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MISCHIEF OF PLASTIC

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KazUnite – According to the members of the international campaign Zero Waste Week, the world’s beauty industry annually produces 120 billion packages. Most of them are not recyclable.

WE ALSO PLASTIC

Non-recyclable packaging is plastic bottles and plastic bags of beauty products. So where do they go after being used? They are buried in the landfill or released into the water. For example, the oceans and seas seem to “receive” more than 8 million tons of plastic a year. At this rate, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the water than fish, and 99% of marine creatures will have been eating plastic.

David Attenborough, a British TV presenter and naturalist, says he saw albatrosses feeding their chicks with plastic during the filming of the BBC’s seven-part documentary Blue Planet II. “Normally, female albatrosses stay away from their nests for three weeks in search of food. When they come, they don’t bite the squid with their beaks, they bite the plastic and give it to the chicks,” he said.

If you think that plastic does not harm people, you are wrong. Scientists at the University of Ghent say that we are “eating” and ingesting plastic with water today. If you are a fan of seafood, it means your stomach “hosts” about 11 thousand microplastics each year today.

In 2017, the University of Minnesota and Orb Media conducted a study of drinking water in
more than 10 countries. As a result, they found out that an amount of plastic fibers in the sampled water droplets formed 83%. This means that billions of people are consuming plastic particles along with water.

DEEDS NOT WORDS

It is comforting that due to the recent public interest in eco-brands, cosmetics companies have also moved ahead to make their products much safer for nature. Aveda was the first to replace 85% of skin and hair product packaging with recyclable bioplastics. Edmond Irizzeri, the brand’s executive director of packaging, told the journalists from the newspaper called “The Independent” that “soon we will have the opportunity to make a new type of bioplastic from cow dung.”

The British company Neal’s Yard Remedies is no exception. The brand promises to make all the exterior and packaging of all its products 100% recyclable by 2050. According to the head of the company Louise Green, part of the responsibility of addressing this problem lies with consumers. “It seems that conscious consumerism is needed. For example, many of us are deceived by the advertisement “if you buy one, the other is free” and buy things even if we don’t need them. They will soon go to the trash,” said Green. The representatives of the Lush brand agree with him. As a way to solve this problem, the company intends to continue to train store consultants who will help consumers buy only the products they need.

Now, look at the following interesting phenomenon. According to a poll conducted by The Independent, 62% of the British population prefer to pay more for environmentally friendly bamboo earbuds. They were also offered Lush eco-shampoo, which costs £ 7 and a half , and Head and Добавлено примечание ([U1]): What is it? 7.50?

Shoulders, which costs £ 1. However, while there were enough “Britons” willing to sacrifice money for environmentally friendly products, in the end, some of them did not participate in the processing of these substances. For example, in a survey commissioned by Garnier, half of the respondents, and a survey conducted by TerraCycle, found out that 4 and a half million Britons do not send their empty toiletries to recycle.

WONDERFUL SOLUTION

Greenpeace Unearthed has warned that recyclable plastics are not delivered to the recycling facility due to the above-mentioned phenomenon. For example, recyclable waste from the United Kingdom and other Western countries is now being dumped in illegal landfills in Malaysia. Therefore, the name “recyclable plastic” does not mean that the product is really recyclable.

Richard Thompson, a professor at the University of Plymouth, suggests a solution to this problem.

“The recyclable labeling system does not fully meet our goals. If we want it to be so, not in words, but in deeds, we should include information on how to send it for recycling, that is, provide information about local recycling sites,” he said.

Unfortunately, the society is not familiar with it. Currently, some large companies, such as Boots, are working with special focus groups to regulate consumer participation by showing recycling instructions on the packaging of the products they sell. In addition, MAC provides one free lipstick to anyone who brings six empty tubes of lipstick.

Similarly, you can reduce the amount on your check by 20% by taking an empty bottle of your old perfume to a Le Labo perfume shop and refilling it. And the Kiehl brand gives one small product as a gift to a person who sells 10 containers of large products. Recently, companies such as Hourglass and Dior have launched refillable lipsticks.

Rachel Strauss, founder of Zero Waste Week, said: “Some coffee shops offer a discount of 25 pence for a trip with your own dishes. Why don’t we introduce such practices when buying shampoos and hair conditioners, one of the most widely used cosmetics?” he says.

