Pakomak
According to the new Law on the management of packaging and packaging waste, since January 10, 2011, Pakomak is the first company in Macedonia, licensed by the Ministry of environment for the selection and processing of packaging waste. Since May 20th, 2011 Pakomak is the 34th national nonprofit company that joins the international network of packaging waste management Pro Europe, and thus receives the license to use the symbol “Green Dot”.
Green Dot is a financial symbol, which signifies that for the packaging that has this symbol a fee has been paid for handling the waste after its use. Manufacturers and importers of products packed in any type of package, now have a legal obligation to organize a system for collection, selection, and recycling of their packaging waste, which at the end, is given to the final users. With this principle of “extended producer responsibility”, all entities in the chain and the final users (manufacturers, packers, importers, and distributors) will have a possibility of reuse or use of the packaging material that has been placed on the market.
The mission of Pakomak is to ensure responsible, efficient, and most economically affordable management of the customers packaging waste by their legal obligations.
Eleven leading manufacturing companies in Macedonia are founders of the company: Pivara Skopje AD Skopje, Prilepska Pivarnica AD Prilep; Vitaminka AD Prilep; Pelisterka DOO Skopje; Magroni DOO (Ladna, Dobra Voda); Koding Dooel Kavadarci (Gorska Voda) Kozhufchanka DOO Kavadarci ; Vivaks Dooel Skopje; Blagoj GjorevADVeles; VV Tikvesh AD.; VV Stobi AD.
Besides the 11 founding members of the company, Pakomak cooperates with more than 300 other companies and is still open for new members. Pakomak provides environmentally safe and economically viable solutions for packaging waste to all of them.
One company can be a member of Pakomak if during one year, places on the domestic market more than:
• 800 kg glass bottles
• 300 kg of paper or paperboard
• 100 kg another type of packaging material
Those are the conditions before you sign the contract.
Pakomak events from 2011 to 2018 that boosted the waste management culture:
2011 – Promotions for educational eco-game “Green Team”
During February interactive promotions for the new educational game “Green Team” designed for children of preschool and school-age from Pakomak were organized. The promotions were held in shopping centers “Vero Centre” and “Ramstore mall” as well as in McDonald’s’ restaurants. The children had the opportunity to compete in the collection and selection of waste and thus learn how to properly care for the environment. Until the end of February, the game is active on Pakomak’s website where the best ecologists will get interesting prizes.
2011 – Workshop on effective management of packaging waste`
On the 30th and 31st of January at Holiday Inn, organized by Pakomak, a workshop on “More efficient management of packaging waste ” was held. The workshop was attended by 9 companies for waste management from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Belgium. The workshop was an opportunity to exchange experiences and discuss ways of finding more effective cooperation with companies and municipalities, as well as raising awareness for the selection of packaging waste.
2011 – Trash for the Art exhibition
The five awarded works in the contest Trash for art, organized by Pakomak, were presented in the Vero Centre from Jan 12 to 22 where you had the opportunity to see them. Currently, they are exhibited in the shopping mall “Ramstore”, and the exhibition will continue in McDonalds restaurants in Skopje. We invite you all to visit the exhibition and enjoy the artwork made by packing waste.
2011 – Pakomak at Cinedays
This year Pakomak was the sponsor of the 10th European film festival CINEDAYS, held from 10th to 20th of November 2011. During the festival, Pakomak promoted the prize competition for developing the art of packaging waste – Trash for art.
2011 – Training seminars for new customers
On 15/06/2011 in the Hotel Bellevue, the first seminar for companies was held where Pakomak was presented to potential clients. The seminar was attended by representatives of around 100 companies. Representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning were also present at the seminar. The training covered several topics: obligations for companies from the Law on the packaging, the advantages of the membership in Pakomak, ways of becoming a member of Pakomak, ways of filling in forms determined by law, etc.. In June and July, 3 additional pieces of training were held in the Hotel Continental for new clients, attended by more than 150 companies.
2011 – Pakomak with eco-action in schools
The big clean-up action, which Pakomak conducted in collaboration with the elementary schools in municipalities Karposh and Kisela Voda, resulted in gathering a large number of bottles.
The students from the municipality Karposh, in less than three months, managed to collect more than 200 thousand plastic bottles for recycling, while the students from Kisela Voda collected around 50 thousand in just a month.
The latest municipality to join this action is Gazi Baba which has 11 elementary schools and two regional ones. In the bins and containers installed by Pakomak, they will collect plastic bottles and will receive liquid soap and hygiene assets in return. Pakomak gave sports equipment – balls for basketball and volleyball to all schools involved in the project. Besides, this project has a competitive – motivating effect, because the school that will collect most plastic bottles within a specific period of time will be rewarded with a one-day excursion from “Pakomak” at the end of the year. The goal of this project is to create healthy environmental habits and so far has been accepted by the teachers, children, and parents from all schools. Based on the interest and effects, we are on the right way for this project to become sustainable.
