The use of disposable or so-called single use plastic has become a common topic of conversation and is a frequent theme of all those engaged in attempting to preserve their local environment. Plastic pollution has also captured an enormous amount of attention, especially when it comes to human damage to the marine world. Vrgorac, a town in Split-Dalmatia County, has stepped up.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 20th of January, 2020, on Monday, Vrgorac Mayor Ante Pranic gave the directors of the town's numerous institutions instructions on the decision to prohibit the use of plastic packaging in the town's official institutions as well as at during Vrgorac's various events held throughout the course of the year, stating that they should be replaced by glass and also by much more environmentally friendly, biodegradable paper packaging.

In addition to the aforementioned, praiseworthy move, Vrgorac's mayor is also putting a stop to the consumption of bottled water at work meetings held within Vrgorac's local government and at during Town Council meetings. These bottles are all to easy to purchase, drink from and throw away without a second thought about how the wasted plastic builds up and negatively affects our local environment and our entire planet as a whole.

In the future, drinking water should be served in glass jars from Vrgorac's water supply network, removing the need for harmful plastic bottles which don't break down.

All establishments in Vrgorac will, owing to this decision, receive special waste disposal containers by Friday this week in order to facilitate the proper separation of all of the collected paper, to make sure things are recycled and disposed of in a safe and correct manner, with the least damage being inflicted on the local environment.

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As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of January, 2020, the European Union funded 60 percent of the project, cutting spending by 43 percent. Nina Commerce, a part of the popular Planet obuća (footwear) shopping chain, started a project back in June of 2018, which involved building a photovoltaic power plant for its own purposes at its facility located at Slavonska avenija (Slavonian avenue) 19 a in the capital city of Zagreb.

Today, the works are finally complete and the power plant on the roof of the building belonging to Nina Commerce is up and ready to go. The project is worth a massive 1,976,823.00 kuna in total, of which the European Union co-financed a welcome 1.22 million.

"The pilot operation of the photovoltaic power plant started on January the 17th, 2020, and if everything goes well, the power plant will enter into permanent operation. We were encouraged to create energy savings and improve environmental awareness. Of course, we were also encouraged by the co-financing of the project by the cohesion fund, as well as our partners who have gone through the painstaking process of purchasing equipment and building it,'' explained Tomislav Filipovic of Nina Commerce.

Nina Commerce participated in the construction with 40 percent of the value and the remaining 60 percent was covered by the EU, and when it comes to the project's documentation and publicity, Nina Commerce participated with 15 percent and the EU chipped in with a massive 85 percent of the costs. The construction of a photovoltaic power plant will reduce harmful CO2 emissions by a very impressive 58.30 tonnes, and the share of renewable energy in the company’s total energy balance will stand at 43.42 percent.

''The process was extremely arduous and rigid, and it was very important to adhere to all of the rules and norms issued by the EU Fund, given the time frames. Fortunately, we made all of our commitments on time so we didn't have any financial corrections to deal with and everything went well,'' Filipovic noted. Otherwise, Nina Commerce employs more than 380 people, operates in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and currently has 129 branches under its belt.

"The plan for 2020 is to remain the largest shoe retail chain in the Republic of Croatia and continue to expand while maintaining jobs and increasing employee salaries," concluded Tomislav Filipovic.

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As Morski writes on the 27th of November, 2019, organised by the Scientific Council for Nature Conservation of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, a roundtable was held on plastic in the Adriatic sea and the sea's vulnerability to plastic pollution.

''There are two goals; by 2030, 50 percent of plastic waste in Europe must be recycled and 100 percent of recyclable packaging must be on the market. The plastics industry is looking forward to EU regulation because it is stigmatised and doesn't want plastic to end up in the environment. Plastic production should be sustainable and then be used in an accountable manner. What can't be recycled can be used as a secondary raw material or energy,'' said Gordana Pehnec Pavlović of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK).

A professor from the Geotechnical Faculty in Zagreb, Aleksandra Anić Vučinić, said that about 80 percent of offshore waste originates from the land, as some countries don't have a comprehensive waste collection system.