In short, it is not enough for a cosmetic package to be a “recyclable product”, it needs other additional measures to fully fulfill its “mission to be environmentally friendly”. So far, only a few brands in the European beauty industry are moving in this direction.

In a word, it is not enough for a cosmetic package to be a “recyclable product”, it needs other additional measures to fully fulfill its “mission to be environmentally friendly”. So far, only a few brands in the European beauty industry are moving in this direction. But will we follow this task as a customers?

Botakoz Maratkyzy

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A meeting with Harvard professor Nurlan Kenzheakhmet was held in New York

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NEW YORK. KazUnite – New York, a special presentation of the book published in English by Kazakhstani historian-scholar Nurlan Kenzheakhmetuly was held under the organization of the Book Club of the United Alash Foundation. Historian, world-famous scholar Nurlan Kenzheakhmet is currently engaged in research work at Harvard University (USA). Historically valuable book of the author was published by a publishing house in Germany.

Фото: Dauren Mukhamejanov

The full title of the historical work is «Eurasian Historical Geography as Reflected in Geographical literature and in Maps from the 13th to the Mid-17th Centuries».

Scientists, journalists and Kazakh diasporas who live in the USA came to the spiritual creative evening, organized by the Book Club of the Birikken Alash Foundation. The meeting, which was held in a mixed offline-online format, was led by journalist Taurbek Bozeken. Thanks to the presentation of this book, the participants got acquainted with a new and valuable scientific work, which occupies a special place in the history of Kazakhstan, and learned more deeply about its author, historian-cartographer Nurlan Kenzheakhmet. We also had the opportunity to ask various questions to the author of the book. At the end of the evening, the guests were treated to a specially prepared table, and the guests were presented with books from the Book Club.

P.S: There is hope that in the future this book by the historian Nurlan Kenzheakhmet will be translated into Kazakh and Russian. We believe that, of course, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan will find the appropriate funds and the National Academy of Sciences will also take part in this. And I wish good luck to Ulanbatyr Bakytkhanuly, who organizes such spiritual, educational and business meetings in America, and those who support him!

And now accept my photo report from this event.

Dauren Mukhamejanov

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Kazakh karateka grabs gold at Islamic Solidarity Games

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NUR-SULTAN. KazUnite – Kaisar Alpysbai from Kazakhstan won a gold medal at the now-running Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Türkiye, Olympic.kz reads.

He defeated Kuwaiti Abdullah Shaaban in the men’s 60 kg finals.

Photo: olympic.kz

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Ex-CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo receives Dostyk Order of Kazakhstan

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RABAT. KazUnite – Lassina Zerbo, the former Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), was awarded the Second Degree Order of Dostyk (Friendship), at a ceremony at the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Morocco, KazUnite cites the press service of the Kazakh MFA.

Presenting the award, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador Saulekul Sailaukyzy noted Dr. Zerbo’s fruitful work in leading the CTBTO and his active work in implementing the international organization’s mandate. In his own turn, he warmly thanked Kazakhstan for the recognition of his contribution to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation and wished the country peace, prosperity and success at the new stage of its development.

The event, attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps, academia and the media, featured a thematic photo exhibition and screening of a documentary film on Kazakhstan’s role in the international efforts for global and regional security. The Kazakh diplomat briefed the audience about the constitutional reforms in our country, the course of preparations to the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions and the 6th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia as well as with the relevant aspects of Kazakhstan’s cooperation with Morocco and other countries of the African continent.

A geophysicist and politician from Burkina Faso, Lassina Zerbo led the CTBTO in 2013-2021, is an honorary citizen of Hiroshima and a recipient of the 2019 Nazarbayev Prize for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World and Global Security.

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Kazakhstan to provide space communication services to Tajikistan

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DUSHANBE. KazUnite – Kazakhstan is to provide a transponder capacity on its Кazsat-3 satellite to Tajikistan, Kazinform correspondent reports.

An agreement was reached between the Republican Space Communication Center and Tajikistan’s Isatel to provide a transponder capacity on Kazakhstan’s Кazsat-3 satellite.

Owing to this, remote regions of Tajikistan will be provided with channels of communication.

Isatel is an Internet provider for both government bodies and private companies of Tajikistan.

