Olivér Martin

Managing Director

Szentkirályi-Kékkúti Ásványvíz Kft.

As a large business, our social responsibility grows larger.

PET Education Campaign

Industry: Food

Date: As of 2017, uninterruptedly

Sustainable Lifestyles


Solutions of the macro-sustainability challenges

Measure and decrease negative environmental impacts to decrease the consumption footprint by introducing the circular economy model

Further targets:

What´s the solution?

Mineral water bottling and marketing is the business sector of the future: according to statistical data, the market share of various soft drinks and sodas has been shrinking continuously in a term of 25 years past, and mineral water consumption seized its leading position in the middle of the 2000s. Today, mineral water consumption in Hungary has reached an amount of 126 liters per capita per annum, which makes it a member of the European elite.

 

In addition to the increasing role of conscious nutrition/diet, one of the reasons for the above market niche growth is that the mineral water bottling and marketing sector found a packaging material, namely PET bottles, which can be used to distribute products inexpensively in large quantities to the consumers.

 

It, on the other hand, crucially matters where these PET bottles end up: whether in waste incinerators or landfills, or in the process of waste recycling. We are in favor of the latter solution.

 

If mass production is taken into account, there is no alternative to PET bottles. The packaging industry on the other hand has a solution for recycling the raw materials. Therefore, it was not hard to convince the members of the Hungarian Mineral Water, Fruit Juice and Softdrink Association of the concept to contribute particular sources in favor of this solution which should be focused on.

 

Our educational campaign is targeted at juveniles/young adults primarily. We have contributed many millions of Hungarian forints to the program conducted on behalf of the Hungarian Mineral Water, Fruit Juice and Softdrink Association, because it was our intention to communicate our concept to a growing number of people.

 

The cardinal element of our online campaign to formulate general attitude is a microsite called www.szelektiven.hu. Its profile is designed youthful, and it guides the visitors to the world of selective waste collection/recycling and PET bottles by the assistance of games, creative videos and animated infographics.

 

Our campaign was devised to focus attention to the selective collection of PET bottles that become an important raw material this way, hence be recycled to an unlimited extent.

Business connection

The objective of the programs is to formulate the attitude of consumers, bottlers, waste collectors, and recycling companies. Consumers are informed of the fact that PET bottles can be recycled up to 100%, and if directed to the course of recycling, the value generated this way will return to the economy.

 

Waste is value, because waste is purchased by the waste collectors/processors. Our main message was that anyone who makes the effort to dispose of waste in selective (collecting) containers will personally contribute to the recycling process.

 

Also, our objective is to drive away people’s misunderstandings regarding PET bottles and to provide factual information with the consumers to make the right decision and to protect the environment.

 

Recycled PET bottles can be used not only to produce new ones but also to manufacture many goods for personal use, such as carpets, sofas, T-shirts, gears, blankets or even license plates.

Hungarians today collect only a negligible part of the 3.8 million tons of household waste selectively. The Hungarian Mineral Water, Fruit Juice and Softdrink Association desires to change this, primarily by inviting young people. We sincerely trust that the effect of the program will improve the aforementioned ratio.

 

We desire to carry on the campaign in 2019. We maintain contact with the National Coordination of Waste Management and Asset Management Plc., in cooperation with which we intend to continue the project at schools. The second phase of the program is about to start.

 

Our objective is to have the packaging of one of our products produced of recycled material up to 50%. Representing bottlers, we currently orchestrate our undertakings as to the use of recycled PET material in order to create an incremental market for this recycled raw material in the forthcoming years.

Results

Hungarians today collect only a negligible part of the 3.8 million tons of household waste selectively. The Hungarian Mineral Water, Fruit Juice and Softdrink Association desires to change this, primarily by inviting young people. We sincerely trust that the effect of the program will improve the aforementioned ratio.

 

We desire to carry on the campaign in 2019. We maintain contact with the National Coordination of Waste Management and Asset Management Plc., in cooperation with which we intend to continue the project at schools. The second phase of the program is about to start.

 

Our objective is to have the packaging of one of our products produced of recycled material up to 50%. Representing bottlers, we currently orchestrate our undertakings as to the use of recycled PET material in order to create an incremental market for this recycled raw material in the forthcoming years.