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To support the fight against and prevention of plastic pollution, Lidl Romania has invested over RON14.6 million (€2.92 million) in programs developed together with civil society.

The European Commission is proposing rules to make producers responsible for the full lifecycle of textile products and to support the sustainable management of textile waste across the EU.

Braşov City Hall launched a tender for the development of a photovoltaic park with a power of 20 MW. The maximum value of the purchase exceeds RON90 million (€18 million).

The European Commission adopted measures for the sustainable use of key natural resources, strengthening the resilience of EU food systems and farming.

DualStore.ro, an online phone and gadget store and manufacturer of iSEN electric scooters and bicycles, launches iSEN Mobility, the first Romanian application for electric scooters.

Romania established the European Institute for Sustainable Development in Poland. It was created with the aim of supporting the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda at the level of local communities.

Cluj's Râşca and Mărişel villages will cover their electricity needs by using solar energy, announces the Cluj County Council.

The banking sector in Romania has made notable progress in aligning its practices to evolving ESG standards and regulations aimed to support the EU's ambitious decarbonization targets, says Gyula Fatér, CEO of OTP Bank Romania. He talked to Green Forum about the role that ESG currently plays in the decision-making process at OTP Bank Romania.

TotalEnergies enters the Romanian energy market and buys five photovoltaic park projects from PNE. The parties involved in the transaction have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The Hunedoara County Council is purchasing electric minibusses for the county's students, an investment that amounts to about €6 million.

DIY company Brick Romania started a project last year to implement green energy solutions for its work units. The Brick store in Constanța benefited from an investment of RON1 million (€200,000) in photovoltaic panels, which provide approximately 35% of the energy requirement.

iHunt Technology Import Export, a manufacturer of mobile phones and gadgets, has launched a new product from the green energy range, a photovoltaic panel. It was made in collaboration with the Luxen company, a manufacturer of lighting sources.

ROCA Industry, the first Romanian holding company of construction materials companies, part of the ROCA Investments portfolio, announces the launch of the first Sustainability Report, anticipating the European Directive applicable starting from the financial year 2024, regarding corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD).

The European Commission announced 18 new projects which will receive over €106 million to contribute to the EU Mission ”Restore our Ocean and Waters”.

Hidroelectrica, an energy producer owned by the Romanian state, is preparing for listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). Fondul Proprietatea, the minority shareholder, is selling 17% of the holding (almost 20%), i.e. 78 million shares.

The City Hall of the Capital wants to buy 250 new non-polluting trams. The investment amounts to over €836 million.

The IVECO Group has already expressed its intention to deliver the first hydrogen-powered trucks by the end of 2023. Now, together with Air Liquide, a global energy leader, it has inaugurated Europe's first high-pressure hydrogen filling station in Fos-sur-Mer, Marseille.

Simtel Team completed the largest photovoltaic project built in Romania in a logistics park for CTP Romania.

By 2060, global rivers, seas, and oceans could be polluted with 44 million tonnes of plastic, double the current level, estimates a recent report by The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Plastic is among the packaging most often used by Romanians, but its recycling rate in Romania is only 30.05%, according to the data analyzed by Clean Recycle.

Cluj County Council buys electric minibusses for students from 34 Cluj municipalities, from European funds. The aim is thus to improve transport conditions for students, especially for those from isolated areas with a low population.

OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy company in Southeast Europe, signed an agreement for the purchase of several projects for the construction of photovoltaic parks in Teleorman County.

ALRO SA, one of Europe's largest vertically integrated aluminum producers, measured by production capacity, inaugurated an $11 million investment in technology and environment protection at its Eco Recycling Facility in Slatina.

Coca-Cola HBC Romania is the first local company, in the FMCG industry to produce a sustainability report to international standards and among the first local companies to publicly present such a report, says Alice Nichita, Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Director at Coca-Cola HBC Romania. She talked to Green Forum about the company's ESG strategy and the company's current sustainability targets and the social initiatives that the company and its employees are involved in.

Romania has a new ecotourism destination: Vama Buzăului, a locality located at the foot of the Ciucaș Mountains, which has just obtained the recognition of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEAT).

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €280 million Belgian measure to support ArcelorMittal Belgium in partially decarbonizing its steel production processes. The measure will contribute to the achievement of the EU Hydrogen Strategy, the European Green Deal, and the Green Deal Industrial Plan targets while helping to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition in line with the REPowerEU Plan.

