Clean Recycle analysis: What Romania’s 1.2 billion Euro plan for waste management looks like

Romania will have at its disposal, through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), a budget of 1.2 billion euros for the management of all types of waste and must implement the planned projects by 2026. If the projects are successful, the recycling target for packaging waste in Romania should increase to 70% by early 2026, according to a Clean Recycle analysis.

By the Autumn of 2024, 565 collection centers for voluminous or hazardous waste (such as batteries), including construction packaging, are to be built in communities with up to 50,000 inhabitants.

Around the blocks in major cities, almost 14,000 digitized underground green islands will be installed for the selective collection of household and packaging waste, which can be monitored by authorities from a distance.

Also, in two years’ time, our country should have – with the help of funds from the PNRR – 7 new integrated collection centers for all waste, divided into regions and 26 recycling stations.

“We believe that the authorities will also adopt a much more rigorous and effective legislative plan, and this will ensure the acceleration of the transition to a circular economy. There are also proposals to introduce more severe penalties for waste generators that do not comply with the rules. With the help of these funds, we believe that more resources will be allocated towards raising awareness and educating the population – as a key element for an effective waste management system,” says Cosmin Monda, founder and CEO of Clean Recycle.

Romania is on the penultimate place among the EU countries in terms of packaging recycling, with a rate of 44.6%, second only to Malta, according to Eurostat data.

In order to reach the targets, set by the Brussels authorities, 1 million tons of packaging waste must reach the recycling stations every year, according to OIREP Packaging Association estimates.

Clean Recycle is one of the top 5 players in the local market of packaging waste responsibility transfer (OIREP). Clean Recycle manages a portfolio of more than 700 companies that produce and market packaging waste, active throughout Romania, in areas such as FMCG and retail, agribusiness, automotive, distribution, industrial production, pharmaceuticals and others.