The first and leading operator of the packaging waste management system in Bosnia and Herzegovina "Ekopak" received great recognition for its work from the American Chamber of Commerce "AmCham Europe", which brings together 46 American chambers of commerce from 44 countries in Europe and Eurasia. AmCham Europe, of which AmCham BiH is a member, represents the interests of more than 17,000 companies in Europe, employing about 20 million workers, representing more than $ 1.1 trillion in investment on both sides of the Atlantic.

This year,AmCham Europe in collaboration with the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) as part of the How to Increase Trusts in Business project, requested information on successful projects on how American, European and local companies who are members of AmCham contribute to the development of local communities and take into account the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles in their practice. 

You can read more about the AmCham Europe and CIPE initiative here.

Based on the set criteria, they were declared the best. From Bosnia and Herzegovina, the companies "Ekopak" and "Prevent CEE" proved to be one of the most successful examples of such practices in Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

The "Ekopak" mission was presented within "AmCham Europe" in the segment of good examples and practices of social responsibility and among hundreds of submitted works by AmCham members across Europe, "Ekopak" was chosen as one of the eight best. The work of "Ekopak" was presented to a wider European audience in the bulletin of the study of presented works and at the virtual event of the members of "AmCham Europe".

"It is a great honor for me and my team from Ekopak to receive such great recognition from AmCham Europe. The fact that more than a hundred AmCham member companies from Europe applied to AmCham Europe for the presentation of good examples and practices of social responsibility and that our work was chosen among the top eight shows the commitment of Ekopak in fulfilling its mission and goals. We have been dedicated for ten years to the development of packaging waste recycling systems and recycling in line with European best practices and for the benefit of the entire community. When we started working in 2012, we met the goal of 8% of packaging waste submitted for recycling and recovery and today that percentage is more than 35% " said the managing director of " Ekopak" Amela Hrbat and added that "Ekopak" is present in 19 municipalities in the Federation of BiH where they also invested in infrastructure for sorting and recycling of packaging waste. 

"In parallel with our activities we worked on raising the awareness of citizens, especially children of preschool and school age about the importance of recycling and environmental protection in general. So far, more than 70,000 citizens, mostly children, have gone through our various projects. We have established cooperation with many educational institutions, from kindergartens to colleges. In total, from 2012 to 2021, we collected and handed over for recycling about 100,000 tons of packaging waste and we achieved all that with only four employees, at the lowest sustainable costs and for the benefit of the whole community, which we are especially proud of" said Hrbat.

You can read the AmCham Europe brochure in which Ekopak is presented at the following link