Several restaurants and cafes were set up by Graphisoft Park within its premises in order to serve its numerous tenants. Our express goal was to reduce take-out food orders while motivating diners for short open air walks in the Park and to provide a wide variety of freshly prepares meals. At the same time significant reduction of waste is achieved, way less plastic and paper are wasted and less leftovers are generated.

The operation of our restaurants are in tune with the basic values of Graphisoft Park, to be in perfect harmony with nature, while preserving it. Local suppliers and produce are most welcome at our restaurants where the operators provide a variety of healthy foods. Self-service system was introduced in our restaurants on serving-weight based payment, resulting in significant reduction of food waste, since patrons only buy as much as they need. Graphisoft Park secured agreements with restaurant operators for ensuring the everyday presence of healthy meal choices on their menu. Some of our restaurants even indicate the meat-to-vegetable or carbohydrate ratio in their served dishes. We have also launched a place specializing in sustainable food, that is becoming ever more popular among our environmentally conscious diners.

In recent years, Graphisoft Park was regularly inviting primary growers to directly sell their quality produce, so that tenants can buy fresh food bypassing the retail outlets. The most popular is the sale of strawberries in May – June. From March this year, a vegetable and fruit stand will also set up at the Park on a daily basis.

Coca-Cola Hungary reduced the weight of aluminium cans by thirteen percent. From 2020, for the packaging of canned soft drinks produced in Hungary and distributed in 19 countries, the company uses almost 170 tons less aluminium a year, significantly reducing the environmental load during production and delivery, as well as the total ecological footprint of the company. It also launches a campaign for the greatest possible recollection of soft drink packaging, as it believes that the cycle guranteed by the collection and recycling of packaging is the most efficient way to handle packaging waste.

The weight decrease of aluminium cans and the decrease in the use of pallet foil started last year means that the yearly weight of the amount delivered is reduced by more than 210 tons. As this makes the packaging much lighter, delivery requires less resources and energy.

The company improved the packaging of soft drinks several times in recent years. Taking environmental aspects into consideration, Coca-Cola Hungary is probably going to replace the plastic packaging of four- and six-pack cans with innovative cardboard packaging in 2021.

One of the aims of Coca-Cola’s global Zero Waste World strategy is to collect as many plastic bottles and aluminium cans by 2030 as the amount sold. To advocate selective garbage collection, the company launches a national vision forming campaign in the framework of which it is going to replace the cap of all soft drinks: the logo of the given brand will be replaced by a drawing encouraging the recycling of the bottle.

The plastic bottles distributed by Coca-Cola are already 100 percent recyclable; the proportion of recycled plastic used in bottles is an average 24 percent which the company undertakes to increase to 50 percent by 2030. The amount of plastic used in Hungarian production decreased by 15 percent in the last years, and this year, as a result of a 100 million forint technological development, the amount of plastic used for carbonated soft drink bottles will be further reduced by 4 percent. This single step in itself means that the company uses 600 tons less plastic a year, equivalent to the weight of 24 million PET bottles. PET bottles constitute only 3% of the total packaging waste in Hungary.

Across Europe, the number of new EV registrations increased with an average of 60% between 2018 and 2019. Improvements in EV readiness were due to a combination of the increased availability of public charging infrastructure and to the extension of a wide range of government incentives. Support for environmentally friendly driving is particularly strong in Hungary, Austria, the United Kingdom and Portugal. These are the conclusions, among others, of the latest EV Readiness Index by LeasePlan, the market leader in fleet management.

Almost all countries in the EV Readiness Index showed an improved score compared to the previous year, but the Netherlands, Norway and United Kingdom are now the best prepared countries in Europe for the electric vehicle transition. In overall, Hungary moved from last year’s 16th place in the rank to the 14th.

The number of new EV registrations increased with an average of 60% on the continent. In Hungary, 586 new electric cars were registered in one year, which is an increase of 71%.

According to LeasePlan, this development is primarily due to the increased availability of public charging infrastructure and to the extension of government incentives which are key requirements for stimulating EV uptake:

• Across Europe, there was a 73% increase in public charging stations. There are over 4,000 fast charging locations across the countries surveyed. According to the research, there are 679 public charging points in Hungary, which is by 90 more than last year, and there are more than 100 fast rechargers among. It is estimated that more than 2000 charging points will be created in 2020.
• The government subsidies for green number plate cars (e.g. purchase subsidies, registration and ownership tax benefits, company benefits and lower VAT rates) are the highest in Hungary, Austria, the United Kingdom and Portugal.

