This year’s spring cleaning campaign of Zlatna Panega Cement AD took place on April 11, 2014. The campaign was dedicated to Zlatna Panega River and was supported by volunteers from the Old Otters Fishing Club and the Sergey Rumyantsev Vocational High School of Agriculture in Lukovit (Lovech region). The end result was: 1,800 tons of separated waste were delivered to Zlatna Panega Cement plant’s refuse-derived fuel (RDF) installation for preliminary processing and subsequent utilization at the kilns for cement clinker.

The Director of the Zlatna Panega cement plant, Mr. Constantinos Nikolaou, joined the campaign at the Glava Panega area which is part of Natura 2000. The fishermen, by means of special equipment, waded into the deeper ends of Zlatna Panega River and cleared river bed areas clogged up with old waste. The students, for their part, participated actively in all volunteering activities, thus making one of the wishes they had pinned to the Tree of Ideas come true – to live in a cleaner environment.

In the end, Mrs. Stefka Nikolova, mayor of the village of Rumyantsevo, promised to arrange for the transportation of all non-recyclable waste to a waste depot.

The rain did not dampen the volunteers’ enthusiasm

Pouring rain set in a day before the launch of the campaign and lasted for several days. On the day of the campaign itself, the rain stopped for only two hours during which the volunteers, equipped with plastic rain macs, gloves, and bags, collected more than two tons of waste.

This is not the first cleaning campaign targeting the local karst spring and Zlatna Panega River. There were many such campaigns in the last few years. Some were organized by Zlatna Panega Cement AD and others by the Old Otters Fishing Club. In 2013, the same campaign led to the collection of 1,200 tons of burnable fraction. The target areas were road E83, road 103, the area surrounding the cement plant, the village of Zlatna Panega, and the Glava Panega protected area. In 2012, the collected waste was around four tons. Back then, the trails around the karst spring were restored.

A mini waste collection system

Zlatna Panega Cement AD funded the making of 40 concrete waste bins which were placed in the vicinity of the river’s spring and along the river banks down to the eco-trail in the Iskar-Panega Geo Park. In addition, 34 signboards will now kindly remind all visitors about the importance of keeping nature clean. This mini waste collection system will be serviced by Zlatna Panega Cement AD which is a guarantee for better looks of the river and all adjacent areas. The ultimate objective is to make the place attractive for more nature lovers, tourists, fishermen, and guests.

The Tree of Ideas serves as a forum for the Adoption of the Zlatna Panega River project which was jointly launched by Zlatna Panega Cement AD and 16 partners in June 2013, as part of TITAN Group’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy. The Tree of Ideas was first installed at the Zlatna Panega Cement plant. It was then transferred to the Sergey Rumyantsev Vocational High School of Agriculture in Lukovit and is currently at the Hristo Botev Primary School in the village of Brestnitsa.

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