Organized by four universities from Russia, Finland, Sweden and Latvia and exploring the principles of the closed-loop economy, the project is aimed at helping students familiarize themselves with how recycled materials are processed and used in different countries, as well as give them an opportunity to work on real-life cases provided by local enterprises.
This semester, the project took place in Finland. ITMO University students majoring in industrial ecology had a chance to participate in a competition for participation in this international program. The project is held in three rounds: it all starts with an on-site round when students come to a host country, visit production sites, and work on cases in international teams. This is followed by the second round, during which students work remotely in their groups coordinated by a mentor. And the program ends with a final round when participants return to the host country and present their projects to the jury.
Four ITMO University students shared their experiences of participation in the project and the cases that they worked on.
Anna Omelyanovich, a first-year Master’s student at the Faculty of Food Biotechnologies and Engineering, educational program “Industrial Ecology and Cleaner Production”
“We worked in international groups of four-to-six people. What is remarkable is that the teams included not only local students but also exchange students who came to Finland and Sweden to study. This is why we got a chance to also communicate with the Germans, Austrians, and Spaniards. It was an incredibly interesting experience. Our case focused on the Envirate app. Its main goal is to monitor the environment, that is, assess the state it’s in. Our task was to come up with a questionnaire that everyone would then use in their own country. It was important for us to analyze the pros and cons of the application in order to understand how it can be improved. As a result, we wrote a large article, which we presented to the organizers. They really liked it and it was pleasing. However, what I enjoyed the most about this project was the opportunity to communicate with international students and share experiences about how things are in their home countries.”
Yana Anufrienko, a fourth-year Bachelor’s student at the Faculty of Food Biotechnologies and Engineering, educational program “Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development”
“When I just learned about the program, I immediately decided to give it a go. However, I had spent the previous semester doing an exchange in Finland and I was first told to step away and give other students a chance to participate. But there were not so many of them willing to give it a try and eventually I got a place. The case my team was offered to work on was provided by the Purkupiha company, which specializes in recycling construction waste. We had to find out how construction waste is being processed in our countries and come up with a list of potential partners for the Finnish company. Unfortunately, I didn’t find any Russian company that would be ready to recycle Finnish construction waste. There was another option concerning wood, but it is economically unprofitable to transport it to remote regions. Although there was very little data on how construction waste is processed in Russia, I was sure that we would prepare a good presentation. And it worked out just fine, as students from other countries managed to find potential partners, for example, in Sweden. This is a very useful experience because it allows you to see with your own eyes how the technologies that we are discussing are implemented in real life.”
Anastasia Kantsulina, a first-year Master’s student at the Faculty of Food Biotechnologies and Engineering, educational program “Industrial Ecology and Cleaner Production”
“I really enjoyed the trip. The best thing about it is that it combined studies and tourism, as well as allowed me to meet lots of interesting people from different countries. The case my team worked on was provided by textile company Lounais-Suomen Jätehuolto Oy. We had to collect information about how textile is processed in our countries and find out how aware people are about this topic. I think that it’s a very pressing issue in terms of environmental protection, as the world of fashion changes rapidly, which contributes to an increase in the amount of textile garbage in landfills. So we need to talk about it in order to raise public awareness and move towards the introduction of modern processing technologies.”
Anastasia Eremenko, a fourth-year Bachelor’s student at the Faculty of Food Biotechnologies and Engineering, the educational program “Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development”
“The case my team worked on was provided by the Kujala Waste Centre company which specializes in recycling. During a tour of the company’s facilities, we learned that this place used to be an ordinary landfill, however, its staff managed to increase the percentage of waste that is recycled and reduce the amount of waste. Our task as part of this project was to find examples of such industrial symbiosis in our countries. Thanks to this program, I learned that there are ecological technoparks in Russia that collaborate with each other. I hope that we’ll be more active in adopting Western technologies in the field of waste processing. I’m sure that this is the future: even now, there are proactive companies that are making first steps in this direction. Speaking about people’s attitudes towards environmental protection, and their awareness of this field, I think that the state has to make its own contribution here. If at least on the citywide level there is a well-coordinated organization of processes on collection and recycling of waste, people will realize that this works, and will get the motivation to treat this matter more seriously.”
Finland became the third country hosting this project. In the spring of 2020, the event will be held in Russia: European students will come to St. Petersburg to learn about the accomplishments and challenges faced by Russian companies in the field of processing and recycling of waste.
