Feature

Article Type: Feature From: International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Volume 13, Issue 1

Romania only recycles 1% of its waste

Romania recycles only 1 percent of the municipal collected waste, while 95 percent of the local authorities are ignorant of the existence of the legally established targets of the European Union, shows a survey drawn up by Ecopolis Centre for Sustainable Policies and Save the Danube and the Delta Association(ASDD).

According to the aforementioned source, Romania does not manage the waste it generates in an efficient manner, only 54 percent of the population benefiting from sanitation services, while only 1 percent of the municipal collected waste is recycled nationwide. The rest of the waste is crammed in landfills, giving serious reasons of concern.

The survey “Romania: From Landfill to Europubela” reveals that the main issues of waste management in Romania are: a 95 percent share of the local authorities not being aware of the legal requirements in the field related with the collection and capitalization of packaging waste, the responsibilities’impairment, the weak infrastructure, the number of storage spaces compliant with the law requirements being insufficient, the authorities’ lack of interest in preventing, recycling or capitalizing activities.

Moreover, the lack of transparency at the level of public authorities and private operators and the local authorities’ incapacity of absorbing EU funds are two other concern reasons mentioned in the Ecopolis and ASDD survey.

According to the data of the two organisations, after almost four years since the beginning of the Environment Sectoral Operational Programme, through which approximately 991 million euros for waste management systems are granted, and a little under three years until the current financing period is over, only approximately 37 percent of the amount has been contracted and a little over 2 percent of the funds have been actually spent.

The survey “Romania: From Landfill to Europubela” was carried out within the1 project monitoring the implementing of the European waste legislation in Romania, initiated in 2010 by Save the Danube and the Delta Association, in partnership with Ecopolis Centre for Sustainable Policies, with the financial support of Coca-Cola Hellenic.