– If we do not all take steps to reduce the production and treatment of waste, then I do not foresee a colorful future for us – said Jaroslav Groblny, Chairman of Intereko Energia, during a discussion of Wprost “Green Heart” dedicated to sustainable development. The waste patch in the Atlantic Ocean is increasing daily, and plants, animals, and eventually humans suffer from it.
Mountains and islands of waste
According to the head of Intereko Energia, at the moment, the largest extractors of natural resources not only limit, but also increase their activities.
– It follows that planning for greater consumption. At present, there is no closed operating system for the production and recovery of materials in Europe or in the world. Besides, the European administration is too rigid to provide such solutions quickly and effectively without legal and social resistance.
Intereko Energia has operations in African countries. According to Jarosław Grobelny, this market is more interesting because it is not limited to regulations and customs. This makes it easy to introduce closed loop systems there.
– Social awareness in Poland and Europe is increasing every day, and especially among the younger generations, my son is more aware than most citizens – admitted Gropelny. – Unfortunately, the legislation significantly expands the construction of waste treatment infrastructure. The average period is 2 to 5 years, and we have just grown in the past seven years.
According to Jarosław Grobelny, the growing awareness of society and consumers of choosing ecological products is only one brick to solve the problem, which unfortunately does not matter much in itself. This is due to the fact that companies passionately ascribe to themselves pro-environmental activities that comply with the principles of sustainable development, but do not always go hand in hand with actual activities. For example, the head of Inetereko made a statement from one of the trade networks, in which he bragged that the paper he prints receipts on is made from recycled materials. Not only was this not true, even the paper the grid used was not recyclable. According to Grobelny, many businesses are only marketing in nature.
– Everything is sold for marketing purposes, but whether everything actually works is unknown. The upward movement, which means informed consumer choices, is always welcome, but it is important to remember that companies shape our habits. If there are no changes or if politicians do not introduce appropriate legislative standards that will hit companies, I think we are in a losing position – concluded Jaroslav Gropilny.
environmental construction
The second member worked for twenty years in the construction of eco-houses, which is gaining popularity not only in Western Europe, but also in Poland.
– Eco-construction is about choosing materials and structures in such a way as to ensure the best conditions not only for the health of the inhabitants, but also the minimum negative impact on the environment – said Anna Wisuka, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Domecon. – We only use wood for construction, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions and produces waste that can be easily recycled.
Anna Wysocka’s experience shows that Domikon clients are deeply committed to environmental issues, and more recently also to energy independence. In recent years, the focus has shifted from green building to topics such as photovoltaics and heat pumps.
– Anna Wisowka said that the consciousness of Polish society is definitely shifting towards ecological construction. The question is, will we be able to use it when it comes to the cost of living. Does support favor him, as in Germany, for example?
Will tech companies save us?
The last of the three panelists was Huawei Polska’s Ryszard Hordyński. He was asked how global technology companies can positively influence the changes taking place on the planet.
– Of course, companies like ours are able to influence changes and Huawei is aware of that. Therefore, the field of digital energy is one of the fastest growing areas in our company, that is, everything related to the environment and clean energy.
Ryszard Hordyński also noted that today’s world, including all environmental activities, relies heavily on data. As a tech company that hails from the telecoms sector, Huawei has quickly adapted to lower energy costs, which are a huge cost to companies like Huawei.
– Our research centers are beginning to deal with the problem of how to reduce energy costs for us and our customers – said Hordinsky. – As a result, we began to produce photovoltaic inverters, which are currently one of the most efficient in the market. We also manufacture batteries that store energy from the sun to ensure it arrives at peak times and when the sun is not shining.
Huawei is also getting into the electric car industry. It will not produce cars under its own brand, but is already in the supply chain for such elements as the engine connected to the gearbox, the on-board battery, the car management system and one of the most efficient car chargers that charges the battery 200 km of driving in 10 minutes.
– Hordinsky said that the problem that Huawei is working on extensively is the problem of recycling used batteries and batteries. – We are dealing with this relatively briefly, so I do not yet have answers to all questions, for example what will happen to car batteries, but we already have solutions for mobile phones.
Huawei runs a program to refurbish and sell used smartphones at a lower price, but it also runs environmental and scientific programs that use old smartphones.
“In one of these programs, we use smartphones connected to solar batteries in the Amazon rainforest and analyze the sounds they hear,” Hordinsky explained. – These can be, for example, the sounds of hunters or saws cutting trees. The phones then automatically send notifications to the appropriate services.
“Green Heart” was discussed at Wprost on the occasion of the celebration, with editors awarding awards to companies that are guided by the environment and sustainable development in their work.
