SIGUREC: Smart machines for recyclable waste

Sigurec logo
Type of organisation or company
Country
Romania
City
Bucharest
Language for original content
Scope
Submitted by
Technopolis Group
Start/End date
Ongoing
No
Description

SIGUREC was the most advanced household waste collection service operating in Romania until March 2020.

It was a broad initiative, implemented following an official agreement between private companies and public authorities, specifically the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, municipalities and recyclers.

SIGUREC machines were often located in supermarket car parks to collect various types of waste. These included plastic packaging, paper, aluminum cans, glass, batteries, light bulbs and neon lighting units. If the object to be discarded was too big to bring to the machine (a fridge, for instance), people could ask for a SIGUREC vehicle to collect it from their address.

The machines were fully automated and easy to use. Once waste was fed into the machine, it sorted, counted and weighted the individual pieces automatically. After receiving the waste, the machine distributed vouchers according to waste types and quantities. The vouchers could be redeemed in partner stores. This encouraged people to discard their recyclable material properly rather than dumping it by the side of the road or river.

Main results

Till 2020 SIGUREC machines assembled up to the following amounts of recyclable materials:

  • 39 699 tonnes of plastic/PET
  • 1 164 tonnes of aluminium
  • 14 796 tonnes of glass
  • 1 781 tonnes of paper
  • 15 640 tonnes of other materials.