Alina Oprea • 7 March, 2023 at 5:24 PM
Between September and December 2022, more than 700 companies in Romania recycled and utilized almost 30,000 tons of waste, thus reducing the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 29,000 tons, according to a new CO2 calculation platform recently launched in Romania by Clean Recycle. Thus, over 700 large companies introduced over 46,000 tons of packaging waste generating CO2 emissions during the mentioned period. According to legal obligations, more than 60% of these were recycled and recovered, thus significantly reducing the level of the carbon footprint in Romania.
The calculation method is innovative in the waste management system in Romania: every month, as you recycle more, you contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.
The main categories of recycled packaging waste were glass, plastic, PET, paper and cardboard, steel, aluminum, and wood.
The companies that recycled the largest amounts of packaging waste in the last 3 months of last year, according to Clean Recycle data, were those in retail, such as Metro Cash & Carry Romania or Profi.
"The recycling activity, as well as the whole notion of sustainability, are still quite vague in Romania. That's why the new CO2 calculation platform launched by Clean Recycle directly and tangibly indicates the impact you have on the environment when you recycle, proportionally calculating the number of CO2 emissions reduced. Starting from the end of last year, the companies in our portfolio receive a monthly report of this calculation and thus can see concrete data of the impact of their direct actions or of the actions they carry out together with consumers on the environment", says Cosmin Monda, founder, and CEO Clean Recycle.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which has a negative contribution to the process of global warming, contributing significantly to the process of climate change. At the level of the European Union, a strategy was adopted according to which EU member countries must reduce these quantities by 55% by 2030. By 2050, the EU's strategy is to reach climate neutrality, that is, to reach a balance between those who generate carbon emissions and absorbing systems.
Romania recorded in 2021 a quantity of 79 million tons of carbon emissions from all industries, increasing by 5 million tons compared to 2020.
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.