2011 – Green Dot –Trademark of Pakomak for Macedonia
As a result of the working within the global environmental standards, Pakomak is part of the organization ProEurope, and all its customers receive the Green Dot sign for free. This sign is a trademark of Pakomak for Macedonia, and with having it they are labeled as companies that comply with environmental standards defined by the law and EU directives.
Companies that are not in the Pakomak system and have the need to use the trademark of the company – Green Dot, would have to pay the adopted fees by material: 2.53 € / ton for paper, 4.88 € / ton for plastic, 1.83 € / ton for glass, 3.45 € / ton for metal, 5.36 € / ton for composite materials, 1.63 € / ton for wood.
Pakomak’s prices for customers, based on the released waste of packaging in 2013 remain the same. Companies in the future can be secure that will comply with the law on packaging and packaging waste as the green mission of Pakomak continues.
2011 – Project “Green Days” in Ramstore
In the scope of the project “Green Days” which was held in April in Ramstore mall, Pakomak organized the art contest “We draw green” that involved children from the primary schools in Skopje. The youngest shared “green” messages through their drawings and the best art drawings were rewarded.
Besides, Pakomak organized several creative workshops, where children learned how to re-use creatively the packaging waste.
Within this project, wobblers and stickers were displayed in Ramstore with educational messages for the importance of recycling various packaging. They were positioned in the market following the packaging of the products which were placed on the shelves.
2011 – Container placement in McDonald’s
In the period of May 2012, Pakomak put containers for selecting waste in McDonald’s restaurants. The purpose of this action was the promotion and education of the youngest visiting these restaurants for the need for separate waste disposal, as the only precondition for a cleaner future for all of us.
2012 – Pakomak participated on “Skopje Kreativa” with creative workshops
Within the festival for creative Industries „ Skopje kreativa”, held from 14 to 16 June in the City Park, Pakomak organized workshops for industrial waste and packaging design together with the graduate students from the Faculty of Fine Arts and the students from the high school “Lazar Tanev”.
The artworks that were made in the two days workshops were presented on the final day of the festival for the visitors to enjoy them.
During the festival, Pakomak also held an official presentation of the company for dealing with packaging waste, and visitors to the event were able to enjoy the “eco Corner” built from plastic bottles and see the winning pieces of the competition “Trash for art”.
2012 – Support for the project “Our Green Border”
The Agency for Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Environment organized the project “Our green border”, which included cleaning the boarders Deve Bair, Bogorodica, and Kafasan as well as the coast of River Radika and Lake Matka from packaging waste.
Pakomak supported this action and contributed by donating equipment for collecting waste.
2012 – Containers for selective waste disposal on Vodno
In collaboration with Komunalna Higiena – Skopje, Pakomak set containers for plastic and paper waste in the area of mountain Vodno and the Millennium Cross.
With this action, we continue with the efforts to preserve the environment and at the same time – educate the population of the need for selective waste disposal and its recycling.
2012 – Donation of 10.000 denars to socially endangered families
It’s the second year in a row for Pakomak to put a Christmas tree of plastic bottles in the city park in Skopje. The initiative for the tree began with the twitters, but it was accepted by many citizens and companies that donated empty plastic bottles. The eco-tree was made on December 23rd and was bought by Pakomak for 10.000 denars, the funds were donated to the socially endangered families.
The action included cleaning, raising environmental awareness, encouraging creativity, but most important of all – delivering a warm human message during the Christmas holidays.
The gathered citizens who made the tree said that they were aware that this will not change the world, but they are determined to work “step by step”.
2012 – Support the project “Go ahead Macedonia”
Pakomak was involved in the project “Macedonia without waste 2012” organized by the association “Go ahead Macedonia”. The action of cleaning the territory of the Republic of Macedonia from waste was held in October and Pakomak provided supplies for the project participants (gloves, water, and badges as promotional material). The project covered 54 municipalities, involving over 55,000 citizens, and removed 60,000 cubic meters of waste. The waste was taken to Drisla and the municipal landfills, where 20 tons of PET bottles and over 10 tons of paper that were collected are to be recycled.
2012 – Pakomak for the youngest – “Night of Explorers”
The Fourth Friday in September was named “Night of explorers” by the European Commission. To mark this day, American College organized an interesting event in the center of Skopje, with interactive presentations, chemical experiments, a little art, and a lot of music.