The construction sector has a central role in achieving the climate and energy objectives set by the EU EPBD Directive and approved by the European Parliament in March this year, with deadlines for 2030 and 2050 respectively. According to the Association for the Promotion of Energy Efficiency in Buildings (ROENEF), the construction sector represents approximately 8.2% of the EU GDP, respectively 10% of total employment.

Wizz Air was named the most sustainable low-cost airline for the third consecutive year at the World Finance Sustainability Awards 2023. The company states that World Finance magazine appreciated Wizz Air's sustainability credentials and its commitment to reducing emissions by another 25% by the end of the decade.

Vascar, one of the main producers of meat preparations and preserves in Romania, installed a system of photovoltaic panels worth RON3 million (€600,000) close to the production unit in Vaslui. The project consists of 1,400 panels, on an area of 12,000 sqm, with an installed power of 770 kWp, the company says in a press release.

The renovated railway service in South Moravia, one of the biggest Cohesion Policy investments in the Czech Republic, was inaugurated and opened to passengers. The renovation of this line, involving - 37 new electric units - will contribute to the de-congestion of traffic during peak hours in the busy South-Moravian railway, which transports approximately 22 million passengers every year.

Eurohold Bulgaria has commissioned the 123 MW Verila solar park located in Dupnitsa in southwest Bulgaria, according to Enerdata. Eurohold is the group that owns the bankrupt Euroins Romania insurance company. The photovoltaic power plant is currently the largest in Bulgaria.

78 million tons of clothes become waste every year, with serious consequences for the environment. Clothing production has doubled in recent years due to overconsumption. We throw away an average of 11 kg of clothes annually, after only 7 wears. Humana People to People representatives draw attention to the negative impact that the overconsumption of such products has on the environment and, ultimately, on people's health.

In a national first, energy poverty in small towns in Romania will be investigated. The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), the initiator of the Romanian Energy Poverty Observatory (ORSE), has started, for the first time in the country, a pilot research project on energy poverty in small urban areas, an area at the intersection between big cities and the countryside. The objectives of the research are to identify how energy poverty manifests itself in small towns, which are the main challenges, but also which are the important actors and the specific solutions to reduce this phenomenon.

The County Council is submitting a funding request for the purchase of green school microbuses. During the meeting of the Mehedinți County Council, a funding request was approved that will be submitted this week in order to attract European funds for the purchase of electric minibusses for schools in Mehedinți County.

HP has reduced its absolute carbon footprint by 18% since 2019. The company's goal is to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. HP has reduced single-use plastic packaging by 55% compared to 2018.

Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, announced the resumption of budget support for Zambia and launched three programs worth €110 million under Global Gateway. The announcement was made alongside President Hakainde Hichilema and Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane.

wpd, a renewable energy developer based in Germany, plans to build a solar power plant at the site of its existing wind farm Katuni in Croatia. The new solar power plant with an installed capacity of 30 MW and the existing wind farm with a capacity of 34.2 MW will together deliver a maximum of 39 MW to the grid at a time. This is in line with wpd's existing connection contract with the transmission system operator.

The Commission has selected 107 transport infrastructure projects to receive over €6 billion in EU grants from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU's instrument for strategic investment in transport infrastructure. Over 80% of the funding will support projects that deliver a more efficient, greener, and smarter network of railways, inland waterways, and maritime routes along the trans-European transport (TEN-T) network.

The European Commission has approved a €1.1 billion Hungarian scheme to support electricity storage facilities to foster the transition to a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the State Aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 to support measures in sectors that are key to accelerating the green transition and reducing fuel dependencies in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine.

35 tons of oil products leaked from a ship under the Bulgarian flag on the main course of the Danube, near Cělarevo (Serbia), at km 1287. This information was received by the Ministry of the Environment, Waters and Forests, and the National Administration "Romanian Waters" - Department of Emergency Situations, through the secretary for border waters within the Romania-Serbia bilateral agreement, in the afternoon of June 20.

Nuclearelectrica avoids the release of 10 million tons of CO2 every year by producing clean energy. 205 million tons of CO2 were avoided since the commissioning of the first reactor in 1996, says Cosmin Ghiță, CEO of Nuclearelectrica. He talked to Green Forum about Nuclearelectrica's ESG strategy and about the investment projects with a vital role in Romania's decarbonization. He also talked about the sustainable projects that the company ran last year and how Nuclearelectrica contributes to a sustainable future.