Renat Nigmatullin: "It is neat not where cleaning is done, but where people don't make a mess"

27 june 2024

Our June issue of the “About People and Good Deeds” column features one of the activists of SIBUR's volunteering movement discussing his experience of participating in grant-funded volunteering projects implemented together with his colleagues and the launch of his own project with the support of the Formula for Good Deeds program, as well as offering advice on how to join the initiative focusing on protecting nature and our environment.

What kinds of opportunities does volunteering offer to the company’s employees?
Being a volunteer brings with it a lot of opportunities. First of all, I believe that it helps develop and improve one’s skills as an organizer. As people go about implementing their projects, they learn how to best interact both with each other and with the beneficiaries of their activities, how to work in a team, and show leadership. Meeting and socializing with new people helps you discover something new, share your experience, ideas, and knowledge.

In the past, you had taken part in grant-funded volunteering projects of your colleagues as a volunteer. Would it be appropriate to say that it was this experience, among other things, that prompted you to initiate a project of your own?
As a matter of fact, the beginnings of my volunteering career date back to 2019, after a chain of certain events took place in my life. Some relic hunters in the Smolensk region unearthed a soldier’s medallion that was traced to my great-grandfather, who, according to the Memory Book, was listed MIA during the Great Patriotic War. They contacted our family and invited us to attend the reinterment ceremony. At the time, I was impressed by the scale of their search operation and the number of relic hunter involved who traveled there from all parts of Russia. This made me realize the significance of their mission. Upon getting back home, I felt that I needed to rethink my life’s priorities in general, prompting me to join the youth movement of Nizhnekamskneftekhim in 2020. For several years afterwards, I was actively involved in my colleagues' grant-funded projects as a volunteer. So, of course, this experience did serve as an inspiration for me to initiate a project of my own.

It has been the second year in a row that you have been successfully implementing, with the support of the Formula for Good Deeds, a project titled The Eco-Tournament with Benefits, aimed at promoting waste sorting. Why did you pick this particular area of activity for yourself?
In 2022, with the support of the Formula for Good Deeds, my colleagues and I performed a cleanup of the Kama River’s banks as part of the Clean Banks, Clean Water Bodies project, in addition to the cleanup days in rural areas and on lake shores that we organized within the framework of the Beautiful River, Clean Banks project. I can say that taking part in these activities opened my eyes. I saw how polluted our nature areas are, how much trash people leave behind. This area of activity really caught my attention. And that’s why I decided that the theme of respect for nature should become my priority.

Did you rely on the experience of your colleagues in the process of pursuing your own project?
Absolutely. As I was helping my colleagues with the implementation of their projects, I saw how responsible they were in dealing with all issues, without missing a single minute detail, how they think everything through, what kind of atmosphere they build within their teams, how they interact with all project participants and involve their partners in the implementation process. You can’t have a quality project without any of that. And as I go about implementing a project of my own, I make sure to stay in touch with my colleagues, ask for their advice, and together we find the most appropriate solutions based on our prior experience. I am glad that I have this opportunity available to me.

Please tell us more about the concept of your project. What is it about?
I am trying to inure the residents of our city and our school students to the habit of separate waste collection. That’s the crux of my project. For example, we hold checkers tournaments where instead of checker pieces we use plastic caps, we teach eco- and master classes, we draw people’s attention to the problem of waste sorting using an engaging and fun format. By installing collection boxes for collecting plastic caps at schools and in libraries, we encourage people to keep on doing what we started.

How did you come up with the idea of holding checkers tournaments where plastic caps are used instead of proper checker pieces?
The game of checkers has forever been played with very diverse makeshift pieces. We decided to spruce the game up in order to arouse greater interest among the participants of the project by introducing this feature of using plastic caps at the tournament. After all, if information is presented in a game format it is better internalized by a child's mind.

