Nordic waste communication benefits Baltic citizens
- This project is an excellent example of how a Nordic cooperation project has grown and developed into a Nordic-Baltic project with expected gains for all participating countries. By creating an easily understandable system for waste sorting, the pictogram system can help to promote a sustainable and climate-friendly lifestyle among all citizens in the region, says Stefan Eriksson, Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Latvia. It is the Danish Waste Association, Local Government Denmark and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in collaboration with the strategic design company Futu that have developed a common pictogram system to be used for waste sorting all over Denmark. The pictogram system is currently being implemented in several Nordic countries and NCM Latvia is now, together with the NCM offices in Estonia and Lithuania looking to extend the project to the Baltic countries.
This project is an excellent example of how a Nordic cooperation project has grown and developed into a Nordic-Baltic project with expected gains for all participating countries.
Timing is everything
The experience of implementing Danish waste pictograms in the Nordic countries was shared at the webinar “Tips & Tricks for the Baltics!” organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia. The aim of the webinar was to highlight the recent Nordic experiences with waste pictograms, as well as to share the lessons learned and to highlight the different aspects of waste pictogram implementation in different countries. Maija Kale, project manager and Adviser for Digitalization and Sustainability at the Nordic Council of Ministers' Office in Latvia, stressed:
- The pictogram project has reached the Baltics in the right time, and we see deeply interested and engaged stakeholders joining the club of the Danish pictogram system enthusiasts. While this is a short one-year project, we at the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia and other Baltic countries hope that the waste sorting and, ultimately, waste reduction will contribute to increased sustainability.
Stefan Eriksson, Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Latvia. I
Stefan Eriksson, Director of the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Latvia.
Also benefit producers
The standardisation of waste pictograms will not only benefit the citizens by making it easier to sort waste correctly, but it will also benefit producers by providing a clear labelling and thereby simplifying the message on packaging. A joint pictogram system in the whole Nordic-Baltic region can ensure a streamlined message easily perceptible by the industries and the average consumers alike.
