The FINANCIAL — Lisi Development has placed special waste containers on different locations of its property, so from now its residents can now separate their discarded items. There are over 200 companies in Georgia, mainly office buildings, hotels and restaurants, using waste sorting bins. Lisi Development is the first development company to become involved in this initiative. Having a healthy and clean environment has always been a core principle of the company. Meanwhile, launching the new system is believed to be breaking the borders of one district, as it aims to change wider cultural habits towards the environment.
“Our initiative is an integral part of the green concept carried by Lisi Development. This is an additional step, which we are now taking to create a greener and healthier environment. It is important that this campaign will expand our initiative of a healthier environment beyond the physical borders of Lisi residential complex. We are proud to be the first development company to have launched waste sorting. Finding a partner that will take care of the recycling of the separated waste in line with international standards is also very important,” Nodar Adeishvili, General Director at Lisi Development, told The FINANCIAL.
Adeishvili hopes that this initiative will catch on with everyone. He is optimistic that not only developers, but also other businesses will get involved in waste sorting. “The work of any business, and each apartment building that takes care of their environment, expands beyond their boundaries. It is important to realize that our borders are much wider than we used to believe. So, we are trying to implement this belief in our area. Now we are initiating and encouraging everyone to take care of the environment in which we all live,” he said.
Founded in 2011, LisiDevelopment has already completed the first phase of its project, called Lisi Veranda. The project comprises 170 units in total. These include: four villas, over twenty townhouses, and apartment blocks. Realization of the phase has been successfully achieved. Only a limited amount is still available for sale. In the last quarter of 2014 the company started construction of the second phase. Another 260 units will be offered to customers. Construction will be fully completed in 2016. In the new phase the company will be offering residential blocks and also townhouses. Villas will be built near Lisi Lake. The company is successfully cooperating with Dutch financial institution, FMO.
The waste-sorting system at Lisi Development has been implemented with the cooperation of Coop Georgia, the only company developing recycling services in the country.
“Waste management is a novelty in Georgia. Coop Georgia was established two years ago. The number of our clients is over 200. It is not a big number for Tbilisi. However, we should take into account that such innovative projects include various factors, including education, awareness and infrastructure. So, there are quite a lot of factors that need to be organized and mobilized to establish waste management. It requires a lot of resources. This initiative is being implemented by only one company. Accordingly, these results are quite good. We did not have big expectations for the beginning. We are actively involved in increasing the interest and awareness of the population. We are not a profit-oriented company. The company operates at the expense of personal financial resources and volunteers. Accordingly, our work is more of a social undertaking, rather than a business,” said Wilhelm Rouenhoff, Director at Coop Georgia.
“The involvement of such companies, like Lisi Development, will contribute to raising the level of awareness, as well as the involvement of other companies. Thus, more people will be informed regarding the existence of such a system. We are quite optimistic and believe that waste sorting will become part of people’s behaviour, at first in Tbilisi,” Rouenhoff said.
Out of the 200 companies involved in the waste-sorting system in Georgia, large foreign companies and embassies dominate. “This is a common phenomenon for foreigners,” explained Rouenhoff. There are also 5-6 neighbourhoods among the customers of Coop Georgia, who have gathered to call for waste separating bins to be placed in their yards.
On the dominance of foreign companies towards environmental issues, Adeishvili explained further: “There are many concerns around us that need to be solved in order to achieve certain standards. Everything has its stage. The fact that international companies are more prone to meeting various standards, including waste sorting, means that they have passed certain stages of development”. He is optimistic that local companies will soon manage to stand in line with international companies in regard to meeting various standards.
“Lisi Development is an environment-oriented company. It creates an ideal healthy style of living for its inhabitants. Accordingly, it is clear why the company decided to introduce waste sorting,” said Rouenhoff.
According to Rouenhoff, sorted paper is recycled into toilet paper in Georgia. Glass is recycled by Ksani glass factory. Cardboard is recycled by Tserovani factory. As for plastic, there is no factory processing it so the company is exporting this. “We hope that in the future a plastic-processing factory will be established in Georgia and it will be consumed on the local market.”
On 15 January, 2015, a new law was adopted regarding waste management. “It is in the state’s interest to have a thorough approach to this issue. I hope that through the initiated activities, we will achieve a totally clean and healthy environment within a few years,” Rouenhoff said.
In Adeishvili’s words, state support is important for the implementation of any project. “In this case it shall be expressed in the support of creation of processing plants of larger scales, that will be involved in the recycling of waste,” he said.
On the occasion of launching the waste-sorting system, the management of Lisi Development arranged a special event for its residents. The rules for using each bin were explained to attendants.
“We see a lot of children here. They might not be aware of which bin belongs to which sort of waste. However, the fact that they are interested is the most important thing at this stage. This is an ideal lesson for future generations, for developing their skills. This will be a role model for other companies,” said Rouenhoff.
“This project is very important. Everyone who cares about nature and has the slightest education knows that the decomposition of plastics takes more than 500 years. Consequently, we must understand that the uncontrolled dumping of waste destroys land. Nature has been given to us by God and we need to take care of it. This is a basic question of culture. We all know that we need to clean up the table after eating, and so it should be the same with nature,” said LadoKirvalidze, resident of Lisi Development.
“Poisoned products grown on contaminated land will be the response of nature to our irresponsibleness. We just need to look a bit further ahead. We need to bring up generations by explaining that our property is not only the 100 square metres we live on. This land’s nature also belongs to us, as people,” Kirvalidze added.
Kirvalidze believes that the steps made to enhance awareness should start at school. “Not every family may realise it, so it should be a part of the state’s policy to bring up generations with a love of nature. Changing the habits of adults is more difficult. However, the fact is that as we become more international as a country, we need to meet global standards. Currently, our lack of care for nature shows that we do not care about others. We are simply abiding by environmental regulations because it is required by law. Therefore regulations are compulsory, as it takes time to become part of our consciousness.”
“Any step targeted at the development and care of our country is important for us. It might be a small step, but any big job starts with such steps. I believe that these small steps will be appreciated, and ultimately, will bring an important result for the country,” Adeishvili said.
“Constant transformation and novelty has always been the main goal of our company,” he added.
“We are always looking for new initiatives, which are in line with the concept of Lisi Development and offer an ideal atmosphere for its residents. The main idea of Lisi Development was to offer large recreation areas and low-density development. In accordance, out of the total 100% of one of our project’s areas, approximately 20% is used for buildings. The remaining 80% is used for parks, planting and public spaces. So, the borders of our residents outside of their flats are wider than in most cases. Our residents get used to knowing that all of these areas are available to them,” Adeishvili told The FINANCIAL.
Another news that company has shared with The FINANCIAL is that an article about “Lisi Development” and its project “LISI Veranda” was published in the yearly issue of “World’s Best” magazine by International Property awards. For the fourth time in a row “Lisi Development” was awarded with the 2014 International Property Award in the category: Best Residential Development in Georgia.European Real Estate Award is considered as one of the most prestigious awards in residential and commercial real estate industry in. High-level international experts identified the most significant projects and the best European real estate companies. General sponsor of 2014 International Property Award is “Rolls Royce”.