I am sure that many people would want to contribute to your project. Could you share with our readers where in the city and on the company’s premises one can find your containers for collecting caps?
Our boxes for collecting plastic caps can be found at a number of Nizhnekamsk schools: No. 7, No. 15, No. 31, No. 32, No. 36, and No. 37, plus at Dobroshkola, as well as in the lobby of administrative building A12 belonging to SIBUR's Nizhnekamsk facility. Very soon, such boxes will be installed at entryways of all Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s facilities. As boxes get filled up, I empty their contents and take to a recycling facility. I urge everyone to contribute to our noble cause by taking their discarded caps to a location closest to you!

You send the collected plastic caps to get recycled, and then use the proceeds from that to buy food for stray animals. How much animal food did you manage to buy last year? What are your expectations for this year?
During the first year of the project’s existence, we collected 170 kilograms’ worth of caps. Using the proceeds from taking the caps to recycling, we were able to buy around 100 kilograms of dry pet food for dogs living in animal shelters. Our expectations for this year are even more ambitious, because our last year's efforts were not in vain: people now know where, and most importantly, why to take their plastic caps to recycling. The number of locations where we installed special branded boxes for collecting caps has also grown. On top of that, in keeping with an arrangement made with the organizers of the Kazan Marathon and the Nizhnekamsk Half Marathon volunteers collected 27 and 5 kilograms of caps at the two events’ feeding stations, respectively. Thanks to the help of Nizhnekamskneftekhim’s employees, school students, members of children's clubs, libraries and caring residents, we have already collected 230 kilograms’ worth of caps. The goal is to collect 400 kilograms by the project’s end!

Is there a memorable phrase used by a project participant that motivates you to go on?
This happened at Gymnasium No. 32. Back then we had chosen to combine two events that we were carrying out with a team of ecologists, an eco-lesson and an eco-tournament, into one. This combination was very eagerly accepted by the students. Impressed by what she had heard at the class, one of the students shared with us the idea of replacing items of animal and natural origin with plastic ones.

In 2023, you emerged as one of the winners at the 4th SIBUR Corporate Volunteering Forum in the Eco-Volunteering category. What were your impressions of that event?
I was there for the first time and I had never thought that I would be chosen from dozens of worthy applicants. It was a great honor to receive this award from the Company's CEO. I am happy to see that volunteering is supported at such a high level of management at SIBUR.

Do you have any ideas for further development and scaling up of the project?
You know, they say that appetite comes with eating. The same rule applies here: new ideas emerge in the course of the project’s implementation. We have already launched an Ecophoto Challenge for the company's employees. Our colleagues need to walk up to a branded container for collecting plastic caps, have their photo taken next to it holding a bag of caps they will have brought with them. They will then have to scan a QR code and fill out a questionnaire. The most active participants of the challenge are rewarded every quarter for bringing over the largest number of caps to get recycled. At our events that are held within the framework of the Eco-Tournament with Benefits project, my colleagues and I show school students how a 3D printer operates and demonstrate to them the process of printing plastic items on their own. In the future, we would like to be able to introduce another feature and clearly show to the students the full cycle of recycling, beginning with bottles that will serve as the feedstock for building plastic products using a 3D printer.

In closing, could you offer a piece of advice to those who want to help the environment, but do not know how?
After enjoying an out-of-doors outing, make sure you clean up after yourself, because it is tidy not where cleaning is done, but where people don't make a mess. If you want to take it to the next level, start sorting your waste. All municipalities either have dedicated collection points, or hold quarterly campaigns for collecting plastics, paper, and glass. Batteries also need to be dropped off inside dedicated containers that are placed inside stores or near residential areas. By starting low, strive for more. Everything is in your hands!

To find out more about SIBUR's volunteers and upcoming volunteering events, go to these links in VKontakte and Telegram.

In case you missed our previous issues:
Yulia Klochkova: "Volunteering is a norm"
Andrey Khiletsky: "Volunteering is a movement that unites people"
Minzilya Syutkina: "If there is a will, opportunities will follow"
Rizana Bakhtiyeva: "Do good and the world will get better!"
Elena Menshenina: "With a strong team and managers’ support, you can move mountains!"

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To find out more about SIBUR's volunteers and upcoming volunteering events, go to these links in VKontakte and Telegram.

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To find out more about SIBUR's volunteers and upcoming volunteering events, go to these links in VKontakte and Telegram.

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