On November 15, 1997, American environmentalists initiated a “Day of Recycling”. They drew people’s attention to how waste pollutes the environment and stressed the importance of sorting and recycling the waste. Since then, the initiative has been picked up around the world, and the issue of recycling has become a global challenge for Humanity.
For example, on a worldwide scale, we produce 0.9 trillion kg of trash per year. Only the average Ukrainian produces 300 to 500 kg of garbage annually. The State Statistics Service reports that in total all Ukrainian citizens generate more than 350 million tons of waste per year. However, only 3-5% of waste is sent for recycling. Everything else – remains in landfills polluting the environment.
However, there are countries to follow – such as Switzerland, Sweden, or Germany, which recycle most of the waste.
However, successful examples of recycling can be not only countries but global brands as well. Large companies with eco-initiatives also join environmental organizations and collaborate with waste processing plants. For example, Nemiroff, one of the biggest global vodka brands, has been working on sorting and recycling since 2014.
“Our distillery is located in the heart of Podillya, known as the land of a thousand lakes, for over 150 years. It is our responsibility to take care of the environment, as it supplies the company with key ingredients. – says the Nemiroff CEO Yuriy Sorochynskiy. – We sort and recycle almost 100% of possible waste – since 2014 it is 93 tons of scrap metal, 1040 tons of scotch tape, polyethylene, slag, and 1600 tons of waste paper, which is almost 38,400 saved trees! In addition, we have been practicing e-doc management for the past two years in order to have a paperless office.”
For Nemiroff today the “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle” rule is no longer just a voluntary initiative, but a real responsibility. For example, in the Nemiroff The Originals line-up the brand began to use a completely new type of caps. They were developed specifically for a brand without the use of polycarbonate and bisphenol-A. This component is currently banned in many countries around the world: France, Canada, China, and Colombia. A similar ban is being considered in the United States. Therefore, if companies want to be represented in the markets of these countries and develop their business globally, they will have to abandon the use of harmful components.
So, more than ever, the world has begun to struggle with the issue of waste management. And this is not surprising, because the future of the entire planet depends on solving this problem, and victory in this struggle depends on each of us.
