Lakosság

A specially modified bus was wandering around Hungary last year. The huge, smoke-blowing Tetra-Brik box � owned by the Tetra-Pak company - visited schools where, at the request of the school management, the driver gave lectures on environmental issues.

A dairy company started to sell a new product made of cheese whey with the name in the title of this article. It was packaged in Tetra Brik. This is how the most complicated consumer interest story of the last years started. After a hard struggle the Commercial Jury (Gazdasági Vesenyhivatal) made its decision on 24th of April: IQ energy drink produced by WES Rt. has nothing to do with either IQ, energy or organic products. The product cannot be advertised and sold claiming these attributes. It also turned out during the procedure that official permission to market the product hadn't been given till the end of February 1997, and especially as this is food - this is more than embarassing.

We would like to write about the presentation of Coca Cola rather than the actual product itself. 92% of the Hungarian Coke market is in the hands of two multinational giants which explains why we have to think about their marketing activity and its impact on the environment.

Most people don't realize that their consumption choices necessarily and directly relate to the global problem of the growing mountains of waste.It is good to know that half of the household waste (yearly 200 kg per capita) is packaging waste.

Schools often ask the Waste Management Working Group (HuMuSz) for advice on how they can resist the more and more aggressive invasion of commercial advertisements. As the problem of companies trying to advertise in schools is rather common, and because HuMuSz has been involved since the outset in preparation of the new advertising law , our organization would like to recommend the following:

The Ministry of Environment, under the administration of the new Small-Holder Party minister, wastes time, postpones decisions, makes the wrong ones, but probably the most damaging move � especially environmentally - was making radical cuts in the budget of the program-managers responsible for waste collection and recycling.

The glass reprocessing industry is in a lamentable situation. After the Sajoszentpeter glass factory closed following a change of owners in February 1999, glass reprocessing almost ground to a halt in Hungary. It now looks like the Oroshaza factory is about to follow suit (same owner!) but still, there is a little hope!