Kaunas City Municipality The results of the “Waste culture” exam have been revealed – would you answer the following questions?

The “Waste Culture” exam, held for the fifth time, received a record number of participants – more than 16,000 participants from all over Lithuania wanted to test their knowledge and compete with each other for great prizes.

Tomas Vaitkevičius, the head of the Vilnius County Waste Management Center (VAATC), who did not doubt the meaning of the exam idea from the very beginning, is happy today not only with the consistently growing participation of participants, but also with the increasing awareness of the population.

“The numbers speak for themselves – every year more and more residents decide to take the exam remotely, which shows the growing awareness and interest of all of us in the topics of “Waste Culture”. Although educational institutions traditionally demonstrate the greatest activity in the exam – this year 691 of them participated, every year more and more residents from all over Lithuania who have closed their school doors for a long time, but are indifferent to the environment around us, decide to test themselves and at the same time deepen their knowledge”, says the initiator of the exam, T. Vaitkevičius.

Among them is Milda Paukštė, who regularly contributes to the activities of “Waste Culture”, and who took the exam remotely this year for the fifth time. The woman who pays a lot of attention to sustainability topics in her everyday life showed really great results this year, but according to Milda, they are not the most important for her during the exam.

“It’s always interesting to test your knowledge. This time, I did really well in the exam – I managed to answer nineteen out of twenty questions correctly, but there is still room for improvement. It was interesting to watch my three children, who were solving the exam at home, to check how many correct answers they would know from our own everyday life – I’m glad that questions such as whether or not to wash the yogurt container before sorting, did not cause any challenges for them”, says M. Paukštė .

According to M. Paukšta, the topic of “waste culture” is closely intertwined with the most diverse areas and activities, so interest in it should be a part of each of our lives, and the traditionally held annual exam is a great way to once again remind us of the importance of the environment around us and contribute to its conservation.

Try to overcome the most difficult exam questions

As every year, the exam questions were prepared for three different age groups: students of grades 1-4, students of grades 5-10 and students of grades 11 and older participants. Although 45 minutes were allotted for answering the questions, many participants were satisfied with less time.

It was possible not to make a mistake once and to answer all the questions correctly this year even for 77 exam participants – each of them was awarded the “Expert” diploma.

The participant who answered all the exam questions correctly in the shortest time will be awarded with an exclusive prize established by the company “Litbike” – an electric bicycle “E-City COREST Salley”, and the participant who achieved the best results in the Vilnius region, the sponsor of the exam – the valley of meaningful purchases “Nordika” – will present an electric bicycle as a gift. the Beaster Voyager scooter, which makes driving a real pleasure.

The organizers and sponsors of the gift exam have prepared more for the most active and best-performing participants – from nature-friendly drinkers, backpacks and other practical items, to interesting education and fun entertainment.

Even if you didn’t have time to participate in this year’s “Waste Culture” exam, you can check your knowledge and test your strength at egzamas.atliekukultura.lt/archivas/ – here you will find all the exam questions.

The most difficult ones, which became the most serious challenge for the participants of different groups, are presented below – will you be able to answer them correctly?

What should we not throw in food waste containers?

1. tea grounds and bags;
2. paper and paper towels stained with grease and other food products;
3. food packed in glass or metal packages;
4. all answers are incorrect.

RIGHT ANSWER:

This question was intended for students in grades 1-4.

In the food waste containers we should throw: unusable fruits and their remains; peels of potatoes, carrots and other vegetables; tea thickets and tea bags; coffee grounds and their paper filters; grease and other food-stained paper and paper towels. In addition, we should only throw away leftover meat, fish, milk and other food products in the food container. However, food in glass, plastic or metal containers cannot be thrown into it. For example, spoiled pickles, jams or preserves will have to be shaken out of the packaging into the food container, and the jar and cans should be thrown into the corresponding packaging containers. So, the correct answer is that food packed in glass or metal containers should not be thrown into food waste containers.

In the food waste container, together with food waste, you can throw:

1. paper kitchen towels;
2. grass and leaves;
3. disposable paper dishes;
4. all answers are correct.

RIGHT ANSWER:

This question was intended for students in grades 5-10.

From 2024 January 1 after the entry into force of the Waste Framework Directive, waste of biological origin must be collected separately or composted in households. All waste generated during food production, as well as unfit for consumption, leftovers and used paper towels can be thrown into the food waste containers. At the same time, indoor plants, garden and garden waste, and disposable paper dishes can be thrown into the food containers. So all the waste mentioned in the answers can be thrown in the food waste container.

Which institution is responsible for coordinating the activities of state and municipal institutions in the field of waste management?

1. Department of Environmental Protection under the Ministry of Environment;
2. Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania;
3. Ministry of Health Protection of the Republic of Lithuania;
4. neither answer is correct.

RIGHT ANSWER:

This question was intended for 11th grade students and older participants.

All the listed institutions have defined competence in the field of waste management – the Seimas adopts laws regulating this area, the Ministry of Health coordinates the actions of health care institutions in the implementation of medical waste management capacities, the Department of Environmental Protection controls the implementation of established requirements in the management of waste. The Law on Waste Management assigns the competence to coordinate the activities of state and municipal institutions in the field of waste management to the Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania. So the last answer is correct.