Romanian companies pay €6 million for not recycling their packaging waste

Alina Oprea

19 October, 2023 at 1:27 PM

The companies operating in Romania and which did not capitalize their packaging waste placed on the market paid, in 2022, RON 33 million, the equivalent of over €6 million, to the Administration of the Environmental Fund, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. analyzed by Clean Recycle. However, the amount is 4 times lower than in 2012, proof that economic operators are becoming more and more responsible regarding environmental obligations. In the last 10 years, between 2012-2022, the amounts paid by companies for packaging waste that was not recycled or recovered, amounts to over RON 900 million, the equivalent of €181 million.

"Romania has evolved in recent years at the level of recycling packaging waste, but the progress is rather slow. Now, however, we have the opportunity to accelerate this process, especially if we refer to the development of the infrastructure to help us increase the recycling rate. Only through PNRR, we have over €1 billion for investments to ensure the most efficient management of packaging waste", declares Cosmin Monda, founder and CEO of Clean Recycle.

Companies generating packaging waste are obliged to report all quantities placed on the market, through the OIREPs (Organizations Implementing the Obligations of Extended Producer Responsibility), which take this responsibility. Otherwise, economic operators pay the Environmental Fund RON 2 (€0.4) for each kilogram of unused packaging.

In the first nine months of 2023, Clean Recycle managed an amount of more than 67 thousand tons of recyclable waste (paper/cardboard, plastic, PET, glass, steel, aluminum, wood) for the 700 companies in its portfolio.

Our country fails to reach its recycling targets imposed at the level of the European Union, of 65% for packaging waste placed on the market. The latest data show that the recycling percentage was 39.87% in 2020.

In fact, our country ranks last among the countries of the European Union regarding the storage of municipal waste in landfills, with amounts exceeding 127 million tons.

Clean Recycle is one of the top 5 players in the local market of the transfer of responsibility for packaging waste (OIREP), taking over the obligation to report, collect, and recover packaging and packaging waste placed on the market by manufacturers and importers. Clean Recycle manages a portfolio of over 700 companies that produce and market packaging waste, active throughout Romania, from fields such as FMCG and retail, agribusiness, automotive, distribution, industrial production, pharmaceuticals, etc.