''We'll never collect all of the existing plastic from the ocean because it's an enormous amount, but we must work to ensure that we don't pollute it in the future. The biggest problem is the lack of data comparison standards, so we have different estimates for the Adriatic sea - there are about 23,000 tons of plastic in the sea, or 5 to 30,000 tons, and some estimates range from 760 tons to 5,000 tons,'' said Anic Vucinic, emphasising that it isn't the material that is to blame but the people who use it, and that it's necessary to change people's habits in the long run.

A professor from the Velika Gorica Polytechnic, Sanja Kalambura, gave a presentation on the levels of plastic in the Adriatic sea and its overall cleanliness.

''We're increasingly interested in the topic of waste, especially when we connect it to an ecosystem like the Adriatic sea. It's high time we opened that issue up and started talking about systematic problem solving. Polymers surround us, we can't imagine life without them, but the question is why they end up in the environment. We need to find a solution at the national level, even though waste knows no borders, and the EU has recognised that.''

Vlado Cuculić from the Institution for Marine and Environmental Research at the Ruđer Bošković Institute emphasised that we lacked critical thinking.

''We can't ban plastic, but we do have to offer other solutions. Most of the eight million tonnes of plastic that end up in the oceans a year comes from China, where Europe has moved its heavy production,'' he said.

Ecotechnologist Robert Kakarigi stressed that the problem should be viewed from multiple angles, and the approach to it all should be systemic, from both an economic and an environmental standpoint.

''The Adriatic sea is shallow and most microplastics are in sediments, not on the coast. This is where organisms that purify the sea live, and now they're filtering microplastics that are full of additives and absorb environmental toxins from the environment. About 650 organisms are already feeding on microplastics,'' Kakarigi said.

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As Morski/Kristina Odzak writes on the 11th of November, 2019, an underwater cleanup which took place in Split has uncovered not only rubbish which needs to be removed and disposed of in the proper manner, but some rather unusual finds, too...

Beach and sea cleanups happen up and down the Croatian coast, typically during the pre and post seasons, with the occasional handful of them taking place at the height of summer, too, with many foreign tourists often offering a helping hand. These actions are environmentally fuelled, and the aim is to keep the glorious Croatian Adriatic sea clean, but from time to time, some unexpected finds pop up among the trash.

On Sunday, November the 10th, 2019, an ecological action was held in front of the Zenta nightclub as part of the project MY SEA (MOJE MORE).

The action was attended by about 100 people, including about forty divers (REK Hvidr, PIK Sailor, Split's public fire department and ERK Periska Ploče) as well as about fifty volunteers from OCEANUS, Rotaract Novi Split, CroMSIC Split and the Split Youth Club.

Despite the rain and wind which battered that part of the central Dalmatian coastline, 800 kilograms of garbage was recovered from the sea, and three hand grenades, often referred to as kinder eggs, were found and the police were notified. The situation was then dealt with professionally by deminers.

Other than explosives, most of the collected items were glass bottles, cans, various car tyres, but also a lot of "interesting" items like walking sticks, turntables, radios, and even water heaters.

The poor weather conditions didn't stop even locals who were passing by, who stopped to look in amazement watching all this waste be dragged from the sea, and some of them even joined the volunteers in sorting.

This particular environmental action was made possible by the Student Union of the University of Split, Split-Dalmatia County, Čistoća Split, and both the county and city tourist boards.

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Croatia's branch of the large American fast food chain has decided on a step that all of their customers and employees, not to mention the environment, should feel. As Poslovni Dnevnik/Sergej Novosel Vuckovic writes on the 5th of November, 2019, today, McDonald's announced its plan to reduce plastic use and phase out its use entirely by 2025 at the Zagreb Avenue Mall location.

"We have to talk about this problem because it's important for the entire planet, and then for us. We've been struggling with this for some time, it isn't easy, because we're the largest restaurant chain in the world, we want to be among the first to go in this direction of reducing plastic use. What we do has a big impact: There are more than 10,000 people visiting us every day in restaurants across Croatia that we want to show you can do a lot without so much plastic.

Our first step is to be taken next year, and we're already introducing items that will replace plastic ones up to now, such as paper straws, paper balloon holders and paper cups for some of our products like McFlurry ice cream. By 2025, we want to have all of our products be recycled ones or from sustainable sources, which don't have a negative impact on the environment,'' explained McDonald's Croatia director Pavel Pavliček.

Robert Švigir, Head of Purchasing and Quality Control, noted that paper fibers are used in almost 80 percent of packaging. At the beginning of 2020, all paper packaging used by McDonald's in Croatia will come from certified, recycled or sustainable sources.

