A roundtable “Approaches for packaging waste management in the Kyrgyz MSW system: problems and prospects, taking into account international experience” was held in Bishkek on November 11 as part of the Green Economy Week in Kyrgyzstan 2019 and the World Without Waste global initiative.

The main goal of the roundtable was to discuss issues of improving mechanisms for the separate collection and processing of plastic waste in Kyrgyzstan.

The organizers were The Coca-Cola Company together with the CSR Central Asia and the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic.

The event was attended by the representative of the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) of the Kyrgyz Republic, heads of state and municipal bodies, waste recycling companies, enterprises of various sectors, non-governmental organizations, and experts.

MP Baktybek Turusbekov raised the problem of widespread pollution with plastic waste. This issue is among the priorities in the implementation of strategic documents adopted in the country aimed at developing a green economy including the Green Economy Concept "Kyrgyzstan is a country of a green economy" and the Green Economy Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-2023.

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy informed on the development of the green economy in the country, and also spoke about the activities that the ministry has implemented in this area.

Experts presented the international experience of solving the problems of environmental pollution, the approaches and systems of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in the countries of Eastern Europe, South Africa, Belgium, Romania and Turkey.

The CSR Central Asia Agency presented key findings of the survey on solid waste management (with a focus on packaging for beverages) in Kyrgyzstan.

The key recommendation, as a result of the discussions, was the creation of a permanent working group under the Economy Ministry on the development of effective actions for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) involved in the packaging and plastic sectors, as well as the development of government regulatory measures and the implementation of solid waste management systems in Kyrgyzstan.

About World Without Waste program

The world has a packaging problem. Plastic bottles, cans, and other containers keep ending up in oceans and waterways or littering the communities in which we all live and work.

This is a problem we committed to help solve. In January 2018 James Quincey, president and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, announced an industry-first goal to collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle or can it sells globally by 2030.

The program is called ‘World Without Waste’ and it signals a renewed focus on the entire packaging lifecycle, from how bottles and cans are designed and made, to how they’re recycled and repurposed.

“Consumers around the world care about our planet. They want and expect companies like ours to be leaders and help make a litter-free world possible,” said James Quincey.

“Through our ‘World Without Waste’ vision, we are investing in our planet and in our packaging to help make the world’s packaging problem a thing of the past,” he said.

As a global company operating in more than 200 markets, it established three fundamental goals:

1. Make the Company’s packaging 100% recyclable globally by 2025, and use at least 50% recycled material in our packaging by 2030.

2. Collect and recycle a bottle or can for each one the Company sells by 2030.

3. Work together to support a healthy, debris-free environment.