During the six months of the environmental initiative “Budva Zero Waste City”, approximately 550,000 pieces of plastic packaging were collected, which will be sent to recycling. Through an initiative implemented by the NGO Eco Center Budva, with the support of the Coca-Cola System and The Coca-Cola Foundation, citizens of Budva and numerous tourists have shown that the problem of waste can be solved by joining forces, and that changes in the attitude towards waste start from each individual.
"Over half a million collected pieces of plastic packaging, with a significant amount of aluminum packaging that will be recycled, means that we will have less packaging waste in landfills, less plastic in our sea, and that we have met the target - a greater degree of recycling," said NGO Eco Center Budva representative Andrea Buskovic.
With gratitude to the citizens who agreed to change their ecological habits and began to make a primary selection of plastics, Buskovic also thanked the partners in the project - Municipality Budva, Utility company Budva, PC Morsko dobro and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.
At the Ecological Interactive Center, we spent the whole summer educating both the youngest and adults, and a large number of visitors brought plastic waste for recycling. With many quality programs we showed that ecology and recycling could be both very fun and useful, I believe that now, at closing, we can say that our Interactive Center was Budva's main ecological station," said Buskovic, adding that nearly 8,000 people visited the Interactive Center from June to the end of September.
President of the Municipality of Budva Marko Carevic said that the project Budva Zero Waste City is an excellent example of how the non-governmental sector can help local governments raise awareness about ecology.
"We need to change habits, behavior, and awareness. Introduce regular recycling, stop making illegal landfills, and eliminate disposable plastics. Budva, as a tourist destination, must be a leader and example in this," Carevic said.
Marko Bato Carevic (Photo: Budva Zero Waste City)
Director of the Public company Morsko dobro Predrag Jelusic said that the results of the initiative Budva Zero Waste City are indeed progressive and show that such actions are changing the awareness of both the local population and tourists.
"I am convinced that we can achieve such results in other municipalities, and in that, you will always have the support of Morsko dobro because, among other things, you are helping us to raise the quality of the resources we manage. Waste is a real problem and I am sure that this initiative will be productive even in 2010," said Jelusic.
The initiative Budva Zero Waste City has donated three smart and environmentally friendly benches to the Municipality Budva, as well as 30 plastic waste bins. Also, volunteers visited over 7,000 households across the city and educated citizens how to collect and properly dispose of waste.
Illustration (Photo: Budva Zero Waste City)
A special part of the project was the campaign "Capture the Clean Wave", which was implemented for the second time this year, on 28 beaches of the Budva Riviera, where plastic and aluminum waste was collected. These environmental initiatives are part of the global Coca-Cola Worldwide Waste Initiative “The world without waste”, which aims to help collect and recycle all bottles and cans it sells on the market by 2030.
"Environmental protection is not a cost to us. We are investing in the future because we know the importance of gradually addressing waste, especially in local communities, such as Budva," said Coca-Cola HBC Montenegro's public and regulatory affairs manager Andrea Radonjic.
The initiative Budva Zero Waste City was also supported by the US Embassy in Montenegro, whose deputy head of political and economic affairs, Kyle Hatcher, attended the event.
At the initiative of PC Morsko dobro, the Interactive Center will continue the mission of environmental education and recycling in Ulcinj next year.
Text by Promo, on September 28th, 2019, read more at Vijesti
