Towns of Benkovac, Vinkovci and Velika Gorica Win This Year's Edition of the From Source to Sea Project

After 30 packaging waste cleanup campaigns, the winning towns of this year's edition of the From Source to Sea project („Od izvora do mora“) have now been announced. The town of Benkovac won first place in the category of small towns, i.e., those with a population of less than 10,000, Vinkovci got the highest score among medium-size towns, while Velika Gorica scored a victory in the category of large towns, i.e., those with a population of more than 35,000.

The Scoring Committee, composed of representatives of the project organisers, namely Coca-Cola, Konzum, Association of Towns and Jutarnji list, has awarded scores to all 30 towns that registered for participation in the prize competition run as part of the From Source to Sea environmental project this year.

More than 2,200 volunteers joined the cleanup campaigns and collected 420 tonnes of packaging waste, thus achieving an important project goal – a reduction in pollution along with an increase in awareness of the importance of environmental protection and proper disposal of packaging waste. The project is focused on supporting the urban afforestation efforts, i.e., the planting of trees in towns with the aim of reducing C0₂ emissions and air temperature in urban areas. Therefore, the winning towns will divide the prize – EUR 45,000 – equally among themselves, and spend the funds on planting trees in locations of their own choice.

„We are satisfied with the results of this year's edition of the From Source to Sea project, especially with the large number of towns that decided to participate and the amount of packaging waste collected, which is almost three times the amount collected last year. Such strong numbers show that our efforts in the field of environmental care and sustainability have been recognised by the towns and citizens that have joined us. We congratulate all towns and citizens that participated in the project and, to our winners, we wish success in their afforestation efforts,“ said Bruno Jelić, Director of the Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Department of Coca-Cola HBC Adria.

This year’s edition of the From Source to Sea project started with a Call for Participation in the Competition inviting all interested towns to register for participation in the period from 15 February to 15 March, and as many as 30 responded. The participating towns included: Benkovac, Otočac, Pakrac, Vrgorac, Lipik, Čabar, Ludbreg, Pleternica, Beli Manastir, Zlatar, Varaždinske Toplice, Korčula, Vodnjan – Dignano, Zabok, Stari Grad (Hvar), Virovitica, Čakovec, Daruvar, Vinkovci, Duga Resa, Zaprešić, Labin, Rovinj – Rovigno, Karlovac, Rijeka, Zadar, Pula – Pola, Osijek, Velika Gorica, and Dubrovnik. Their obligation was to organise a packaging waste cleanup campaign by the middle of June.

Every town reported the results of its cleanup campaign to the organisers, i.e., the number of volunteers and the amount of waste collected, the most important performance criteria in the scoring process. During the cleanups, the towns enjoyed the support of the organisers of the competition, who proudly watched tonnes of packaging waste being collected and afterwards properly disposed of with the help of the utility companies of the participating towns.

In agreement with the winners, the planting activities will take place in autumn season, from September to November, after which special plaques will be awarded to the winners.

Coca-Cola launched the From Source to Sea project in Croatia in 2018 in cooperation with government institutions and civil society organisations. Three years ago, Jutarnji list joined the project as a project partner, followed by Konzum in 2022, and the Association of Towns last year. The project has also been endorsed by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Green Transition and the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology of the University of Zagreb.

From Source to Sea is a project implemented as part of the World Without Waste initiative, a comprehensive, multi-year program under which Coca-Cola has committed itself, among other things, to collecting and recycling a bottle or can for every one it sells, and to using at least 50 % recycled material in primary packaging by 2030. The company has also committed to making all primary packaging 100 % recyclable by 2025, which goal has already been achieved in Croatia. In the past 10 years, simply by using lighter bottles, the total plastic consumption has been reduced by a quarter. At the end of May 2023, Coca-Cola made yet another step forward to achieving its vision of a World Without Waste by introducing unremovable plastic bottle caps to Croatian consumers.