Alliance One Macedonia Waste Management Program Contributes To The Clean Environment

August 01, 2015

There is a saying that “we did not inherit the earth from our parents, but we are borrowing it from our children.” In order to keep our planet a good place to live for our children, Alliance One Macedonia is committed to minimising the negative environmental impact of its business and activities.

One way Alliance One Macedonia has followed through with its goal of reducing the environmental impact of its activities is through our Environmental Management System (EMS), which, among other things, includes formal monitoring and assessing of all external emissions to help us determine the effectiveness of our programs. Another integral part of the Company’s EMS is our waste management program. 

The waste management program at Alliance One Macedonia started in 2002 when the Company began recycling a few types of waste such as paper and metal. Based on the success of the first phase, the Company continued investigating ways we could reduce our environmental impact through expanded recycling. In 2005, Alliance One Macedonia expanded the program to include PET plastic and used car batteries.

In April 2011, and in connection with our move to a new facility, we constructed a separate waste management area to aid in the waste separation process by providing further structure, which ultimately led to an overall increase in the effectiveness of EMS.

Two years later, in April 2013, Alliance One Macedonia further expanded its waste management program to include management of the hazardous waste from our processing activities. Hazardous waste items, such as oils, oily rags, waste rubber and other synthetic materials, are now isolated and properly stored in a special hazardous waste area to prevent potential leaks and soil pollution. The company also engaged a third-party contractor that specializes in in hazardous waste management to help manage all of our solid and liquid hazardous waste. With the contractor’s help, we are more confident that all hazardous waste is disposed of or destroyed according to applicable laws and regulations.

Most recently, in January 2015, Alliance One Macedonia became one of the first companies in the country to include Electrical and Electronic waste (e-waste) in its waste management and recycling program. This type of waste, which is the fastest growing worldwide, includes IT equipment, electronic tools, used batteries, lighting equipment, etc. We have found that a large percentage of e-waste contains valuable material, such as gold, copper or platinum, and most of it is recyclable.

As a result of our waste management program, since April 2011, Alliance One Macedonia has recycled more than 62,300 kilograms of paper, 15,000 kilograms of plastic and 278,000 kilograms of scrap metal. We have prevented more than 1,300 kilograms of waste oil and 500 kilograms of other hazardous materials from ending up in the landfill, and we have collected and sent for recycling more than 220 kilograms of e-waste, and 19 kilograms of used batteries.

Based on a desire to further manage the waste from our processing activities in an environmentally friendly way, Alliance One Macedonia has expanded the waste management program down the supply chain to our contracted tobacco growers.

Tobacco farm activities generate a lot of plastic cover waste that must be properly managed by being classified, minimized and properly recycled or disposed.Without proper management, this plastic, shredded into small pieces, typically finishes as waste in the fields or as particulars inside the soil.   At this time, the Macedonian government does not have any programs to regulate this issue.

To begin the process of addressing the harmful impact that plastic waste can have if it is not properly managed, Alliance One Macedonia developed and implemented an action plan for collecting, selecting and disposing plastic cover waste originated from the farm. To increase the interest of tobacco growers, the company decided to subsidize 10 percent toward the price for the new plastic cover for the growers who collect, classify and recycle their old plastic covers, instead of letting them end up in the soil or as waste in the fields. Throughout April and May 2015, the company’s field experts, with the help of the growers, facilitated the collection of 6,000 kg of plastic cover that were generated from seedbeds and oriental curing tents. 

Alliance One Macedonia will continue to look for new opportunities to reduce its impact, and that of its contracted growers, on the environment, with the aim of preserving the planet for future generations to come.