OSCE Mission to Bosnia awards winners of school competition supporting increased recycling in Central Bosnia Canton

On 16 September 2021, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina awarded the winners of a school competition aimed at supporting increased recycling in the Central Bosnia Canton (CBC) thus increasing youth engagement in the field of environment protection.

A competition for a logo for the recycling campaign of a school recycling project was organized in 26 primary and secondary schools in Jajce, Vitez and Travnik municipalities in April this year. Three schools were awarded a tablet each for producing the best logo: Jajce primary school, Travnik mixed secondary school and Bila Vitez primary school. The winners were selected by a commission appointed by each local community. All schools which participated received a number of fabric bags, posters and leaflets and were invited to participate in the final event.

The OSCE Mission's organizing partners in this competition were the Ministry of Urban Planning, Construction, Environment Protection, Returns and Housing Affairs of the CBC, Jajce, Vitez and Travnik municipalities, the Mountaineers' Association Ćusine in Jaice, the Youth Education Centre in Travnik, and the Ecological Association Kremenik in Vitez.

In addition to the competition, a series of activities related to environmental protection were organized in the three municipalities. A part of the project was to engage primary and secondary schools in Travnik, Jajce and Vitez in a recycling initiative to collect polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics. The project included the provision of recycling bins for schools and engaging either private companies or public utility companies to collect the plastic materials and pay the schools for the recycled plastic.

Plans for 2021 included involving businesses to match the funds that the schools raised as a means to further engage the business community in the three municipalities, encourage corporate social responsibility and increase the amount of funds for the schools to use as needed. Three-hundred fabric bags printed with the awarded logo and the logos of the cantonal and local partners were distributed to schools as a part of the environmental protection and recycling campaign.

Recognizing that a clean and safe environment is in the interests of all citizens, the OSCE Mission works to raise awareness and promote collective responses to the manifold environmental challenges that BiH faces.