With an area of 3,300 square meters, the regional center in Brasov is equipped with state-of-the-art packaging processing equipment, including PET and aluminum can counting machines, glass packaging counting machines, bunkers for glass storage, and baling presses. The annual processing capacity of the center in Brasov exceeds 240 million packaging units.
ReturRO has previously opened processing centers in the counties of Cluj and TImis.
“As anticipated since the launch of the system, the gradual opening of the regional centers is coordinated with the increasing number of DRS packages put on the market. Currently, we have three RetuRO centers opened, which can process together over 1.7 billion packages annually, more than three times the total DRS packaging put in the market so far. We will continue to focus on expanding the infrastructure and in the next 3 months, we plan the opening of the centers in the counties of Ilfov, Dolj, Bacau and Prahova,” said Gemma Webb, CEO and President of the RetuRO SGR Board.
The regional center will cover the counties of Brasov, Harghita, Covasna, Sibiu and surrounding areas. Here, both manually collected beverage packaging and those collected automatically through RVM equipment will be transported. The operationalization of this DRS packaging processing brings new opportunities for green jobs locally, the new center having approximately 40 employees.
The Deposit-Return System has evolved constantly in the first months since its launch, with an increasing number of DRS packaging put on the market by producers during this period and returned by consumers in dedicated collection points. In the first 3 months, consumers have returned a total of over 23 million DRS packages, with the number increasing exponentially from 31,000 units in December 2023 to 21 million in February 2024, and being estimated to over 60 million units to be returned in March 2024. Most of the collected packaging has already been directed to recycling units, the last stage of this mechanism, thus confirming the efficient operation of the DRS.
The Deposit-Return System in Romania was designed based on the best international practices. At the moment, such a system is implemented in 41 countries worldwide and in 15 European countries, including Romania. Case studies show that in countries where it has been implemented, collection rates have increased up to 90% within two to three years.
ReturRO was created by a consortium of three private shareholders: the Romanian Brewers Association for the Environment (30%), Association of Soft Drinks Producers for Sustainability (30%), the Retailers Association for the Environment (20%) and a public shareholder, the Romanian State, through the central environmental authority, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (20%).