ÇEVKO Foundation Green Dot Student Awards Found Their Owners
ÇEVKO Foundation Green Dot Student Awards, given for the first time this year, found their owners at a ceremony held digitally on Wednesday, December 22, 2021.
ÇEVKO Environmental Protection and Packaging Waste Utilization Foundation expanded the scope of the Green Dot Awards with the Green Dot Student Awards in 2021, when it celebrated its 30th anniversary. Green Dot Student Awards, which were given for the first time this year, found their owners at the ceremony held digitally on Wednesday, December 22, 2021. Stating that the Green Dot brand, represented by the ÇEVKO Foundation in Turkey, is the sign of packaging waste recycling systems in which more than 540 million consumers participate in 31 countries, ÇEVKO Foundation Secretary General Mete İmer said, “Green Dot symbolizes the responsible producer and the respect and appreciation that the consumer shows for this responsibility. ÇEVKO Foundation has been rewarding industrial organizations and press and media organizations with the Green Dot Awards that it has been giving for 10 years. As of 2021, the 30th anniversary of our establishment, we are starting to give Green Dot Student Awards to encourage university students to develop products, applications and projects in the fields of packaging design, waste management and environmental social responsibility.” He said.
Mete İmer stated that the ÇEVKO Foundation contributes to sustainable development in Turkey with its knowledge, domestic and international relations, experienced human resources, private sector-public and local governments-academic institutions and social collaborations: "Individuals, public authorities, industry and non-governmental organizations have important duties in combating the climate crisis, which is the biggest threat of today and our future. Another important risk the world is facing is how sustainable development can be achieved due to population growth and limited resources." "Circular economy offers a solution as a new business model in this regard. For these reasons, the ÇEVKO Foundation, which set out to contribute to the protection of the environment, social development and economy by recycling packaging waste, has focused on combating the climate crisis and transition to a circular economy in recent years." Türkiye-Caucasus and Central Asia Media Director Nesli Kılıçal took over the responsibility. Other jury members are CarrefourSA OHS, Quality Assurance, Environment, Sustainability Group Manager Tayfun Akusta (Waste Management Industry Representative), Boğaziçi University Environmental Sciences Institute Faculty Member Dr. İrem Daloğlu Çetinkaya, Istanbul Technical University Faculty of Architecture, Department of Industrial Product Design, Prof. Dr. Gülname Turan, Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Chemistry-Metallurgy, Department of Food Engineering, Prof. Dr. Gürbüz Güneş, Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Industrial Engineering, Assoc. Dr. Gül Tekin Temur Aslan and Bahçeşehir University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Assoc. Dr. They became Canan Acar.
The application and evaluation process was carried out through the Green Dot Awards website. The jury made a two-stage evaluation. In the first evaluation, all applications were evaluated through the application file and the participants who made it to the finals were determined. Presentations were requested from the finalists for the second evaluation.
Green Dot Student Awards
At the ÇEVKO Foundation Green Dot Student Awards ceremony held online, 9 students from 7 different universities were deemed worthy of the Green Dot Student Award with 7 projects in 3 different categories.
Istanbul Technical University Interior Architecture Department students Beyza Nur Eraslan and Feyza Başak participated in the program to prevent packaging waste and reduce packaging waste with the ornaments purchased during the New Year's period. As a group, they won the First Prize in the "Prevention Practices in Packaging" category with their DIY Christmas Ornament Projects, which consist of design ideas that will turn the box surfaces into ornaments to ensure the recycling of the box. This was the only project that was deemed worthy of an award in this category.
While two students shared the First Prize in the Waste Management System and Applications category, this category was the field in which the most awards were given.
Middle East Technical University Industrial Design Department Student Derya Ercivan is the first individual to win the First Prize with her EcoPhil Project, a filter solution for washing machines to reduce microplastic pollution, one of the biggest causes of sea and water pollution, and to prevent it from being released from homes into the nature.
Özyeğin University Industrial Design Department Student Kumsal Kurt individually won the second First Prize in this category with her Cyclearly Project, which envisages a waste management system that will initiate the recycling of secondary packaging at the place where the waste is generated, with the help of a stand to be positioned at the checkout exit in the market. Second Prize was not given because there were two winners in the category.
Eskişehir Technical University Biology / Ecology Department Student Çağdaş Saz won the Third Prize individually with his Electro-Wetland Energy Greenhouse Design (ESA) Project, which envisages a new generation waste-energy management strategy in which wastewater can be used as a resource and an environmentally compatible, low-carbon and circular economy model can be applied.
Gazi University Industrial Design Department Students Melike Kiraz and Ümmü Beyza Top were deemed worthy of the Incentive Award as a group with their R-bin Project, the idea of a street unit and home unit smart waste bin family that makes the recycling process defined and easy with waste recognition and automatic classification, designed to encourage recycling and can be integrated into a smart and sustainable city setup.
Two students also received awards in the Environmental Social Responsibility Applications category.
Gebze Technical University Environmental Engineering Department Student Gülişah Sanem Şen focused on the collection of expired medicines and He received the First Prize individually with his Pharmy Project, which envisages integrating waste into a smart system in order to contribute to the recycling of packaging parts and reduce the amount of waste.
Süleyman Miran, Student of the Department of Medical Laboratory Techniques at the University of Health Sciences, won the Second Prize individually with his Smart Vending Systems Project, which envisages the use of smart vending systems in universities to make recycling fun and to make students love recycling and to gain recycling habits and awareness.
