Supporting the green transformation of companies - May speeches by Interzero representatives

The e-Leasing Day conference is the most important event of the leasing industry in Poland, concerning the directions of development, digitalisation and the future in cooperation with the digital industry. There was no shortage of topics related to the green transformation of business - the agenda for the event included talks on topics such as the life of a post-lease car or the Leasing 2040 project, which assumes ecology as one of the three key areas of development for the industry.

Interzero was represented by Robert Kowal, Business Development Manager with a talk entitled "Automation, digitalisation and appropriate financing on the way to a circular economy. Case studies.", in which he analysed existing and prosperous circular economy models in the leasing model. He emphasised the importance of investing in innovation today:

- Many closed-loop projects directly do not pay off today; many companies do not want to invest in them. It is therefore worth looking further into the future and considering how much we can gain in a few years' time if we invest in the circular economy today.

At the end of May, we had the pleasure to be part of one of the most important ESG events for entrepreneurs. The Sustainable Economy Summit aims to set new paths for growth - respecting our environment and taking into account business values. Participants included sustainability, ESG and CSR experts, entrepreneurs and senior executives responsible for implementing sustainable practices in their companies, as well as representatives from public administration and NGOs.

Paweł Lesiak, Vice President of the Management Board at Interzero, participated in a panel on the effective model of extended producer responsibility and the circular economy. He paid particular attention to the issue of ROP system solutions - based on both financial and organisational responsibility. He expressed the expectation that the ROP model for packaging, which will eventually be developed in cooperation with all parties involved in the system, will guarantee a real field of cooperation between producers, local governments and recyclers - so as to ensure an effective waste management system and bring about a full closure of the raw material cycle.

- More than 40 non-governmental institutions disagree and are protesting against the ministry's proposed changes. We have been working on the ROP as Interzero since 2018. We held meetings with both producers and local government. We agree that the costs to date have been underestimated, but introducing para-tax solutions that are outside of real oversight and competitive mechanisms is not the right direction.

The experience of other European Union countries, where the ROP system is already in place, shows that changes can be made in a way that does not impose an additional cost on the consumer and that product prices do not rise dramatically. We are in a permanent legislative change we have not been in before. We have had legislation changed systematically for several years and hardly anyone has kept up with it. As Interzero, we strive to support you by offering comprehensive, economical and ecological solutions that not only respond to the current challenges of waste management, but, above all, make it possible to effectively close the cycle of raw materials.

The next speaker from Interzero was Robert Kowal, Business Development Manager, who presented Interzero's good practices in waste management in his presentation. He emphasised the importance of working at the grassroots to transform the linear economy into a circular economy.-. To implement a viable closed-loop economy, we need to go back to basics, focus on how to prevent and minimise the generation of waste - through clever product and packaging design - and only then look for solutions on how to return waste to circulation

May is a time that, at Interzero, marks the joint integration of our group companies. As every year, the entire Polish team from our offices in Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz and Katowice went to relax and integrate in nature. This year's integration took place in Warka, an hour away from Warsaw, in the charming Sielanka Hotel on the banks of the Pilica River. The omnipresent greenery definitely helped us to relax.

The meeting started with a short presentation by the Board of Directors, summarising the main achievements and goals of each department. This was followed by a social game in the form of themed tables. Various topics were discussed, such as favourite books and films, sports, daily habits, as well as issues related to Polish cuisine and regional dialect. The discussions lasted an hour and a half and the participants were actively involved in the conversations. Even after the meeting, discussions on the proposed topics could be heard continuing in the corridors of the office.

After lunch, the second part of the integration activity took place, which was painting together. Each participant was given a cut-out of a larger painting in which our logo and the values that guide us in our daily work were inscribed. This was a great opportunity to show off a more creative side to the others, as well as an unexpected collaboration - those painting within the same puzzle eagerly exchanged self-mixed colours or good advice. The result of this fun are four unique paintings, which will soon be hanging on the walls of our Polish offices.

The culmination of the day was the evening party - for the first time, we decided to take the form of a costume party and invited participants to the Wild West. The creativity of our employees exceeded our wildest expectations. From classic cowboys and cowgirls to sheriffs and fugitives, the costumes perfectly reflected the spirit of the event. This is just further proof of how much ingenuity and positive energy our employees possess. A definite motivation was the competition for the best disguise - during the evening, employees were able to vote for their favourite. Among the most creative were the girls from the Administration Team in a group costume - although they did not win first place, they stole everyone's hearts with their pink hats and tulle skirts! Additional attractions included a shooting stand, where visitors could try their hand at shooting both short and long guns, and an electric bull - the record-holder managed to stay in the saddle for more than 46 seconds!

We started the morning of the second day with an invigorating outdoor yoga - a session for the body and a calm head. This was the final point of the trip - after breakfast together, we headed back on the road to return to our duties the following week with renewed energy.

Thank you for such a large attendance and, above all, Patrycja Seweryn and Aleksandra Leśniak for organising the entire event - thanks to your commitment and great ideas, we will long remember this trip and look forward to the next one!

In the latest episodes of Eco without a corner, we talked about the history of waste segregation and the challenges and threats posed by the modern textile industry.

Agnieszka Oleksyn-Wajda, Ph.D., analysed the phenomenon of ultra fast fashion and presented a series of policies and regulations that will help to stop this practice and significantly reduce the amount of textile waste with which our planet is currently flooded.

Meanwhile, together with Slawomir Starościak, an environmental practitioner with more than 30 years of experience, we leaned into the history of waste segregation in Poland from its very beginnings and discussed what impact key reforms (the new ROP model and the deposit system) as well as new technologies will have on separate collection.