OREANDA-NEWS. Metinvest's Green Center, a public union, which was founded by Metinvest Group's enterprises, won the environmental excellence category in the XIII Ukrainian Environmental Quality and Safety competition. The award was given at the opening of Green Mind III, an international forum for sustainable business development.

Since October 2013, Metinvest's Green Center has been implementing the initiatives of Mariupol and Yenakiieve residents to landscape municipal territories and areas surrounding buildings and carrying out environmental initiatives and events. Last year, volunteers and activists from the center got together and removed 1,124 tons of waste, cleaned more than 72 hectares of territory, carried out seven city clean-ups in Mariupol and four in Yenakiieve, and implemented many local initiatives. The Green Brigades children/family environmental movement, in which more than 100 families participated, was founded late last year in Yenakiieve. Mariupol residents submitted more than 1,400 applications to the center's liaison office.

The Green Plant project was launched in Mariupol this year: children from 10 city clubs obtained environmental knowledge and practical skills to help them in their daily lives. An educational book including recommendations on careful attitudes toward environmental resources and advice on how to handle domestic waste is being developed.

Ilyich Iron & Steel Works of Mariupol and Azovstal arranged for excursions for anyone who wished to learn about the plants' operation, their manufacturing capacities, modernization programs and environmental activities. 500 Mariupol residents have visited the plants since May.

Sergey Magera, coordinator of Metinvest's Green Center:

"Many residents became our teammates in planting and landscaping yards and streets, and promoting sporting and environmental driving initiatives in Mariupol and Yenakiieve during the year Metinvest's Green Center has been operating. Amid the tense political and economic situation in the country, the activities of the public union have become a strong stabilizing factor, reducing social tension and helping people to improve the quality of life in their cities.

The Ukrainian Environmental Quality and Safety competition has been held since 2001 to honor the best achievements of local enterprises and companies in implementing greenfield technologies and environmental management systems.

Green Mind is a business forum focused on integrating environmental considerations into practical working environments for the sustainable development of enterprises in various industries. Over 100 experts from Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. participated in the two day forum, in addition to representatives of international intergovernmental and financial institutions.

The event was organized by the Ukrainian non-governmental organizations Living Planet and Clean Wave and supported by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine.