Ekopak joined the implementation.
In this regard, a working meeting was held attended by Ivana Pejič Povolná from the Czech Development Agency, Jaromir Manhart, Czech project expert, Maida Čukojević from KJKP Rad and Amela Hrbat, Director of Ekopak.
“We discussed the details of the project that will be implemented in the municipalities of Sarajevo Canton, the expansion of the network for waste collection and recycling in Sarajevo Canton by building eco-islands and recycling yards” said Amela Hrbat.
Boys Jure and Marko Slišković, stars of recycling in Novi Travnik, received awards and gifts
Ten-year-old boys from Novi Travnik, Jure and Marko Slišković, have become real little recycling stars in their city. This municipality, through Ekopak, at the end of last year joined the regional project “Management of glass packaging in the Western Balkans” which in addition to Bosnia and Herzegovina is being implemented in Serbia and Northern Macedonia. In Novi Travnik, urban and rural area of this municipality, waste-bins for glass were set up to collect glass packaging which attracted the attention of the boys who initiated an action of collecting glass packaging.
Jure and Marko visited the houses of their neighbors for days and diligently collected glass packaging waste and filled it into a waste-bin for glass and in just a few days they collected 260 kg of glass packaging and filled the container. It was the first waste-bin for glass in Novi Travnik, but also in other local communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina where this project is being implemented, that the special container is 100% filled with waste glass packaging.
Their commitment to collecting glass packaging and preserving the environment in general did not go unnoticed, so Ekopak in cooperation with the utility company Vilenica-Čistoća and the Municipality of Novi Travnik, at the celebration of the Day of the Municipality of Novi Travnik, presented the boys with special recognition and gifts.
We remind you that the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the National Alliance for Local Economic Development “Naled” from Serbia in cooperation with the first operator of the packaging waste management system in Bosnia and Herzegovina “Ekopak”, and system operators “Sekopak” from Serbia and ” Pakomak “from Northern Macedonia, as well as the Association for Economic Development of Herzegovina REDAH and the Association of Local Self-Government Units ZELS, launched a regional project” Management of glass packaging in the Western Balkans ” which will be implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bihać and Novi Travnik municipalities. Konjic and Ilidža and one of the goals is to increase the collection rate of glass packaging in these municipalities by 20%.