In the scope of this event, Pakomak shared the educational storybook for children “the dragon Zmejko and the green secret” for free. This storybook tells about the importance of selecting the waste and its recycling in a fun and understandable language for children.
2013 – Underground containers in Skopje
Pakomak donated underground containers for selective waste disposal of packaging to the City of Skopje and the Communal hygiene.
With the activation of these containers, the communal infrastructure in the city has significantly improved. At the same time, these containers increased the amount of collected and recycled packaging waste.
2013 – Installations of bins in Mavrovo
To selectively dispose of the waste in the ski center “Zare Lazarevski”, Pakomak in January invested in the communal infrastructure in Mavrovo, installing bins for selected garbage disposal for the visitors.
Pakomak will continue to expand the communal infrastructure in more regions in the Republic of Macedonia to develop environmental awareness, but also to make the sorting and recycling of waste more accessible.
2013 – Eco-Action: Thousand white roses in the elementary schools and the Zoo
As part of the action “Skopje-city of flower, Skopje-city of rose” in more than 33 primary schools which received a donation of liquid soap, and in Skopje Zoo, were planted over 1,000 white roses as a donation from Pakomak. For a successful and long-lasting eco-action, the students along with their teachers are taking care of the white roses.
This action was triggered because the studies have shown that roses are good pullers of heavy metals from the soil and major refinements of the ambient air.
Pakomak, with the action for planting white roses, continues his activities among the young population to develop their environmental awareness and to develop care for the environment.
2013 – Educating the youngest for hygiene
In the primary schools across municipalities Karpos, Kisela Voda, and Gazi Baba in Skopje, Pakomak put educational posters right next to the liquid soapboxes. The posters visually present the right procedure for washing hands.
Placed in the school toilets, these posters help the children to properly maintain their personal hygiene, but at the same time educate them on the importance of saving water as a limited resource in nature.
2013 – Program for suppression and prevention of making waste packaging
As PAKOMAK customers have already been informed, any legal entity which cumulatively has more than 30 tons of packaging and packaging waste per year, has a legal obligation to prepare a program for suppression and prevention of making waste packaging. This free program was developed by Pakomak and it was delivered during February and March for those customers who have applied for it. This program explains in detail the obligations that companies have, following the Law for managing packaging and packaging waste, and ways of respecting the Law.
2013 – Support of the eco-action “Macedonia Land of Roses”
For the Day of Spring – March 21, The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning organized the eco-campaign “Macedonia Land of Flowers – Land of Roses.”
On this day, over 50,000 roses were planted in different cities of the country. This eco-action was based on a study that showed that Rose has an exceptional ability to accumulate and keep harmful elements, especially heavy metals from water, air, and soil. The Rose is a perennial plant, easy to breed in different areas, can live up to 30 years, and bloom even 200 days a year.
Pakomak supported the action and called the children of primary schools across Macedonia to prepare artwork of packaging waste on the subject “Rose”. For the manufactured artworks were organized exhibitions for sale and the raised funds were used to buy seedlings of roses that will be planted in schoolyards.
In cooperation with the MZSPP and the Regional Environmental Center, nine individual awards were divided into three categories, category from first to third grade, category from fourth of the sixth grade, and category from seventh to ninth grade. The winner of each category received a Tablet with Encyclopedia, second place got bicycles while third place got backpacks full of candy products.
2013 – The Zoo became eco-friendly thanks to Pakomak
Pakomak started a long-term collaboration with the Zoo and the main purpose will be the enhancement and restoration of the animal’s habitats.
In May, the visitors in the Zoo were invited to collect 1000 plastic bottles in a special container donated by Pakomak, by achieving this goal Pakomak will donate a swing for the monkeys. This one and many more activities will be organized for improving the conditions of the animals’ habitats.
As socially-responsible companies, the mission of the Zoo and Pakomak is to raise public awareness for the importance of sorting and recycling waste and that this action will encourage visitors to recycle at home. The goal of both companies it’s not just to have a clean Zoo, but also to have a clean Skopje for all of us.
2013 – Sound of Green – EcoFestival organized by Pakomak
The Eco Festival “Sound of Green” was held in Club Havana on June 25, organized by Pakomak. The goal of the festival was to raise environmental awareness among the young population and the tickets for the festival were given for the exchange of 3 empty plastic bottles of any size. A total of 1500 tickets were given and 4500 bottles were collected.
The best Macedonian bands performed under the motto “be recycler “: String Forces, Noviot Pocetok, Foolish Green, and Conquering lion. With the “tickets” the numerous audience that was present at the Havana Club helped clean the waste of
2013 – Day of Mobility
Pakomak supported the initiative of the City of Skopje and joined the action with the motto “In the town without my car”, organized for the occasion of the European Week of movement.
