Coca-Cola Hungary's #YouthEmpowered platform continues its series of curricula on the circular economy with modules on the waste cycle

Following the online learning materials on The Basics of the Circular Economy and The Water and Energy Cycles, educational modules on the waste cycle are now available on Coca-Cola Hungary's #YouthEmpowered platform. The two new modules just published, i.e. The Global Problem of Waste and Waste Management in Hungary, raise both the qualitative and quantitative issues concerning waste, provide a historical overview of waste management in Hungary, highlight the economic and environmental benefits of proper waste management, present the recently introduced return system and give useful practical advice on selective waste collection. As in the past, these modules have been developed by teachers at the University of Pannonia's for the purposes of the #YouthEmpowered programme.

Proper waste management is one of the world's greatest environmental challenges. Whereas in the pre-Industrial Revolution era, mankind produced little waste, in the last 150 years the storage, disposal and recycling of industrial and household waste has become one of the world's top problems. One only has to look at the news stories of polluted rivers, the mountains of waste in urban landfills, or the Pacific Garbage Patch to see that the world needs to tackle waste management in a more sustainable way, as soon as possible. In Hungary alone, we produce more than 400 kg of waste per person every year, much of which is not yet recycled.

The solution to this global problem is complex: not only must we reuse and recycle products and packaging materials once they have been produced, in accordance with the principle of circularity, but we must also strive to prevent and reduce waste production. In addition to showing what we can do at an individual level to minimise the environmental impact of our consumption, the modules we have just published will also introduce us to the principles and practices of selective waste collection. They will also provide useful information on industrial, community and backyard composting, as well as a detailed discussion of the recently introduced return system.

Coca-Cola Hungary is committed to sustainability and conscious consumption, therefore in 2023 it started developing an online series of educational materials on the circular economy. Together with the current modules, the #YouthEmpowered programme now includes six free online learning modules on circularity and sustainability, providing clear theoretical knowledge and useful practical advice to registrants. The University of Pannonia partnered the #YouthEmpowered programme in the development of the curriculum.

Coca-Cola Hungary's #YouthEmpowered educational platform has been providing users with learning materials primarily related to self-awareness and skills development since 2018. However, the range has now expanded considerably: in addition to self-awareness, time management, project management and business planning, the online modules now include legal, financial and tax-related learning materials. In 2023, free modules on the basics of the circular economy were added, followed by materials introducing water and energy circularity in 2024. This is continued in the materials just published.

The site is available here: www.enjovom.hu