Romania’s Ministry of the Environment announced the country’s deposit return scheme (DRS) has collected over 1.3 billion containers since it launched on Nov. 30, 2023.
The scheme ‘is working as it should’ and should hit the 2 billion milestone this autumn, Minister Mircea Fechet said on Monday.
Romania’s DRS sets a 2024 target of collecting 65% of plastic, glass, and metal beverage containers sold for recycling. From 2026, this target will increase to 85% for glass containers and 90% for plastic and metal.
The DRS covers all beverages (except milk) in single-use plastic, glass, or metal containers with volumes ranging from 0.1 to 3 litres. Consumers pay a deposit of RON 0.50 (€0.10) when purchasing an eligible, labelled drink. After consumption, consumers can bring the empty container to an automated or manual return point located at retailers, where they will be refunded the deposit as a voucher or cash. Containers can be returned to all stores that sell eligible beverage containers and must be compacted or crushed at the return point.
Romania currently has six sorting and counting centres for containers processed through the DRS.
Norway-based recycling company Tomra is one of the companies providing reverse vending machines (RVMs) to stores across the country. Its Romania collection centre announced its RVMs currently collect over 500,000 containers per day.
In January this year, the average daily number of consumer sessions for returning drink containers through Tomra RVMs was 21,700. In June, the recorded daily average was 454,000, indicating growing participation in the DRS.
“We are pleased to see more and more consumers returning beverage containers, showing that Romanians understand the benefits of collecting and recycling, significantly contributing to a cleaner environment,” said Dorin Mihai, general manager of Tomra Collection Romania. “Each container returned in the DRS means one less container in our forests, rivers and streets.”
Tomra Collection Romania provides large, medium, and small retailers with reverse vending machines to automate the return process and streamline collection for both consumers and store personnel. Around 80% of the company's Romanian installations are in large retail chains, while 20% are found in independent stores and other types of return points.