The results of the latest Reveal Marketing Research study show that 58 percent of Romanians say they always collect packaging and plastic, glass, metal or paper waste separately, while 35 percent have this behavior occasionally.

Similar percentages were also recorded in the case of other types of waste such as used batteries, small household appliances or light bulbs, and as a general trend Generation Z (18-24 years) is less concerned with collecting recyclable waste separately.

Most of the time, recyclable waste (plastic, glass, metal, or paper) is taken separately by a sanitation company (52 percent), to a greater extent in rural areas (70 percent vs. 45 percent in urban areas). On the other hand, 46 percent of Romanians mention that they personally take care of transporting recyclable waste to a collection center managed by the municipality, a practice more common in urban areas (52 percent vs. 32 percent in rural areas), and 30 percent take them at a collection center operated by a store.

Regarding the method of handing in the collected recyclable waste, 80 percent of Romanians are used to handing it in separately by category (plastic, glass, metal and paper), and 20 percent mixed.

If we refer to the situation of the other categories of waste collected separately (used batteries, small household appliances and light bulbs) the habits are changing, they are mainly taken to collection centers managed by shops (82 percent) or to specialized recycling centers (24 percent).

The main barriers that prevent Romanians from recycling waste as much as they would like are the long distance from collection centers (36 percent), an aspect mentioned to a greater extent by urban residents (39 percent vs. 29 percent rural areas), the sanitation company that does not take recyclable waste separately (34 percent) or the lack of confidence that the waste is recycled correctly (22 percent).

Other obstacles mentioned by Romanians were the lack of information on how to process packaging from several types of materials (19 percent), especially in the case of young people up to 35 years old (24 percent) or the fact that they do not know where to recyclable waste must be handed in (15 percent).