Several thousand citizens, students, and bike lovers parade on the streets and they showed that they are for clean Skopje and clean air. On this day of mobility, held on September 20th, Pakomak donated bicycles to 16 lucky participants in the cycling parade.
2014 – Supporting the local festival “Potocinja”
Pakomak supported the children’s festival “Potocinja” which was organized for the 11th time in the Universal Hall on 22 and 23 March 2014.
The company developed interesting eco videos for the kids that were played on the screen on the scene. These videos conveyed the message that the packaging with the past can have a future. At the same time, Pakomak invited the children to care for the environment and throw their garbage in garbage bins for selective disposal, set in Universal Hall by Pakomak.
The project “3D eco-bus” continued to take place throughout the municipalities of Kisela Voda, Gjorce Petrov, and Gazi Baba. The educational, interactive program included over 8200 students from 3 municipalities.
2014 – Start of the “3D ECO-BUS” project, that later continued in other municipalities
A 40 minute 3D program was organized on the bus, which was stationed near the school, including a lecture, projection of a 3D film, and an interactive game-test for the students and teachers. After the presentation, the teachers gave positive statements:
– “A well-conceived and implemented project. We always have excellent cooperation with Pakomak. Keep up the good work.”
– “It’s easier to learn in a fun, entertaining way. This will be an additional motivation to apply everything we have learned.”
– “An educative, unusual presentation. It’s easier to learn in a fun, entertaining way.”
Pakomak will continue with its educational projects in other municipalities, to help children develop environmentally responsible behavior.
2014 – Cooperation with Capitol Mall
Pakomak in January began his collaboration with Capitol Mall in Aerodrom, setting bins for selective waste disposal in the newest shopping mall in Skopje. Additionally, they have branded some of the glasses in the mall with eco-messages.
With this collaboration, Pakomak emphasized the importance of sorting and recycling of waste to all visitors and shoppers in Capitol Mall. The availability of the bins selected for waste disposal is the most important step to change their habits. The company will continue to spread the communal network across the country and together with the citizens to build a cleaner future for all of us.
2014 – Cooperation with ProCredit Bank
The company Pakomak and ProCredit Bank signed a memorandum of cooperation that took place in several stages in the next period. For starters, Pakomak through its associates in each of the 13 branches of ProCredit Bank in Skopje organized setting cardboard bins for the collection of administrative paperwork, which will continue to be collected and carried for recycling. Also, Pakomak placed plastic boxes for the collection of invalid credit and debit cards as plastic waste.
These activities are provided to the employees of the bank and its customers to contribute to saving the environment.
With this collaboration, ProCredit Bank has strengthened its commitment to be an environmentally friendly bank that cares about the environment and has developed a clear environmental strategy. Besides green loans for energy efficiency for businesses and citizens, Banking and environmental initiatives to employees, through the cooperation Pakomak this Bank has conveyed another message – that only with environmental behavior and recycling we can make an environmental step forward.
The efforts of Pakomak for raising general environmental awareness will continue, by encouraging various eco-actions and events for companies in Macedonia. The green Pakomak mission continues, and that is a cleaner planet, cleaner air, healthier food, and a cleaner environment. To accomplish this, all you need to do is think globally, but act locally!
2014 – Pakomak supports Fashion Weekend
Every year from 2012, Pakomak supports the FWSK. The company keeps promoting its sorting and recycling packaging waste at every main event in Macedonia.
2014 – Eco-action: Pakomak and the coffee bars and restaurants
The eco-action of the company Pakomak and the coffee bars and restaurants, for selectively disposing of waste in catering, started last year and continued intensively this year with more bars and restaurants include. In fact, only the first three months of this year over 8 tons of glass was collected, and with the inclusion of additional bars and restaurants, more quantities will be collected and taken to recycling.
The environmental action started with the initial 15 well-known cafes and restaurants, which showed socially responsible behavior and contributed to safeguarding the environment and natural resources of our capital so that today the number to be much higher.
In each of the cafes and restaurants involved in this project, Pakomak set three different baskets with labels for glass, plastic, and paper. The staffs at these facilities dispose of the packaging from drinks in the container intended for the specific type of packaging. Additionally, all cafes and restaurants were branded with interesting eco-messages whose purpose is to encourage guests in these restaurants to select and recycle the waste.
Through this action, the Pakomak goal is to increase awareness among people to create healthy environmental habits and simply – beautiful living environment for all of us.
To be a part of the Eco-Action Pakomak, seek the cafes and restaurants with this tag and despite the beautiful moments spent in these places, give your contribution to environmental protection.
2015 – Investment in infrastructure
Pakomak continuously develops utility infrastructure throughout the Republic of Macedonia. The donation of bins and containers in cities throughout the country aims to make the sorting and recycling of packaging waste easily accessible to everyone.
From January 1st to March 31st, 2015, 1.1m3 containers for collecting PET packaging and cans were donated in the following cities:
– 30 yellow containers in Stip
– 20 yellow containers in Ohrid
– 20 yellow containers in Bitola
– 10 yellow containers in the municipality of Rankovce
Pakomak is the most committed collective system for managing packaging waste in the country, with 42.000 tons of packaging waste passing through our system annually. The improvement of utility infrastructure not only contributes to easier sorting and recycling of packaging waste, but it also increases the public’s environmental awareness.
2015 – Initiative for a day without printing
For the first time in our country Pakomak, along with its 735 member companies, organized a day without printing. On February 27th, Pakomak called upon the public and other companies to “turn off” their printers at home, work, and everywhere else.
“Even though our company’s primary business activity is managing packaging waste, we thought we might contribute additionally by increasing the public’s awareness about their everyday habits and the effect they have on the environment. We decided to initiate this day to highlight the fact that every preserved piece of paper saves a tree.” – said Filip Ivanovski, director of Pakomak.
2015 – Collaboration with Skopje City Mall for Women’s day
Pakomak, in collaboration with City Mall’s Women’s Club, gave away flower seeds to all visitors marking the celebration of women’s day-8th of March.
The flower seed, along with the message “from green home to a green world” aimed to increase environmental awareness among visitors. The company will continue to promote positive habits among citizens, because only by working together can we create a “green” future for us all.
2015 – New eco-park on Mountain Vodno
Pakomak opened its first educative eco-park on mountain Vodno, near the cableway “Milenkiumski krst”, in collaboration with Procredit Bank, the public enterprise “Parkovi I Zelenilo” (“Parks and Greenery”), the city of Skopje, and the students and teachers from 60 schools throughout Skopje.
The eco-park covers an area of 1.000 square meters where visitors can enjoy the natural beauty of Vodno’s forest while learning more about recycling and the history of the location.
The students from these schools in Skopje, who regularly recycle plastic waste, planted 60 new seedlings of coniferous trees in the park, which will remain a legacy for generations to come.
Bins for selective disposal, boards with eco-messages, and boards depicting the chronology of Skopje from the 4th millennium B.C. to the present were additionally placed throughout the park.
Apart from educating, this project also aims to preserve the natural beauty of frequently visited locations by the citizens of Skopje, as well as Vodno’s biodiversity.
2015 – New eco-cafes and eco-restaurants in Skopje
Thirty cafes and restaurants throughout the city of Skopje have joined Pakomak’s eco-project “Are you Recycling?”. From now on, the employees in these facilities will sort beverage packaging in Pakomak’s special bins, contributing towards its recycling.
All cafes and restaurants have an interesting eco-branding that aims to raise the visitors’ environmental awareness.
The current cafes and restaurants collect over 6 tons of glass packaging each month and with the additional 30 facilities, this number is expected to double. Pakomak intends to organize eco-parties in these locations and further increasing the public’s environmental awareness.
2015 – Spring initiative “First one to the top”
On March 22nd Pakomak organized the sporting event “The first one to the top”, marking the beginning of spring.
Over 2.000 participants climbed and biked their way to the top of mountain Vodno, starting their route from “Koco Racin” primary school at 09:00. A party with a DJ awaited everyone at the finish line and the fastest participants who reached the top first received a gift-a book on healthy lifestyle and nutrition. The bins Pakomak placed at the top of Vodno served as an eco-reminder to the participants to be careful about where they dump the packaging from their waste.
Pakomak will continue to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle, to strengthen environmental habits, and to unite citizens with the idea of sport, recreation, and enjoying nature.
2015 – Pakomak part of the FMCG summit
The first FMCG summit in Macedonia was held on May 12th in the “Alexander Palace” hotel.
Management representatives from the largest companies in Macedonia, employees from purchasing, marketing, and sales sectors, consultants, and agencies all attended the summit. Current issues and problems concerning retailers, distributors, and manufacturers were discussed and analyzed from a new, fresh perspective.
As a supporter of the summit, Pakomak gave out eco-bags to all the attendees and reminded them about the importance of sorting and recycling waste.
2015 – New bins in Tetovo and Bitola
Pakomak continuously develops the utility infrastructure in the Republic of Macedonia. The donation of bins and containers in cities across the country aims to make the sorting and recycling of packaging waste easily accessible to everyone.
