9 years of EcoTechnologies: 9 high-profile projects to remember

In 2016, on the initiative of a major FMCG manufacturer, the "Share with Us" program was launched together with EcoTechnologies, the ERA Foundation and the ECA movement. This is the first large-scale project aimed at creating a culture of separate waste collection in Russia. The program included the creation of accessible infrastructure for the population and environmental education.

"EcoTechnologies" acted as an infrastructure partner: together with regional partners, we placed RDF containers produced at our RzhevMash plant in schools, universities and residential yards, and then recycled the collected plastic packaging waste at our secondary polymer plant in Tver.

It all started with 600 containers in eight cities, and as a result of the program:

• more than 6,400 containers were installed in 60 Russian cities, including Moscow, Kazan, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh;

• sent more than 85,000 tons of packaging waste for recycling;

• involved at least 4 million people in separate collection.

The continuation and a new stage of "Share with us" in 2019 was the intention to make Kazan a zero waste city. As part of the "Zero Waste Territory" concept, we not only installed infrastructure for separate collection in the city, but also built modern eco-spaces with furniture made of recycled plastic in parks.

Novorossiysk is the second city after Kazan and the first resort in the "Share with Us" program with large-scale green infrastructure. In the summer of 2021, we equipped four beaches with separate collection points and street furniture made of recycled plastic, and brought the first fandomat to the city.

As part of the preparation and delivery of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 in Russia, a separate waste collection system was introduced at all four stadiums hosting the event and their surrounding areas. One of the official partners of the project was our company EcoTechnologies. We organized a significant part of the infrastructure (115 containers of our own production) and processed the collected polymer waste at our plant in Tver.

In partnership with Mars, in 2021 we launched a limited edition collection of sabots made from recycled chewing gum. The launch was preceded by years of research by our team: we explored the possibility of using factory waste to create new products. The original solution we found allowed us to use chewing gum in footwear for the first time. A collection of a thousand pairs was sold on Yandex Market.

In 2019, together with the Sphere Ecology team, which was then part of EcoTechnologies, we helped organize separate collection and recycling of waste in the McDonald's fast food chain. The pilot project was implemented within three months in 14 locations in Moscow, Moscow region and Tula.

We started by developing the design concept and visual materials. After the bins were installed, the restaurant staff was trained. Plastic packaging waste was sent to our secondary polymer plant in Tver, while paper packaging waste was sent to licensed partner plants. Some of the waste was multi-layer packaging, which made it difficult to recycle. We managed to apply new recycling technologies and recycle complex paper materials with lamination.

Our first fandomats - automatic machines for accepting packaging from the public for recycling - went into operation in 2017. We now operate one of the largest BottleBank fandomat networks in the country, with more than 200 fandomats in 30 cities across Russia. The machines are installed in educational institutions, gas stations and retail chains, including Perekryostok and VkusVill, with major brands such as Chistaya Liniya and FMCG and packaging manufacturers from the RusPRO Association as partners.

BottleBank has two major advantages. The first is that we take care of the entire cycle from the production of the equipment to the processing of the collected waste at our TotalCycle recycling plant, which has become an extension of the Tver secondary polymer plant. The second is our own BottleCoin loyalty program. Consumers receive discounts from partners (Synergetic, Litres, VkusVill, Yurent, Flowwow and others) for returning their packaging to the Fandomat.

In 2021, we made dog walking areas with the addition of recycled plastic waste, including pet food packaging from our plant in Tver. As part of the "MyDistrict" project supported by Mars, such playgrounds with equipment, benches and fences were created in four Moscow districts - Mozhaisky, Losinoostrovsky, Yasenev and Severny Medvedkovo.

In 2022, together with the Perekryostok retail chain, as part of the social program "Accessible Environment" in cooperation with the autonomous non-profit organization "Space of Equals", we installed a ramp in the supermarket with a covering made of recycled "Kind Lids". The project for their collection was launched in Perekryostok in 2021 together with Henkel. Special boxes in the shape of giant bottles appeared in 343 supermarkets of the chain, which allowed us to collect more than 12 tons of recyclable materials, which we recycled at our plant in Tver.

In 2023, we made bicycle stands from aluminum cans for Unilever and Perekryostoks in St. Petersburg. Before that, the stores collected used bottles of deodorant, hairspray and other similar products.

In 2023 we implemented two major eco-social projects. In Nizhnekamsk, with the support of SIBUR's Formula of Good Deeds program, we created an inclusive environment with the smallest ecological footprint of its production by introducing young people to separate waste collection. In the first stage, we organized the collection of plastic bottles at schools in the city using fandoms. In the second phase, a recycled plastic ramp was made and installed at a local school for children with disabilities.

At our new TotalCycle recycling plant in Tver, we opened unique public spaces: the ZERO eco-museum with an interactive exhibition and a recycling workshop. In the museum, created in partnership with SIBUR, visitors learn about recycling and green living, "feel" all stages of recycling, and compete in waste sorting. The workshop, which SIBUR, Danaflex, the RusPRO Association and the Sobrka Ecocenter helped to equip, has equipment for taking part in the exciting recycling process and making souvenirs from recyclable materials.

In September 2023, Viola, together with the Directorate of Protected Areas of the Leningrad Region, opened the Kurgolovskaya Ecological and Ethnographic Trail in Toksovo, near St. Petersburg. For the ecological trail we recycled 2 tons of Viola cheese packages and built more than 30 objects from recycled materials. These are benches, information stands, signs, swings, a botanist's post and more.