Governments around the world are racing against the clock to help communities damaged by the economic fallout of COVID-19. Eager to bring good news to their constituents, they are brokering deals likely to bring employment and much-needed international investments. Georgia, of course, is no exception. Recent FDI projects include a plastics processing plant with a stated capacity to employ 400 local workers in plastic waste recycling jobs and the associated sections of the supply chain.

Our dependence on smartphones can hardly be described as anything other than addictive. We invariably use them to document trips and thus to have the world at our fingertips. Though, these precious little gadgets have a dark history that we, as consumers, unconsciously support. Unfortunately, we will not be able to discuss in detail all the negative impacts within the supply chain of smartphones.

Currently, Chinese cities have a 25% share of the world’s municipal solid waste, where the majority of this waste constitutes organic waste. The Chinese Academy of Science and the World Wild Fund states that restaurants and schools are wasting about 33 % of the food they serve.

There is an ever-increasing need for pioneering methods to reduce, reuse and recycle the products and materials around us. Innovative companies can help lead the way towards a circular economy (aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of existing resources), and a few seem to hold the key to a more sustainable future.

ISET is continuing its student policy seminar series. This time, Giorgi Ninua, Mariam Tsulukidze, Mariam Lobjanidze, and Yana Hovhannisyan presented their research results under the supervision of Norberto Pignatti, a member of ISET’s resident faculty and the head of the Energy and Environment Policy Research Center at the ISET Policy Institute.