In the last 3 months, bins for selective disposal of waste were set up in the following locations:
• 10 bins in “Palma Mall” in Tetovo
• 500 bins throughout the center of Bitola
Pakomak is the most dedicated collective system for managing waste in the country, with 42.000 tons of packaging waste passing through their system annually. Improving communal infrastructure will not only improve sorting and recycling waste, it will also contribute towards increasing the public’s environmental awareness.
2015 – Branding trucks in Bitola
Pakomak branded the trucks for the collection of waste with the eco-message “Don’t stop the circle”, continuing its collaboration with the Public Communal Enterprise in Bitola.
The visual display of how plastic bottles can become shoes, cardboard boxes can become books and glass bottles can become glasses, which will further motivate the citizens of Bitola to continue the recycling cycle.
Pakomak will continue to raise the public’s environmental awareness through various eco-activities and initiatives.
2015 – Continuing the donations in Tetovo
Pakomak donated a truck for the collection of paper to the city of Tetovo and half of the required amount for purchasing a vehicle for sweeping streets.
This is the third truck that Pakomak has donated to the city of Tetovo, in addition to 40 containers and 100 bins for collecting plastic packaging and other communal waste.
Tetovo is among the cities that generate the most waste and packaging waste and these donations significantly improve communal infrastructure and hygiene throughout the streets of the city.
The donation was received by the mayor of Tetovo, Mrs. Teuta Arifi, who expressed her gratitude for Pakomak’s support in handling waste and expressed confidence that through this partnership Tetovo will soon become a city that effectively manages it is waste and packaging waste.
2015 – Opening of the first waste sorting line in Stip
The collaboration between Pakomak, the municipality of Stip, and Public Enterprise Isar began in 2011. 2015 was a year of great progress, with the opening of a sorting line for secondary selection of packaging waste.
The initial results, realized during June, are encouraging. More than 4.5 tons of plastic bottles, about 150.000 pieces of PET packaging, have been selected in the municipality of Stip.
The sorting line consists of two machines, a conveyor and a press for selecting, pressing, and baling waste. The entire investment costs around 40.000 euros and is part of Pakomak’s collaboration with the company Isar.
Stip produces around 280 m3 of waste daily. 30% of it is plastic waste, 33% is paper, 3% is glass and 40% is another communal waste. Citizens sort around 2% of the waste, while PE Isar collects and processes around 6 m3 of plastic and paper every day. The rest of the waste is transported and destroyed at the city’s landfill. PE Isar and Pakomak’s efforts aim to create long-term sustainable methods for preventing, educating, and raising public awareness about the importance of sorting packaging waste and protecting the environment.
By opening this sorting line, PE Isar will provide additional income from the secondary selection of waste, in addition to meeting legal requirements and obligations, and Pakomak, as the first and largest collective handler of packaging waste in the country, will fulfill their national objectives about managing packaging waste in a new, modern way.
2016 – Pakomak with eco-messages on “Мој Воздух” application
Recycling helps prevent pollution and prevents CO2 and CH4 in the air. To promote these benefits from recycling, Pakomak started a collaboration with the popular “Мој Воздух” application. Мој Воздух shows the quality of the air in Macedonia, and at that moment had around 10.000 users.
Now, when users check their air quality, they can read useful eco-messages from Pakomak if they want to inform themselves more about waste management.
2016 – Eco-action on Popova Sapka
This eco-action took place on the 9th and 10th of April. It was organized by the youth organization from Tetovo, with the support from Pakomak, the hotel “Teteks Arena”.
Over 60 participants took place and cleaned the whole ski center Popova Sapka. This eco-action goal was to raise awareness to tourists and local citizens to care more about the waste, to prevent pollution.
2016 – Eco-action “Are you recycling?” around Macedonia
Almost all the cafes and restaurants from Dojran, Shtip, Bitola, and Ohrid, take place in the eco-action that was organized by Pakomak. The employees will now sort the waste from the bottles. Then those bottles will be recycled.
At that time, the eco-café bars from Skopje were collecting more than 40 tons of glass per month, and the number just kept growing.
Pakomak published their first “green” newspaper in Macedonia and the same month they inserted it to the popular newspapers like “Вечер” and “Слободен печат”. Some copies were gifted to teachers in the elementary schools who collaborate with Pakomak.
2016- The first eco-newspaper from Pakomak
The newspaper was divided into several sections: EcoMacedonia, eco planet, interview with Ranko Bubamara, eco-experience, eco fun, eco advice, healthy life, ecofacts, and photo-event. Alongside the interesting eco content, in the newspaper, the readers could find more about Pakomak and its results in the last five years.
