Romania Leads the World inโ Beverage Container Recycling with Innovative deposit-Return system
Bucharest,โข Romania – Romania has emerged as a global leader in recycling, implementing the โlargest deposit-returnโค system (DRS) for beverage containers in the world, according to a recent report by The Guardian. The system, operated by RetuRO, incentivizes consumers to return used bottles and cans for a refund, dramatically increasing collection rates and settingโข a newโ standard for environmental policy.
Introduced to address widespread litter and low recycling rates, the Romanian system differs from older models used in other European countries. As Pop, a consultant forโ returo, explained, other nations are “stuck with outdated models” due to the disruption โa switch to a new system could cause. Romania, however, โbuilt its systemโ from the ground up, avoiding these constraints.โ
The success has drawn international attention, with delegationsโ from Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Serbia visiting Romania to study its best practices as โฃtheyโ prepare โto launch similar initiatives.
The system operates through a networkโ of both โขautomatic return points in large retail chains and acceptance at even the smallest village โขshops,which face โfines for non-compliance. This thorough โapproach is supported by a robust legal framework.
While beverage โขpackaging currently accounts for only 5% of Romania’s total waste stream, the system is already demonstrating โขpositiveโ results. โEnvironmental groups, including Ecoteca โ- romania’s โfirst waste management NGOโ – praise the program as “the biggest environmental program” and “an example ofโ good practice,” despite acknowledging it doesn’t solve the country’s overall waste โproblem. romania’sโข overall recycling rate was 12% in 2024, with a ancient peak of 14%, according to Eurostat.
Looking ahead, plans are underway โคto expandโค the DRS to include other types of packaging, such as vinegar โคbottles, jars, and milk cartons,โฃ asโ Alexandra ศuศuianu โof Ecoteca noted: “If you can put aโ bottle of water, โyou can also put a โฃbottleโฃ of vinegar, a jar โคor a โcarton ofโ milk.”
For many Romanians, the true measure of success isn’t the number of bottles collected, but theโข visibleโข improvement in their communities.Residents reportโฃ a notable reduction inโ litter, with fewer bottles discarded in streams and on streets. One resident, Chitucescu, โคshared that her brother โin Spain is “jealous” of the system, โas Spain lacks a โcomparable initiative.