Everyone agrees that the most important thing in the business world is the reputation of your brand. Reputation can be displayed in various areas. It may concern the transparency of your bank accounts, your responsibility in taxing business, or how much you’re stressing your workers, or … are you a big evil corporation who doesn’t care about the environment and community, dumping hazardous materials without proper treatment? If we’re talking about the first three cases, your reputation, of course, is damaged enough and people clearly will think that you’re an irresponsible human being, if I may put it that way. But with the last case, you’re damaging not only the reputation of yourself and your company but you’re endangering people’s lives. Well, that sounds fun, doesn’t it?

Not only that, you’re impacting the lives of many generations and not in a good way. The thing is, environmental disasters’ impact does not stop and end on one generation. It’s a continuous process that people can’t control and revert. Remember the film with Julia Roberts and Erin Brokovich, how she confronted and defeated mega-corporation in court? Well, the same end is awaiting your company, if you won’t be concerned about the environmental impacts of your business.

Current Environmental Issues in Georgia.

As already said, the last thing you want is to be branded a heartless person, especially if you’re starting a business in a completely new territory. Let’s say you plan to open your business in Georgia. Georgia is a very beautiful country, set between Europe and Asia; it contains several climate zones and has a very unique and varied natural environment. There are many rivers and Georgia even has a border with the Black Sea. But that doesn’t save Georgia from the problem of finding clean and potable water. Despite its small size, Georgia is facing some of the biggest environmental problems in the world: air and water pollution.

As a developing country, Georgia claimed the attracting of foreign capital to be its priority. So, this once-crumbling, post-Soviet country has transformed itself as a welcome destination for businesses of all sizes.  With its flexible taxation system and encouragement from local government, Georgia became a great place to start a company of various types. But this flexibility and freedom came with a price. And the price was environmental and ecological problems.

Not so long ago, the Georgian government started an initiative of redesigning of the law on environmental impacts, so it could meet the international standards. Here is a guide to the renewed Law of Georgia to The Environmental Impacts.

Here is the list of activities that are subjected to ecological examination:

  •  processing of mineral deposits
  • processing of construction materials and inert materials) are not subject to ecological examination except for the production of cement, asphalt, lime, carbonic calcium gypsum, plaster, and brick;
  • any production technology involving asbestos;
  • production of glass and glassware;
  • waste recovery, except for non-hazardous waste pre-treatment;
  • waste disposal, except for non-hazardous waste pre-treatment;
  • pre-treatment of hazardous waste;
  • arrangement of a temporary storage facility for more than 10 tons of hazardous waste;
  • disposal of radioactive waste (arrangement of a radioactive waste burial place or a radioactive waste repository;
  • production of any capacity related to coal gasification, liquefaction, briquetting, and carbonization;
  • construction of trunk oil and gas pipelines;
  • arrangement of storage facilities and terminals for oil and oil products, also for liquid and natural gas; capacity of one tank located on the territory of facilities and terminals is more than 1 000 cubic meters or the total capacity of all tanks exceeds 1 000 cubic meters;
  • construction of international and intrastate highways and railways, and bridges and underway crossings over them, as well as structures for engineering protection of highways, railways, and their territories;
  • laying of high voltage (35 kW and more) aerial and cable power lines, and placement of substations (with 110 kW and higher voltage);
  • placement of a hydropower plant (with 2 MW and higher capacity) and a thermal power plant (with 10 MW and higher capacity);
  • construction of an underground railway;
  • arrangement of water reservoirs (with a volume of 10 000 cubic meters and more);
  • arrangement of wastewater treatment facilities (with a capacity of 1 000 cubic meters and more per 24 hours), as well as placement of trunk sewage;
  • arrangement of aerodromes, airports, railway stations, and sea ports;
  • construction of dams, harbours, berths, piers, and wing dams;
  • chemical industry, in particular: chemical treatment of semi-finished products (transition products) and production of chemical substances; production and processing of pesticides, mineral fertilizers, paints, lacquers, peroxides, and elastic substances (rubber or plastic substances),
  • production of gunpowder and other explosive substances, production of batteries; and manufacturing of graphite electrodes;
  • oil and gas processing industries (producing more than 500 tons per 24 hours);
  • any metallurgical industry (with a production capacity of more than one ton per hour), except for cold processing of metals and production of jewelry;
  • arrangement of storage facilities for toxic and other hazardous substances.

What Are Environmentally Friendly Alternatives You Can Use for Your Investment?

Despite the aforementioned laws, Georgia still faces big environmental problems such as water and air pollution. The Georgian government alongside local investors are working on alternative solutions such as solar energy popularization and developing recycling programs.

Solar energy will help to meet the growing needs of electricity for Georgian citizens. It’s a reliable, cost-effective and sustainable option. As research states, using solar energy instead of the traditional methods reduce the amount of environmental pollution and can even save costs. You can find usage of solar panels in Georgian mountain regions, especially in the winter season when areas become more remote.

Landfills are one of the biggest environmental issues around the world, including in Georgia. The Georgian government is trying to implement new recycling programs, that will reduce this issue. The starting point is to install the waste separation bins around the cities for the different kinds of garbage: glass, paper, and plastic. 

Georgia is taking important steps to become more environmentally conscious and contribute to the development of sustainable investing.  The recognition of these issues is just the first step. If you’re interested in procedures you need to undergo to have a permit for this type of activities, here is a link LAW of GEORGIA on ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT PERMITS.

 

You might also be interested in Procedures To Get Visa In Georgia : Categories And Types Of Georgian Visa.