The main goal of publishing this newspaper was to raise awareness about waste pollution.
2017 – Door-to-door action for glass waste
Pakomak organized a “door-to-door” action for glass waste in Kozle. There were more than 2500 kilos of glass collected, and this action continued in the other municipalities in the next couple of months.
2017 – “Green Game” mobile application for kids
Promotion of “Green Game” – mobile application for kids. This is a game with a purpose. Kids through playing games are gathering points, and learn more about waste sorting and recycling.
2017 – Spring cleaning of glass basements
Pakomak, alongside with Ramstore and Granap supermarkets, organized spring cleaning of glass basements.
The citizens brought their glass waste from their homes. They were awarded flower seed. This eco-action was a total success, and the locals reacted great to it.
2018 – Pakomak prepares eco-theater performance
Pakomak in a collaboration with “Detski Cvet” and the famous character Ivce Pivce, prepared the performance “Green Planet – Pakomak for kids”.
This performance will take place in 10 cities around Macedonia. Through this performance, the kids learned more about the importance of waste sorting, waste recycling, and the importance of a healthy environment.
2018 – Cleaning the waste around river Vardar
Pakomak, alongside with “Pivara Skopje” and the Holland embassy, supported an eco-action that was meant for cleaning the shore of river Vardar.
Identifying the need of creating sustainable solutions for a cleaner environment and raising awareness for a cleaner urban environment, Pakomak initiated this action to clean the shore of Vardar. The employees from the mentioned companies volunteered in this eco-action.
The number of employees who participated in this action exceeded the expectations, and that proved that with good teamwork, positive attitude, everything is possible.
2018 – Map of containers in Skopje
Pakomak created a map of their containers throughout Skopje. The locals now can search for their closest Pakomak containers and properly sort their waste.
2018 – Magic performance – “Hocus pocus, recycling is the focus”
Pakomak, in collaboration with the magician Kristijan Shopov, created the project “Hocus pocus, recycling is the focus”. This project is intended for children of preschool and school-age. In this project, through fun games and magic performance, the kids will learn more about the importance of waste sorting and keeping a clean and healthy environment.
This performance took place in a couple of cities in Macedonia.
2018 – Eco-action for paper waste with NUL
World Book Day took its place on 23rd April, and on that occasion, Pakomak organized an eco-action for paper waste. The participants brought old paper and replaced it with a new book.
2018 – Eco-action for glass waste in collaboration with Centar Municipality
Pakomak collaborated with the local communities from Centar Municipality and organized eco-action for glass waste. The locals brought their glass waste and got flower seeds in return.
2018 – Eco-action for cleaning the City park in collaboration with Rotari club
In collaboration with Rotari club from Skopje, Pakomak conducted an organized action for cleaning the city park. The action was more than successful, and the youngest participants were awarded a magic performance at the end of this eco-action.
2018 – Pakomak awarded ecopassports to the participants of their loyalty program – Ekozone
More than 500 passports were awarded to many cafes, restaurants, and hotels around the city of Skopje. The purpose of these passports was to motivate the local businesses to keep their healthy environment activities. Also, in those passports, they can enter the amount of the material that is being recycled. There was a contest actually, and the business who wrote the biggest number there is awarded an appropriate reward. Eco-passports were awarded not only in Skopje but throughout every city in Macedonia.
2018 – “Save, create, win” – new creative competition from Pakomak with Sparkasse Bank
This competition has many goals. One of them is to promote the day of saving in October. So, Pakomak and Sparkasse Bank created this competition that is called “Save, create, win”.
This competition was for children from kindergartens and elementary schools, which assignment was to create a piece of art using plastic or paper on the topic “Saving”.
The main idea was to nurture and develop the creativity of those children and to raise awareness about waste management.
GO GREEN – Биди Зелен
Go Green is an international youth environmental organization providing climate change education and taking action for climate change migration and adoption. They enable a support system for young people and vulnerable groups, and they care about their well-being in the socio-ecological transformation of the communities.
2010 – The “Ecology” magazine was the oldest magazine for ecology in Macedonia, which existed for almost 15 years. Bidi Zelen took its place in 2010 or continued their legacy. Go Green acknowledged the magazine’s mission and vision, and completely rebranded it.
The magazine got a new saying “Go Green – Ecology and sustainable development”, and its goal is to raise awareness about climate change, global warming, energy efficiency, and using renewable energy sources.
2010 – Go Green alongside with AIESEC and the Union of scouts of Republic Macedonia organized a project, which goal was to raise awareness among young people, and educate them on the subject of sustainable development and protecting the environment. The project took its place in 2010, and it consisted of two main events. The first one was the seminar, and the second one was the anti-pollution march.