The following subsidies are available in Hungary

• Until 24 February 2020, state subsidy was available to incite purchase of new, battery electric passenger cars and light commercial vehicles up to HUF 1.5 million. Until 31 March 2020, SMEs and corporations can still leverage this subsidy in the form of operational leasing through LeasePlan which not only handles the administration of the application, but also provides a more favorable monthly fee by integrating the amount of the subsidy into it.
• Tax (motor vehicle, company car and registration tax) and fee exemption (acquisition and transcription)
• Third party liability: resulting in a 15% average savings
• Free parking in several parts of the country
• Free access to protected areas (according to local regulations)

LeasePlan is committed to take a leadership role in the transition from internal combustion engines to alternative powertrains, therefore the company’s goal is to shift all its employee vehicles to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) by 2021 and to achieve net zero tailpipe emissions across in its entire global fleet by 2030. As part of this ambition, the company launched its Green Bond Framework in 2019, which aims to involve financial actors to help LeasePlan finance and refinance BEVs in its fleet, thereby accelerating the transition to e-driving. In the pursuit of sustainability, the company also finds fundamental to report regularly on its activities in a transparent way and with an actual action plan. Thus for the first time this year LeasePlan has published its sustainability report, detailing the company’s aspirations and goals for a more viable future.

Our newest member company is Güntner-Tata Hűtőtechnika Ltd., which was established in 1990 and has 1400 employees. The company’s turnover in 2018 was EUR 53 billion. They deal with the production of non-household refrigerators and air conditioners besides, they manufacture evaporators, condensers, air coolers and customized products for industrial companies and plants.

Güntner-Tata attaches great importance to promoting sustainability, improving ecological balance and the quality of life. Priorities include raising employees’ environmental awareness, reducing the use of hazardous substances, applying environmentally friendly technologies, and preventing and reducing environmental pollution. Towards this, waste is selectively collected at the factory, and some components are produced and transported using renewable energy. The company takes responsibility for maintaining and improving the environmental condition of its site. Furthermore, in 2018, Güntner-Tata has completed its first Sustainability Plan, and one of the key elements of their 2020 strategy is the GreenGüntner direction, which promotes responsible, sustainable and green operation.

Ethical operation and social engagement are also important to the company. The company employs a variety of nationalities, has a prayer room for equal treatment and respect for religions, and provides an interpreter for the proper flow of information. Meanwhile, they support the city and local organizations, kindergartens and schools annually.

Sustainability is a key factor to the company, as part of their strategy to continuously look for innovative solutions and opportunities, and by joining BCSDH, they would like to develop this, among other things.

Waste can become raw material once again, but it requires conscious waste recovery efforts to ensure that items scrapped or thrown away get to the appropriate place and are recycled. Loacker Hulladékhasznosító Kft. is pursuing its activities with the aim of creating raw materials for the future: recycling makes it possible to generate raw materials with significant energy efficiency, at the same time also reducing environmental burden.

Waste recovery has a significant impact on the economy. To illustrate it with a practical example: if you put an empty beer can into the appropriate (yellow) collection bin, after going through a multi-step waste management process it will eventually end up in an aluminium smelter, where it will be turned into raw material once again. This process of aluminium production uses 95% less energy than the making of aluminium from bauxite, meaning that while the end product is of identical quality, the production process is much more economical. On the other hand, if you throw an aluminium can into the communal (black) waste bin, it will be taken to the landfill, contributing to an increase in environmental burden.

Loacker Hulladékhasznosító Kft. works together with its industrial and public service provider partners with the aim of jointly developing more efficient systems and achieving, as a common goal, an improvement in waste recollection rates. However, liaising with the general public and participating in targeted awareness-raising efforts are equally important, as consumption and buying habits are closely interrelated with the quantity of waste produced, and also its management.

As a part of its CSR activities Loacker organizes various programs, among others in collaboration with various civil society organizations, and frequently hosts field trips where school groups can get acquainted with all waste processing operations. In addition, the Company’s staff and consultants regularly participate in the “Earth Day” event organized every year by the 9th district municipality, where – through a series of playful activities – they promote waste recycling and stress its role in creating value in an environmentally friendly manner. In addition to theoretical awareness-raising activities, the Company has launched several practical initiatives in support of appropriate waste management. Sorting and handling waste at recreational events often poses a challenge, this is why Loacker provided several selective waste storage bins to help keep Hídépítő Street – this year’s World Urban Games venue – clean, at the same time guaranteeing the recovery of all waste generated.

“Value can only be created from waste by recovery. But in order to be able to produce raw materials for the future, we must consciously create a cycle of planning, production and recovery” – said János Dévényi, managing director of Loacker Hulladékhasznosító Kft.

The Loacker Group – a 100% subsidiary of the Austrian Loacker Recycling GmbH. – has been active in Hungary since 1993. The group currently operates three yards in Hungary (2 in Budapest and 1 in Kiskorpád). With a history of over 140 years, the parent company and also the sister companies are committed to a sustainable future and the use of environmentally conscious recovery technologies in everyday practice.