Kazakhstan’s satellite communication system fully meets the country’s demand for communication services as well as markets its products in Kyrgyzstan.

In his address to the people, the Kazakh president stated increasing the export of digital sector services as one of the directions of the development of the Kazakh economy.

 

Photo: Kazinform

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Kazakhstan addresses UN high-level roundtable on SDGs

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NUR-SULTAN. KazUnite – Kazakh National Economy Minister Alibek Kuantyrov took part in the ministerial roundtable «Accelerating achievement of the SDGs by 2030: addressing on-going crises and overcoming challenges» at the UN headquarters in New York, Kazinform cites the press service of the National Economy Ministry.

At the meeting, an exchange of views on the current situation in the world and the SDGs took place.

In his speech, the Kazakh economy minister noted that the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized the global economy and led to serious consequences. The ongoing crisis limits the financial and budgetary space of many developing countries. Kazakhstan was not an exception.

«Nevertheless, in 2021, Kazakhstan’s GDP rose to 4.1%. The figure was lower than the pre-pandemic level. However, investment in the economy rose by 2.6%, and direct foreign investment by 54.1%. Thus, the unemployment rate remained at 4.9%,» said the minister.

Kuantyrov also pointed out crises such as climate change, lack of food and water security, and poor environment, noting that the country attaches great attention to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Photo: gov.kz

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Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan advances to WTA 250 event semis in Hungary

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NUR-SULTAN. KazUnite – Kazakhstani Yulia Putintseva won the third-round match at the WTA 250 event in Budapest, Hungary KazUnite cites Sports.kz.

Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan defeated Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine ranked 97th in the world 6-0, 2-0 in the quarterfinal of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The match lasted for 36 minutes.

During the match, the Kazakhstani fired no ace, made no double fault, and won five points, and eight games in a row.

 

Photo: sports.kz

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Kazakhstan’s Alinur Khamzin wins 1st place at Slavianski Bazaar int’l children’s song contest

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NUR-SULTAN. KazUnite – Kazakhstani Alinur Khamzin won first place and 2nd class diploma at the International Children’s Song Contest Slavianski Bazaar 2022, with Belarusian Yelisei Kasich claiming the Grand Prix, Kazinform correspondent reports.

On the first day of the contest, Kazakhstan’s Alinur scored the highest point of 70 for his performance of the song based on Mukagali Makatayev’s Kazagym-ai poem.

The next day, he sang Who’s Lovin’ You by William «Smokey» Robins and received 68 points with his total score adding up to 138 points. So, the Kazakhstani representative settled for first place of the competition.

Alinur Khamzin from Uralsk has vied in republican contests, TV projects, and international competitions, including Junior Eurovision in Paris, and Rose of the East in Tashkent.

The 12-year-old Alinur won Dimash Kudaibergen Dears Special Prize.

Kyle Ruh (Yerik Tolenov) will represent Kazakhstan at the International Pop Song Performers Contest «VITEBSK-2022» in Belarus.

 

Photo: instagram.com/khamzin_alinur

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Personnel Minister Vows Digital Innovation of Gov’t Affairs

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Korea’s ‘e-Saram’ praised as innovative management system for public workers

By Ko Dong-hwan (“The Korea Times”)

In his first international event since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration kicked off on May 10, Korean Minister of Personnel Management Kim Seung-ho proudly touted how the country has been managing public workers via a digital platform to rely more on scientific data rather than human instinct.

The message rang loud and clear in the International Webinar on Civil Service Management, co-hosted on Wednesday by the ministry and the Astana Civil Service Hub (ACSH), an institutional platform for knowledge sharing in the field of civil service, co-launched by Kazakhstan and the UN Development Programme in 2013. The annual webinar’s theme this year was “digital innovation in civil service management.”

In the face of the global digital transformation, Kim saw that big data and AI were driving innovations in the field of civil service management. It no longer makes sense to rely only on past practices or the decisions of high officials in the fields of recruitment, deployment, human resource development and performance management.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic opened his eyes to the reality that Korea has become an ultra-connected and contactless society faster than he had expected. Many advanced countries like Australia and Canada, as well as global organizations like the OECD, shared his understanding, highlighting the significance of data-based civil service management. There seemed to be no better time than the present to host the webinar under that particular theme.

