<
https://www.positive.news/economics/romanias-recycling-revolution-lifts-off/>
"Just a year ago Romania slumped at the bottom of Europe’s circularity charts,
with just 1.3% of materials fed into production coming from recycled sources.
However, that could soon shift, albeit marginally, following the success of
what is billed as the world’s largest centralised deposit return scheme (DRS),
run as a public-private partner-ship by the company RetuRO.
“You go to Romania now, you don’t see a bottle anywhere,” said RetuRO CEO Gemma
Webb. “It was the impossible made possible. Everybody’s very proud.”
The not-for-profit partnership launched in 2023 with retailers, soft drinks
producers, brewers and Romania’s Department of Environment as share-holders.
Consumers pay a 0.50 Romanian leu (£0.09) deposit per bottle or can, and get
the cash back by dropping them off at in-store reverse vending machines.
Supermarkets also collect recycling during home deliveries, crediting
customers’ accounts in return. The waste is then sorted and sold to recycling
firms, who in turn sell it back to manufacturers, including Pepsi and Heineken.
Recycling has been dogged by criticism in recent years that waste is often
exported, resulting in illegal dumping. But Webb said that key to Romania’s
scheme – and essential for consumer confidence – was full traceability.
“For every tonne we sell to recyclers, we get a certificate to show it’s
actually recycled, and we audit them as well,” she said. “We’re aiming for
bottle-to-bottle and can-to-can. It’s literally a full circular economy.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