''Plastic straws are quite a big problem and they're one of the reasons for switching to the paper version. Unfortunately, the food business requires a certain amount of plastic packaging to ensure the safety and quality of food and, on the other hand, to reduce its waste. That is why we've focused on trying to reduce the use of those with reduced recycling capacity or to remove them completely, as is the case with plastic straws, and to increase the share of recycled materials. This is the so-called RPET plastic, which can be completely recycled and new products can then be made from it,'' explained Švigir.

With such an approach, McDonald's could, as they point out, meet the EU's set goals for a circular economy and waste prevention. Such activities, they say, will continue so that they are primarily engaged in the sustainable use of plastics in business.

As a chain with 30 restaurants across the Republic of Croatia,  it is not easy to implement the aforementioned changes, especially with regard to the procurement of all of the adequate materials. The new packaging is therefore being tested at the Avenue Mall restaurant and will gradually be introduced to others across the country.

"The procurement process is still ongoing and we're still looking for the best alternative materials that could replace plastics without affecting the customer experience and disrupting our standard of service. The procurement process took several months in Croatia, we tested many different materials in order to find the correct types. All the manufacturers are from the EU, it is important that the straws are sustainable and don't have a negative impact on the environment.

"You can imagine, every time a customer orders a menu or a drink they get a straw, that's a lot of plastic. By the end of 2021 and early 2022, we intend to remove plastic straws, and by 2025, all the other plastic packaging, disposable glasses... It's a demanding project that is also affecting change within the supply chain and we're monitoring the impact not only on the chain but also on the environment,'' Pavliček said.

McDonald's Croatia have pointed out that these changes, which all require a considerable investment, will not affect the price of their products for the end consumer.

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As Morski/Sabina Damiani writes on the 26th of October, 2019, back in July this year, the Association for the Improvement of the Quality of Life began the implementation of the Pula ECO LAB project in partnership with three high schools in Pula.

To mark the beginning of the activities, a KICK OFF event and press conference were held on Thursday, October the 24th, in which the project and the activities being implemented until September 2020 within the scope of it were presented.

''EKO LAB, which will get its space at Pula High School, wants to become a place of exchange of knowledge, experience, experimentation in order to develop critical thinking, creativity and innovation among high school students. Protecting the environment, or protecting our planet, should become a priority at all levels. In order to create the conditions for the joint creation of a more sustainable and responsible future, we cannot and should not think about that future without you young people,'' said students Sabina Damiani and Sunčica Damjanović.

The activities will be implemented by September 2020, and the problem of plastic waste is the first topic to be considered within the EKO LAB. Plastic waste is becoming a growing problem, both for nature, for the economy and for human health. An EU directive, which enters into force in 2021, which will ban certain disposable plastic products, is an important initiative but will solve only part of the problem. We need to continue thinking very actively and systematically about solving the problem of plastic waste.

Young people, with the guidance of their professors and mentors, and visiting experts, innovators, artists, designers who, through their work, contribute to creating a better future, will think of plastic waste as a resource. With plastic recycling machines, they will produce filament for 3D printers and create their products from locally collected waste.

''We will get acquainted with the problem, work as a team and in an interdisciplinary way, design new products, create and test prototypes and present the whole process as part of EKO WEEK in September 2020. This is one big experiment for everyone, we will make a lot of mistakes, but we'll also be able to learn a lot,'' said Petra Počanić.

Finally, the film "Take a break from plastic" was shown, which was realised by the "For Zlarin without plastic" initiative, as an example of the strength of a small group of very motivated people who care about making the world better, more beautiful and greener.

The EKO LAB project is co-financed by the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia as part of the Swiss-Croatian Cooperation Program.

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The praiseworthy national action involving collective tree planting has been joined by the beautiful Istrian city of Poreč.

As Morski writes on the 18th of October, 2019, through Facebook, thanks to the opening of the group ''Days of Collective Tree Planting in Croatia on the 25th, 26th and 27th of October 2019'' an action has been launched and joined by some 15,000 people in just a few days, and that number is now much higher and a large number of Croatian cities have officially joined the action along with individuals.

