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Trash Compactor Instead of Office: Team Week in Albania

At the beginning of July 2025, we traded our laptops for sturdy shoes and gloves: our team week was something special this year.

Working directly at the cleanup site

ChatGPT:

At everwave, we work from all corners of Germany and often only see each other online in our daily routines. That’s why our annual team week is a fixed date in our calendars and always a highlight. But this year, it was something truly special! Just a few months after launching our long-term cleanup site in Kukës, it was time to pack our sturdy shoes and head to Albania!

In addition to strategic meetings and setting goals for the coming years, the focus was, of course, on the operations and facilities on the ground. Our schedule included a cleanup at the Ishmi Delta, a visit to the Eco Park near Tirana, a tour of our boat, and sorting and compacting waste at our trash press in Kukës. So, we swapped our laptops for gloves for a week – and off we went!

“Getting involved on site ourselves once again showed us how important our work is and that every single Plastic Credit truly counts.”

Circular Economy Park and Cleanup at the Ishmi Delta

We began with a visit to the Circular Economy Park, which was opened in early 2025 by our local cooperation partner and project lead, Lulzim Baumann. Located near Tirana, the Eco Park showcases the many facets of waste and recycling through a diverse range of offerings. The integrated Education Center raises awareness among visitors and provides a seminar room for workshops and retreats. The Circular Marketplace offers second-hand products for sale, and in the Recycling Hall, waste is collected, sorted, and prepared for further processing.

Following our visit to the Eco Park, we carried out a joint cleanup at the Ishmi Delta – the point where the Ishmi River, the most polluted river in Albania, flows into the Mediterranean Sea. We had all seen pictures and videos of the site before, but actually being there and witnessing the scale of pollution with our own eyes was an entirely different experience. The entire beach is covered in plastic waste and bottles. Even just walking along the shore meant stepping on layers of trash and the crunching sound of plastic underfoot leaves a lasting impression.

 

“You can only truly understand the situation in the countries we work in when you’re standing right in the middle of the trash next to a river. In that sense, our team event was a real eye-opener and motivates me even more to fight for clean waters around the world.”

Garbage collection boat and zero-waste center in Kukës

We spent the next two days in northern Albania, at Lake Fierza and in Kukës. One of the absolute highlights for all of us was finally seeing one of our boats live at Lake Fierza. The waste collected from the lake is brought to our Zero-Waste Center in Kukës, where it is sorted and prepared for further processing. Visiting the Zero-Waste Center was another highlight – we had only opened the facility at the beginning of 2025 and were able to install the first trash press in the area.

At the Zero-Waste Center, it was time to roll up our sleeves and sort the waste. We packed the pure PET, mainly PET bottles, into the trash press and compacted it into bales to prepare it for transport to the recycling facility.

“Always an experience to engage with the waste using (almost) all your senses.”

Working at the Zero-Waste Center was also the finale of an exciting week in Albania, from which we returned home to our laptops filled with many impressions, motivation for every credit, and renewed team spirit.

“We saw both the beautiful and the ugly sides of Albania. I associate Albania with hospitality, good food, poor roads, actually stunning green nature, and unfortunately a significant waste problem that the country currently does not take responsibility for.”

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