Ladislav Hegyi

Ladislav Hegyi is bringing environmentally friendly manufacturing and waste storage practices to Slovakia by educating the public, creating mechanisms for the reuse of items such as clothing and furniture, and lobbying to incorporate environmental costs into the market price of goods.

Ladislav works to raise consciousness of resource preservation options through directed marketing campaigns and grassroots advocacy throughout Slovakia. He promotes recycling as a value-added proposition in the business sector, helping companies reduce expenses through environmentally friendly reusable packaging. Broad education initiatives encourage co-owners to patronize the ecologically responsible corporations, which are tied to a strategic advertising program through media partners. He is also launching a system of local centers for reuse, which repair and resell old furniture and clothes and employ disabled people. The revenue generated is used to promote recycling and environmentally safe waste storage. Through environmental festivals, social-business networking, social marketing, public education, and advocacy, Ladislav raises civic awareness toward long-term systemic environmental solutions.

The amount of consumer waste produced in Slovakia has grown exponentially from year to year, reaching an all-time high of 1.8 million metric tons in 1997. Eighty percent of Slovakia’s trash is deposited in municipal dumps while more than 10 percent is incinerated, producing various air, land, and water pollutants. In fact, less than 10 percent of waste disposal and management facilities comply with European Union emissions regulations. Construction, proper operation, and reform of waste facilities are quite expensive. Moreover, their prevalence discourages citizens from preserving resources and consuming more economically. The improper and unsanitary disposal of garbage over time has led to serious environmental dangers and public health risks.

Although many waste items can be reduced by recycling, only 1.7 percent of all consumer garbage was recycled and only 6.7 percent was designated for composting in Slovakia in 1998, as compared to 50 to 80 percent total in the rest of Europe. No legislation addresses such unsustainable practices and, in fact, established practices support the use of low-standard, short-life, non-recyclable, materials to increase consumption and corporate revenue. Many attempts to solve the waste material problems have failed in Slovakia, and no restrictions in the use of natural resources have been passed.

In 1996 Ladislav started his pilot campaign for environmentally friendly packaging; the first to tackle this issue in Slovakia. He teaches the staff at stores and other business to classify and separate waste for recycling, develop more durable and reusable packaging, and limit waste. He originally rallied participation through competition in which businesses were challenged to promote environmental education and engage customers in more responsible consumption of finished goods. He also used the competition to launch an environmental branding campaign, featuring his logo on stickers and advertisements around the city. The logo has since come to represent social and environmental responsibility in the business sector. Winners receive free advertising space in newspapers, with whom Ladislav has partnered, and promote the companies’ new status as environmental leaders.

Despite failed attempts to partner with the packaging manufacturers themselves, Ladislav remains determined to cut waste at its source and foster more environmentally responsible and profitable relationships between producers, sellers, and consumers. He is lobbying Parliament to pass a bill he proposed for taxing landfills and packages according to their degree of their pollution, powered by a petition signed by more than 60,000 citizens.

On the local level, Ladislav is launching centers for reuse, which repair and sell donated furniture and redistribute returnable packaging. Since 1998, he has also provided hundreds of homeless and needy people with clean clothes. The centers also employ disabled people who otherwise can find no work. All revenue is reinvested in the recycling program and the profits are donated to public education initiatives.

To educate the public, Ladislav works with the Parliament and several ministries to organize exhibitions on waste and packaging. He uses awareness and encourages citizen participation through information centers, media partnerships, and advocacy projects. Additionally, he trains other organizations and community leaders in his methods and shares lessons learned through a national newsletter.

Ladislav earned degrees in ballet and drama and has worked as a professional actor. During his university studies, he co-founded an animal rights organization that influenced various Slovak laws for the past decade. In 1994 he devoted himself fully to environmental issues and started his current initiative to reduce waste and limit consumer packaging.