''Our story started with fellow citizen Daniela Božić contacting me and the city with a letter of intent for this action, and so we immediately joined. Every year in Poreč we have regular activities of maintaining and enriching our 'green fund' in the spring and autumn, and this action will be an opportunity to further refine the city's oases and raise awareness of the need for nature conservation and protection.

It's important for us to take care of our green spaces and this is something that Poreč is famous for, especially since some trees have been damaged during bad weather, or because of their deterioration or even for practical reasons, meaning that they needed to be removed. But for each tree that was cut down, more were planted,'' said the Mayor of Poreč, Loris Peršurić, adding that the city, through its spatial and general urban plan, takes care of the balance of green and construction areas, and that in public areas have more of forty percent of such greenery.

The head of the Administrative Department for the municipal system, Marino Poropat, explained that the collective tree planting action in Poreč will be divided into two parts: the first part begins this Saturday, when the local committees start planting trees.

Representatives of the utilities department, along with representatives of local boards, visited various areas and suggested the types of trees and possible new planting locations, such as places where trees were recently damaged by storms, and in children's playgrounds. Native trees will be planted first, as they are the most likely to do well and thrive, and and some local committees have opted for lesser-known and less common species.

''The second part of the action will take place on Friday October the 25th starting at 09:00 in Poreč's big car park. Then, over 300 seedlings of indigenous trees that will be planted will be distributed free of charge to all interested citizens,'' Poropat said, adding that funds for this action were reserved from the city budget.

The mayor of Poreč has called on all Poreč's residents to join this praiseworthy action and plant over 500 trees.

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The third edition of the Green Eye Festival, a Šibenik-based film festival based on the environment and nature conservation as well as water protection, opened on Friday, October the 11th, 2019 at 19:30 in the exhibition hall of the Šibenik City Museum.

As Morski writes on the 13th of October, 2019, ecology has been the focus of the global public lately. It is within the scope of this atmosphere that the third Green Eye Festival is being held - Nature is Watching You, the film festival on the protection of the environment and the conservation of nature, ie, the Earth's flora and fauna, is aimed at raising awareness of the environmental challenges facing our civilisation, which are global warming, environmental pollution and the extinction of endangered species.

During the three days of the festival, three films are being presented on the topic of environmental protection, which are authored by some of the most famous producers and directors, educational panel discussions after the screening of films, and a music program and socialising in which visitors will be able to comment on these topics in a more relaxed and informal atmosphere.

The theme of this year's edition of the Green Eye Festival is primarily water. The right to drinking water is a basic human right, but it is also one of the world's most endangered resources. For the Krka National Park Public Institution, which manages and takes care of beautiful the Krka river's water, this topic is particularly important. With its tributaries, the Krka river forms an above-ground basin of 2 450 km² and with hydrogeological catchment, it occupies an area of ​​2 650 km².

On the first day of the Šibenik film festival, the film Planet Ocean, directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and Michael Pitiot, featured some of the leading underwater cameramen, oceanographers and biologists. The film encourages people to change the way they experience the oceans and to understand the conservation and management of the oceans as a responsibility that must be shared by all Earth's inhabitants.

Planet Ocean seeks to explain some of Earth's greatest natural mysteries in an understandable way. The film tells young people that a more sustainable world is not only possible but also achievable. The combination of mesmerising aerial shots, on which Arthus-Bertrand has built his reputation, along with the underwater footage of the award-winning recording team, makes a deep impression.

On the second evening, the award-winning documentary RiverBlue was screened, accompanying world-renowned river protector Mark Angelo on a journey that uncovers the dark sides of the fashion industry. Travelling from the most respected to the most polluted waterways in the world, behind-the-scenes viewers discover the tragically neglected problem of water pollution. Due to the chemicals it uses in the production process and the irresponsible disposal of toxic chemical waste, the fashion industry is heavily contributing to the destruction of rivers worldwide.

The festival's closure is the film by Anote's Ark by director, screenwriter and producer Matthieu Rytz. The Republic of Kiribati, an island state in the central Pacific, is facing an unstoppable sea level rise that will soon swallow the entire island.

Thus, Kiribati's residents will soon become some of the world's first refugees due to climate change. Can these people survive as their country disappears is one of the questions the film raises. While Anote Tong, the President of Kiribati, is in a hurry to find a way to protect his people, many of Kiribati's citizens are already seeking safe ports abroad. Against the backdrop of international negotiations on climate change and the struggle to recognise them as a human rights issue that needs to be urgently addressed, Anote's personal struggle to save his nation is intertwined with the fate of Sermary, a young mother of six who has decided to move to New Zealand with her family.