“The Yoon administration announced as one of its key policy tasks that it will build the world’s best digital platform government connecting all data,” Kim said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. “The initiative is aimed at engaging people, businesses and the government together to address societal challenges and generate new values based on a digital platform that connects all such data.”

The innovative challenge, in fact, has already been undertaken in the country in the field of civil service management. It has yielded meaningful results, including: e-Saram, the Talent Development Platform, the Government E-learning Platform and the Intelligent Talent Recommendation Database, all of which have been built with the ministry’s AI- and big data-based technologies.

Kim mentioned e-Saram in particular as the ministry’s leading accomplishment in the digital innovation of government administration. The backbone of the Korean e-government system, it now awaits its third-generation version to unfold in 2025 after its introduction in 2000. Once the next-generation HR management system is completed, it will offer customized services to every user “with the help of robotics and automation technologies,” Kim said.

“E-Saram is a standardized administrative support system that enables the integrated, electronic HR management of the country’s civil servants from their recruitment to retirement. It also utilizes the collected data for designing future HR policies,” the minister said.

Kim mentioned another key agenda item of the Yoon administration’s foreign policy framework ― building regional partnership networks for co-prosperity ― as a step the ministry will also take. It was one of the reasons he hosted Wednesday’s webinar, joined by seven personnel administration organizations from six countries in Central Asia and Europe, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Belgium.

Even before the webinar, the ministry, since its establishment in 2014, has organized meetings with international organizations for purposes of multilateral cooperation, like the ACSH, the OECD, the ASEAN Countries Plus 3 Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM+3), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Korea-China-Japan Network.

Kim said the ministry will further reinforce bilateral ties, signing MOUs to build medium- to long-term partnerships, undertake official development assistance (ODA) projects to assist partner states to enhance their civil service management capacity and host webinars to introduce Korea’s HR management system. The ministry will also publish handbooks on Korean civil service management in different languages to respond to increased interest in the country’s HR management system. The authority began publishing them in Korean in 2020.

Kim is especially interested in Central Asian nations. Acknowledging the ACSH as a focal point of the ministry’s international collaboration in the region, the minister said he wishes to resume high-level exchanges with the states in the region now that pandemic-related travel restrictions have been somewhat eased.

For starters, the ministry plans to proactively implement development cooperation projects with partner countries in the region that aspire to strengthen their civil service management capacities. The minister is also looking to host international webinars, like the one on Wednesday, on a regular basis, as well as conduct joint case studies with partner countries.

“There is a certain government development program run by the country’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, called the Knowledge Sharing Program, where a wide range of projects are planned and undertaken by Korea and its partner countries,” said Kim. “It is funded by the Korean central government. We also plan to gradually restart discussions at appropriate times on convening MOU signing ceremonies with the ACSH, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.”

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2022/07/129_331858.html

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How can Government Agencies increase Public Trust?

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KazUnite – The Internet and social networks have now entered all spheres of modern human life, including the country.  During the seminar “Social networks – an effective platform connecting government agencies and the public”, Bekzat Rahimov, Director of the State and Public Communication Development Department of the Ministry of Information and Social Devolopment of Kazakhstan, noted that the role of social networks in the information space of Kazakhstan is growing significantly.

He said that according to the results of the media consumption research conducted by “Internews-Kazakhstan”, the share of traditional sources of information such as television, press, radio and even simple websites has decreased compared to 2019 and 2021.  Moreover, representative of the ministry pointed out that the share of social networks and messengers has not decreased, and even slightly increased.  According to the research data, the level of public trust in official sources of information has halved during this period and reached 4.5%.

The seminar was held by Astana Civil Service Hub jointly with the Ministry of Information and Social Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Heads and employees of the press services of regional akimats of Kazakhstan got acquainted with the best practice of using social networks in the public sector and digital methods of communicating with the public.They were particularly interested in modern methods of increasing public confidence.  The participants analyzed various cases and discussed ways of using content types and establishing digital communication in order to establish effective communication with the public.  They analyzed different media channels, user behavioral responses, and strategic planning issues in social networks.

Georgian experts Ani Sirbiladze and Irakli Gvinianidze reported on the digital trends in the world and in the region on the promotion of state bodies on social media.  Also, they focused on the role of social networks during state crises and presented the best practices in the world.

The experts shared their opinion on the problems and ways to solve them in the field of interaction between state bodies and the society of Kazakhstan:

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