Managing Director, Hungarian Association of Environmental Enterprises (Hungary)
Presentation: Policy Guidance on Managing Riverine Plastic Waste in the Danube River Basin
Gergely Hankó is the real “all-around guy” in Hungarian environmentalism. Everybody knows him as a hard worker, organising awareness-raising activities, providing comments and suggestions for policymaking, moderating environmental conferences, supporting NGOs and students, and coordinating volunteering actions and EU programs in Hungary. Since 2018, he has been the Managing director of the Hungarian Association of Environmental Enterprises, the most significant independent green advocacy NGO with 267 member organisations (https://kszgysz.hu/en/). He is also the Vice President at the National Member of the ISWA International Solid Waste Association. Since 2016, he has been the waste expert of the PLASTIC Cup® on Tisza River, doing research, monitoring, and cleanup activities in the Danube River Basin (https://petkupa.hu/eng/). His notable achievement is that 60% of the riverine litter Plastic Cup collects yearly (cca. 70,000 kg) goes for recycling. He also founded the yearly Tisza Roundtables, the most extensive discussion opportunity for river specialists. Their latest Interreg project Tid(y)Up, became a flagship project. His prominent role in Transcarpathia (Ukraine) led the initiative to another level, preventing river pollution (700,000 kg in 2022) and developing regional waste management. In 2015, the Ministry of Rural Development awarded the Herman Ottó Innovator Award. He is a 2-time TEDx speaker and was selected among Hungary's 25 most influential green experts.