Hungary's first eco-beach offers environmentally conscious relaxation in Gyömrő all year round

Gyömrő Lake Beach, Hungary's first eco-beach with an operation built entirely on eco-awareness, has reopened close to Budapest. The beach is the most popular in the summer: during these three months, the lake and its surroundings provide a pleasant opportunity to relax and recharge for nearly 70,000 visitors. Last year, the city’s local government modernized the lake beach in the spirit of eco-awareness.

The natural lake is supplied by 9 springs, and the unique atmosphere of the site is also due to the 100 hectares park full of old-growth trees surrounding the lake. The city wishes to preserve and maintain this environment, while making it the ideal place for relaxation available to thousands of visitors annually.

The flagship of the city's eco-conscious mentality is the Gyömrő Lake Beach, where the operation is based on eco- awareness. One important goal is to reduce the ecological footprint of the lake beach by increasing the green areas as well as introducing innovations and developments, while not taking anything away from the pleasures of the beach. Gyömrő’s lake beach, which is unique in Hungary and provides maximum comfort to the guests while protecting the values of the environment, is waiting for those who wish to relax.

The main means of achieving this goal are keeping the natural environment chemical-free and collecting waste separately. In the area of the lake beach, information boards are helping to raise visitors’ awareness about selective waste collection.

The cycle of collecting and recycling packaging materials is the most efficient way to manage packaging waste. Given that one of the pillars of Coca-Cola Hungary’s sustainability commitments is a World Without Waste, the company is engaged to support selective waste collection with educational posters displayed around the lake beach area. In the spirit of its "Empty bottles also matter" campaign, the beverage company primarily draws visitors’ attention to the importance of collecting beverage packaging. On the large information boards, there are more details about the process of recycling plastic. In addition, visitors will receive answers to the most important and frequently asked questions about selective waste collection: "Where and how to collect the bottles?" 

According to the European Commission's 2018 report, one person produces 30.5 kg of packaging waste per year in Hungary and only 27.5% of it is recycled. The aim is to improve this ratio and to protect the ecosystem through cooperation. Small steps can also help to create an eco-conscious environment: oftentimes it is not the good intention what is missing for a successful implementation, but the necessary background knowledge. The Gyömrő Lake Beach helps visitors acquire the basic knowledge necessary for eco-awareness.

City management hopes that the eco-conscious approach of Gyömrő and the Lake Beach is only the first step. They plan to incorporate this basic knowledge that is very important for a liveable future into the elementary and high school biology and environment education in the form of special classes and awareness raising workshops.

In addition to positive feedback from the visitors, the success of the project was further confirmed by the profession. The Local Development Association recently held the Local Development Award in Budapest, where the local government of Gyömrő received a special “Eco-awareness” recognition for the development of the Gyömrő Lake Beach. The aim of the annual awards is to recognise outstanding projects in order to encourage and inspire local communities for more and more quality developments.