This is not a movie scene – it is a real and ongoing partnership built on good habits, proper waste disposal, and a shared mission for a cleaner environment. For the fifth consecutive year, Coca-Cola’s sustainable initiative, Recycle Me. Give Me a New Life. returns to the capital's street, right where film, culture, sustainable practices, and social responsibility are celebrated each year.
This initiative has become an integral part of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s identity and a tangible example of changing mindsets and behaviors we create and live together. During the past four renditions of the Festival, almost 130 tons of waste have been collected and sent for recycling.
This year, a total of seventeen waste separation sets have been placed, organized into three categories – for plastic bottles, cans, and mixed waste – at carefully selected and busy locations. The locations include: the Festival Square, the Festival Café (square in front of the National Theatre Sarajevo), Box Office (inside the BKC building, near the entrance) and Branilaca Sarajeva Street (across from BKC), the square in front of the Youth Theatre, four points at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema – Obala entrance, Gymnasium entrance, and two locations inside the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema, the Eating Point near the Army Hall, Cineplexx cinema, UNIQA Open Air Cinema Stari Grad (City Hall), BH Telecom Open Air Cinema Centar, two points at the Festival Garden near SCC, the Ilidža Picnic Open Air Cinema, and the Safet Zajko Open Air Cinema Centar.
The containers are marked and positioned in a way to make it easy for visitors to dispose of waste responsibly. The initiative Recycle Me. Give Me a New Life. continues to raise awareness about the importance of recycling, not only through the increased number of bottles collected but also by changing citizens’ habits and spreading positive examples within the community.
“The project Recycle Me. Give Me a New Life. began right here at the Sarajevo Film Festival, and we are pleased that it has since become an integral and strategically important part of the event. Our partnership with the Festival grows year after year – not only as part of the festival’s program but also as an example of responsible action toward the environment and society. The project’s success is also evident in its expansion to new locations and further development through cooperation with new partners,” said Igor Zgrabljić, Director of Public Affairs and Sustainability at Coca-Cola HBC Adria.
Coca-Cola has been operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 56 years. Through initiatives such as Recycle Me. Give Me a New Life, and in its own production facility in Sarajevo, it actively works on reducing its environmental footprint and introducing sustainable practices into everyday operations. All waste collected as part of this initiative will be properly disposed of in cooperation with KJKP RAD and Ekopak, with all recyclable materials sent for further recycling – yet another example of Coca-Cola and the Sarajevo Film Festival being “in their own film” when it comes to building a more sustainable future.