Olena Osypchuk, Wog communications director and curator of ECO projects, speaks about environmental protection projects to be implemented within Treating Nature with Kindness, a Wog environmental platform.
Wog is a company that treats environmental protection responsibly. Being the largest fuel supplier in the country, we cannot afford to be environmentally passive in the time when the environmental issues are raising genuine concerns among the people all across the globe. The pollution of land and oceans with plastic waste, glass and other resistant materials has reached catastrophic proportions. Further deterioration of the situation, however, can be avoided through sustainable consumption of the resources. Recycling household waste, production of thermal energy and fertilizers using this waste – all of this has long become a standard in the developed countries in Europe.
Caring for the environment is not just a part of the business strategy for Wog. We believe that the environmental initiatives aimed at the protection of Ukraine’s natural resources are our personal responsibility. That is why the company has complied with the European environmental standards for many years, and worked to reduce the level of harmful emissions. We have now launched Treating Nature with Kindness, an environmental platform, within the framework of which we are implementing a number of environmental projects aimed, among other things, at promoting eco-activism among our customers.
All our projects can be divided into three categories: protecting nature from pollution, sustainable consumption of natural resources and promoting eco-responsibility among the population.
Waste sorting
As waste sorting is crucial both for the environment and for the country’s economy, we’ve decided to provide our customers with an opportunity to participate in the environmental projects. As of today, special waste sorting bins for paper, glass and plastic have been installed at 34 Wog gas stations in the capital. Their contents are delivered separately to the corresponding companies for further processing. This is only the first stage of the project, and we plan to expand this practice throughout all gas stations of our chain.
Processing coffee grounds
Waste sorting is not the only way modern society addresses the tasks of preserving the environment. Sustainable consumption of natural resources and replacement of the numerous plastic consumables with eco-friendly ones are equally effective methods of reducing waste.
This year, in partnership with Blue Ocean Solutions (BOS), a Ukrainian environmental company, we have launched a series of research projects on processing the coffee grounds we have left from preparing the favorite drink of Ukrainian drivers. The first one of these products is already being used in the Wog chain – the coffee grounds combined with waste paper are turned into convenient biodegradable cup holders. The next step is the replacement of plastic caps for cups with a more eco-friendly substitute made of coffee grounds. BOS is already working on their production technology. In addition, we supply the coffee grounds that remain after the coffee is made at the gas stations in Lutsk for processing to Pasternak Company, where they are used for making organic fertilizer – vermicompost.
Replacement of plastic straws with quality paper straws manufactured by BOS is yet another step we have taken towards the reduction of plastic waste. Very few coffee shops can boast a paper straw that can retain its properties for up to 1.5 hours in boiling water, but Wog succeeded.
Battery collection and recycling
However, we shouldn’t forget that there is also another issue that we face – proper recycling of hazardous waste. Many industrial products cannot be simply thrown into a garbage bin. Ordinary batteries are probably the most problematic waste. A small battery can poison an average of 16 square meters of land around itself, if its surface is damaged as a result of corrosion, which is inevitable at an illegal landfill. Meanwhile, thousands of batteries are dumped at such landfills. Heavy metals in the batteries pollute the soil, penetrate the groundwaters and then rivers, which supply our cities with water, poisoning not only animals, but also people.
The harm from improper disposal of batteries is incomparable to their size, which is why people have been urged for many years to bring them to special collection points. Unfortunately, the only plant in Ukraine processing recycled batteries ceased its operations in this area back in 2018. For this reason, Ukraine simply doesn’t have a place where such hazardous waste can be recycled.
Together with Batteries, Give Up!, a public organization, we will start collecting batteries again, guaranteeing their 100% recycling at GreenWEEE, a specialized plant in Romania. Taking into account that there are Wog gas stations even in the most remote parts of the country, even the residents of small towns and villages in Ukraine will be able to dispose of their batteries.
The future of our planet is everybody’s concern. At Wog, we believe it is our duty to show that responsible treatment of waste sorting, recycling and correct disposal does not require excessive efforts. We are hoping that our customers and colleagues in the market will also decide to support environmental projects and the sustainable consumption philosophy. Together, we can do so much more!