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As SibenikIN writes on the 12th of October, 2019, the popular Kornati National Park (NP Kornati) is undergoing research this weekend to identify the sources of waste pollution in the area of ​​that particular national park. Based on the results of the research, an attempt will be made to determine the proportion of waste that comes into the Kornati area carried by the sea's currents and waste generated in the area of ​​the park itself.

The research, which has been continuing over the weekend, started back in October 2017. As stated, based on the results of the research, measures will be defined to reduce the amount of waste generated in the park area, all with the aim of preserving and protecting the extremely valuable Kornati submarine areas.

The research is being carried out in cooperation with the Society for Underwater Sports - DPS Zagreb, and is being led by Ph.D. Martina Markov.

The exceptional biodiversity of Kornati's submarine is one of the reasons why part of the Kornati archipelago was declared a national park back in 1980. To date, more than 1,300 plant and animal species have been recorded in the Kornati submarine, including 366 types of algae, 3 sea flowers, 81 sponge species, 78 sea urchin species, 17 starfish species, 71 coral species, 145 snail species, 59 shellfish species, 77 crustacean species and 188 species of fish. With each new survey, the list is enriched with yet more, newly discovered species.

The greater part of the coastal zone is inhabited by the beautiful posidonia marine flowering plants, whose habitats are primarily NATURA 2000 habitats. The submarine cliffs there are characterised by coralligen - a habitat composed of red algae. Coralligen is home for an extremely large variety of species that are suitable for reduced light conditions - such as sponges, corals, and red and brown algae.

In the wider area of ​​the Kornati National Park, which includes the Žut-Sit group of islands and the Murter area, 147 different species of bottlenose dolphins have been recorded so far, and often sea turtles - such as loggerhead turtles - which are strictly protected animals.

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Waste management has found itself becoming a more and more popular theme in recent years. Plastic polluting the world's seas and oceans has become a critical matter for all, and many countries have now passed laws in order to try to curb the problem before it's too late. Separating waste properly is one small but effective thing the ''average Joe'' can do at home - where does Croatia really stand on the matter?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Darko Bicak writes on the 4th of October, 2019, proper waste management is a matter of not only economy and cost, but is also a huge social issue - what we leave for generations to come, as was said at the opening of the eighth Croatia Waste Expo 2019, which is being held today in Zagreb, and is organised by Poslovni Dnevnik.

Vladimir Nišević, Editor-in-Chief of Poslovni Dnevnik said that the issue of waste management through events such as Waste Expo has had light shed on it in this way for six years now.

"There are no major rapid developments in this sector, so this event is also important as a place of dialogue, which something that is often lacking in our society. Therefore, the theme and this event is not [necessarily] what it is now, but what it could become in the coming period, as we try to move away from the political noise that often diverts our attention from what is important, and place the focus on some things and passions that may be in the background,'' Nišević said.

Sanja Radović Josić, Head of the sustainable waste management division of the environmental impact assessment and sustainable waste management department at the Ministry of Environment and Energy, emphasised that waste management has long been a part of the circular economy and affects the entire economy and society.

"The waste management plan is a whole cycle from the generation, disposal, processing and recycling and reuse of that waste as industrial or energy raw material. Existing EU regulations imply that by 2020 we will recycle 50 percent of paper, plastic and metal, and 75 percent of construction waste. However, last year, a new regulation was adopted up until 2035 that raises those standards by 10-15 percent,'' she explained.

She added that in the Republic of Croatia, we currently recycle about 30 percent and dispose of 70 percent of our waste, and the EU directive says we should dispose of a maximum of just 10 percent, which indicates that we are still far from the target. EU funding has been used to equip recycling yards and 23 waste management centres, as well as the entire tank and vehicle infrastructure for that system.

"In order to comply with EU regulations, we have had to bring in the dynamics of closing existing landfills that don't meet European Union or national requirements. There are also measures to reduce plastic that ends up in the sea, which is primarily to do with reducing disposable plastic for food and drinks, bags, drinking bottles, earbuds, etc.'' emphasised Sanja Radovic Josic.

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