2017 – Go Green started street photo action, which lasted a week during the European mobility week. Go Green volunteers took photos of citizens who traveled through city buses or bikes, and they used those photos for promotion materials. While the local citizens used their cars, there were a couple of headings throughout the city to motivate them to switch them with another eco-friendly way of transport.
The second activity that “Go Green” did during the European mobility week was the conference “Bike & Learn” on the 21st of September. 20 young people from Skopje were chosen to participate in this unusual conference where the judges didn’t sit in the conference hall, but instead, they were driving with their bikes to 4 info stops in the city.
The participants got to know the project better, and there were a couple of companies that debuted their ideas for a cleaner environment.
2020 – The non-profit organization Go Green initiated the Square Jadran project in Center Municipality. That will include eco-friendly zones to improve air quality. The project includes a new green zone on the street Vasil Glavinov and setting up new smart benches.
These will be the first smart benches in Macedonia and will be located in Center Municipality. The new smart benches will provide free Internet, a sensor for air quality, and free solar charge for smart mobile devices. The users can use these functionalities through an application on their mobile device.
2020 – Селектирам is an initiative from the Go Green organization. Its goal is to help raise awareness of waste sorting. They have a website, too. They have a manual, which includes instructions for better waste sorting.
2020 – Go Green started a campaign for eco-buildings, which is a part of the #селектирам project. Every building can apply, and they can get a couple of bins for sorting their waste. In this way, the locals can sort and recycle their waste much easier. After the building application is approved, they get the eco-building badge, and they are pinned on their eco-building locator on Google Maps, which can be found on selektiraj.mk
Let’s go Macedonia
Go Green is also the founder of Let’s go Macedonia, which is a clear environment association. Their mission is to develop a sustainable waste sorting solutions. This initiative is motivated by the world association Let’s do it World.
2014 – 2016 Macedonia without waste.
It initiated the following activities:
• Raise problem awareness of modern waste management
• Education for different groups, with special focus on young people
• Developing database with locations, type, and the amount of waste
• Forming sustainable networks of local communities which can actively work on preventing illegal landfills
2016 – Food surplus donation legislation policy advocacy
• Current legislation and regulation inhibits food surplus donations leading to a tremendous waste of resources to support the 1 and 5 Macedonians who are food insecure
• They advocated changes to current legislation focused on broadening food surplus donation regulations including the need for tax benefits for food donors
• They increased capacities within the civil sector to provide food surplus donation redistribution
• They provided protection for food donors and recipient agencies from liabilities
2017 – Feed 1000
Across Macedonia, Food Insecurity is an issue with 1 out of 5 Macedonians struggling with food insecurity but low awareness limits the possibilities for civic engagement to support those in need. The event was to help raise awareness and source food donations to support those in need.
They hosted a Food Donation drive in partnership with the “Move a Finger” campaign and other organizations where 1,000 citizens donated enough food to provide over 16,000 meals to food-insecure citizens throughout Skopje!
2017 – Food surplus redistribution platform
The current environment for food surplus donations is inadequate regarding transparency, accountability, and traceability requiring systematic changes to enable large scale food surplus donations to support the food insecure population in Macedonia
They are establishing a technology platform connecting food providing entities with civic sector organizations to facilitate the donation and redistribution of food surplus.
This program was created to empower and enable the youth of Macedonia to understand the implications of food waste environmentally, socially, and economically to lead the next generation in the changes to address food insecurity and food waste.
They created and implemented an experiential learning program about Food Waste targeting secondary age students. The students had the opportunity to learn more about the topic of Food Waste in the context of Macedonia including what steps need to be done to address the problem and how they can take those steps in their own lives
2018 – Feed 10,000
The Citizen’s initiative “Mrdni so prst” supported the national humanitarian action “Feed 10.000” for food surplus donations, organized by the “Site Siti” network, where the idea developer is the Association Let’s do it Macedonia. “Feed 10,000” is a national action to donate food in selected locations and distribute it to socially endangered citizens.
The first humanitarian act will take place on September 6, which will start at 10 am and lasted until 7 pm with the ambition to turn this event into a continuous one-month action in 10 cities of the country Skopje, Bitola, Kumanovo, Prilep, Strumica, Radovish, Gevgelija, Gostivar, Kocani and Vinica.
2018 – Everyone fed
Thousands of tons of perfectly good food is wasted every year and Macedonia while 1 out of 5 citizens are food insecure
They initiated an awareness campaign on the need to address food waste and food insecurity. They also provided a call to action for businesses, CSOs and citizens to get involved in the efforts to reduce food waste and support those who are food insecure