31/05/2019

IMPA replaces plastic cups with sustainable products.

Viana anuncia mudanças para tornar o IMPA um espaço ainda mais sustentável

On the eve of World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5th, the Director-General of IMPA, Marcelo Viana, announced measures that will make daily life at the headquarters even more sustainable. In addition to replacing plastic cups with similar ones made from bamboo fiber, a new waste collection system will be adopted.

“We are starting a second round in this sustainability effort. One of the consequences is that we will end the use of plastic cups here at IMPA. We are getting ahead of a trend that is inevitable,” said Viana, when opening the lecture on sustainability given on the morning of this Friday (31).

To help eliminate the plastic cup from its endangered status at IMPA, each employee received a similar sustainable cup, featuring a double-opening lid that can be used for both hot and cold liquids. "It's a much more environmentally friendly and attractive cup," Viana joked.

The goal of making IMPA greener includes adopting new habits regarding waste disposal. The existing trash cans in each room will be eliminated to make way for collection points distributed throughout the institute. The model is similar to the one adopted in 2017 with the printers, a system that, according to Viana, brought environmental and economic benefits. "In one year, we saved 37 trees," he noted.

Eleonor Valéria dá detalhes sobre projeto Descolido aos funcionários do iMPA

To implement the new system, IMPA partnered with Eleonor Valéria, creator of the Mutema environmental education project. During her presentation, she explained that the institute will adopt the guidelines of Descolido, an initiative that encourages the conscious disposal of household waste.

Each disposal island will have five bins, with specific colors for each type of material: red (plastic), blue (paper), yellow (aluminum), organic waste (brown), and gray (everything that cannot be recycled or reused).

In her presentation, Valéria stressed the importance of cleaning packaging before disposal. “Just rinse it with water first. It takes two seconds to fix. You don't need to use soap. If you throw it away dirty, it will damage the other items that are there. It can attract pests, cockroaches,” she explained.

The discarded material will be collected and taken to Mutema's headquarters, where it will undergo further sorting and recycling. In addition to reuse, plastic bottles and cleaning product packaging, for example, are transformed into toys, poufs, and pencil holders, among other objects, destined for residents of the Carioca neighborhood in the North Zone. "What is trash to you can be a treasure to someone else," Valéria observed.

Sherly vivencia práticas mais sustentáveis no IMPA e na creche da filha

Sherly Dantas, an employee in the Accounting department, praised the replacement of the plastic cup. “This is very important for the environment. These are new habits. It’s interesting because what we’re seeing here is also being taught at my daughter’s daycare,” she said, referring to her 3-year-old daughter, Maria Vitória.

Vinícius Ramos, a researcher in the field of Symplectic Geometry, also approved of the change. Although he has a coffee mug, it stays permanently in his office. "I only use the plastic cup when I arrive at IMPA, before going up to the third floor," he explained. Now, not even that. Because the bamboo cup is lightweight and sealed, it can be carried in a backpack.