The Romanian Government has approved an Action Plan promoting the Circular Economy as part of the National Strategy for the Circular Economy (NSCE). The action plan sets out a national vision for speeding up the transition to a circular economy, with measures geared to the nine economic sectors with the greatest potential for circularity in Romania's economy: agriculture and forestry; automotive; construction; food and beverages; packaging; textiles; electrical and electronic equipment; waste; water; wastewater.
The action plan has a cross-sectoral strand including promotion activities and a monitoring platform. It also stipulates 52 priority measures scheduled to be rolled out between 2024 and 2032.
The Romanian Strategy for the Circular Economy (NSCE) is a roadmap for accelerating Romania's transition from a linear to a circular economic model. The implementation of the Action Plan (to be adopted in September 2023) will provide a framework for this transition. The strategy gives an overview of the fourteen economic sectors, and identifies the following as having the greatest circular potential:
agriculture and forestry
automotive sector
construction
consumer goods (food and beverages)
packaging (glass, paper, plastic materials etc.)
textiles
electrical and electronic equipment.
The overall objective of the NSCE is closely linked to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda.
remesh is a socio-professional business workshop with an environmental impact. Most of its employees are women from disadvantaged background. The workshop is also providing a circular economy business model as they reuse advertising banners and meshes to make new products that are fashionable but sustainable.
Under the framework of the INSIGHT project, a Blueprint has been developed to provide specific recommendations on how to promote the application of Industrial Symbiosis and its facilitation to various stakeholders, as well as a roadmap of how the organisations are expected to apply the IS principles, by making use of educational specific inputs and resources.
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.
There are not many eco-friendly products on the Romanian construction market, so there was definitely a niche in the thermal insulation market. LanaTerm uses sheep's wool to create thermal insulation for buildings.
Circular Economy Coalition (CERC) promotes the key objectives of the Circular Economy Action Plan in Romania, encouraging the development of new markets and business models, and contributing to economic growth and job creation.
It does this by:
producing studies on waste management
setting up partnerships with national and international bodies with a view to establishing programmes geared to implementing circular principles
organising events to promote the exchange of knowledge and good practices
communicating with local and central authorities on how the circular economy can benefit Romania's economy
promoting compliance with waste management rules, including the fields of recycling, reuse and alternative fuels
promoting the EU recommendations on green public procurement
Rombat is the largest producer of car batteries in Romania. Since 2005, the company has been collecting vehicle batteries to extract the lead they contain, recycle them and manufacture new batteries. The batteries are processed at the 3.7 ha Rebat facility in Copșa Mică.
ecoHORNET, a Romanian SME, has developed a recycling station that uses pyrolysis technology to transform industrial biomass, household waste and sewage sludge into bio-gas, bio-oil and biochar in addition to creating thermal energy for hot water and air generators.