Krasnodar, 24 December. The online conference “Responsible consumption: corporate experience and practices on how to reduce wastes” dedicated to the UN principles of sustainable development and their implementation in Krasnodar krai was held last week in the framework of the long-term program “Time for New Strategies.”
Oleg Zharko, Chairman of the Southern Regional Committee of the Association of European Businesses, Danone Russia Corporate Director, said that the agenda of all conferences “Time for New Strategies” to be held next year will be related to the UN principles of sustainable development and their practical introduction in our region. A special attention will be paid to the issues related with rational use of food and responsible consumption.
Ralf Bendisch, CLAAS Krasnodar General Director, shared the principles of sustainable production used in his company: “In our company, we often say, ‘Culture has strategy for breakfast.’ Lack of corporate culture may crush down the strategy on any issue. The priority task is to prevent the very formation of wastes. Say, in our painting shop we introduced the following efficient recovery system in the automatic dying chamber: the powder paint either settles on the details, or enters the cyclones system to return back to the technological process – as a result, no wastes are in fact formed there.”
Marina Shalak, Danone Russia External Communications Manager, described how an association of business communities united to exchange their experiences on waste reduction and formation of a base of eco-initiatives can be an important step in the context of the environmental agenda. An example of such national partnership run in the interests of sustainable development could be the League of Responsible Consumption “Zero Waste.”
“At the beginning of this year, Danone Russia initiated the formation of the League. Our idea was to unite and act together in a sort of coalition with the aim of enlightening activity and implementation of joint projects on sustainable and responsible development,” she said.
The League united SKOLKOVO Business School, Danone Russia, Bonduelle, Mars Wrigley, Magnit, X5 Retail Group, Coca-Cola HBC Russia, Damate, Fragaria, and respresentatives of such noncommercial and charity organizations as Foodbank RUS, and AIESEC.
Sergei Kuzmenkov, Nestlé Kuban Legal and Corporate Manager, said that their company “creates values in the following three main directions: for every human and family by offering high-quality food products; for the society by helping to develop and maintain local communities; for the planet by making it possible to preserve the resources for future generations.”
Yuliana Perederiy, Coordinator of the Southern Regional Committee of the Association of European Businesses, summarized the discussion by stating that “the [participating] companies drew attention to the following problems: the underdeveloped infrastructure in the [Krasnodar] region and the need to update the standards of permissible exposure limits and legally stimulate waste recycling by business entities.”
Follow our news on Facebook
