April 30, 2014 — Denys Pavlovskyi, representative of the Ukrainian National Environmental NGO “MAMA-86”, took part in the Polish-Ukrainian online meeting “Sharing Experience on Implementation of European Waste Sorting Approaches in Schools.”

On the occasion of Europe Day 2014 in Ukraine, the meeting was organized by the Centre for European Information in Vinnitsa, “Integration Europe – East” Society and МАМА-86. The format of the meeting called “I Share European Values” was developed by the Network of European Information Centres of Ukraine and partner organizations with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation in 2011.

Denys Pavlovskyi stated that MAMA-86 has been engaged in solving the problem of e-waste management, including used batteries, since 2012, when the Project “Public Lobbying of Application of the European Approaches to the Solution of the Problem of Electronic Waste in Ukraine” was started. He also stressed the further need of broad public awareness campaigns dedicated to environmentally friendly way of e-waste disposal. Used batteries should not be tossed into the trash; they should be stored separately and transferred to a special collection site.

Denys Pavlovskyi informed participants about the “Vykyday Pravylno” (dispose of e-waste properly) National Programme initiated by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the MTS Company and UNENGO “MAMA-86”. The Programme is ready to be launched in all regions of Ukraine, but the question of utilization of chemical power sources up to 7 A/h (mainly batteries) remains unsolved. Denys thanked MTS Company for being social responsible business and accomplishments of all its tasks in the framework of the Programme. He also pointed out that the question of utilization of the used batteries is the Ministry’s responsibility.

MAMA-86 actively informs the public about the obligation of environmentally friendly management of used batteries and encourages everyone interested to join the National Programme.

Oksana Bondar, Head of Vinnytsia Regional Information Centre “Creative” and Krzysztof Kalita, president of the Society “Integration Europe-East”, spoke about the process of collection of used batteries in Vinnitsa schools. Approximately 1 ton of batteries was collected in 2013. Tanya Rybak, expert of Plast Enterprise, also noted that further efforts are needed to raise awareness among citizens, especially young people, about the proper disposal of hazardous waste.

Oleksandr Zagoruyko, Head of the Universiade Economic Education in Ukraine Steering Committee, informed about waste sorting programmes in Vinnitsa such as “Ekotransformatsiya” and “Europeyske Misto”. The Universiade is a part of an exclusive comprehensive national product united under the joint name “EECCVE” — ecological and economic, competitive, consulting, visual art education, eco-friendly economy “ECO v Kvadrati”. It includes socially-oriented master classes for children with special needs, fine art classes, design of eco-models and eco cars, ecological cultural and sporting events. Some art-objects made from broken toys (Christmas tree) were presented during the conference. Oleksandr Zagoruyko stressed the need for international eco design competitions and events for young people.

Martha Blusch, representative from the municipality of Bełchatów (Poland), supported the idea of Polish-Ukrainian youth eco design competitions. As a result, it was agreed to prepare an information package for international project.

At the end of the conference, volunteers from the European Voluntary Service Katarzyna Gah and Joanna Brah presented environmental education campaigns that promote plastic waste collection in Poland.