“The last years for us meant a constant growth of the portfolio. Romania reached number 1 in Europe in terms of the IFC portfolio. We have a portfolio of 2.1 billion USD. Our portfolio has grown 4 times in the last 6 years. We do more than give money. We also provide technical assistance to banks to help them build green portfolios,” Cristian Nacu, Senior Country Officer, International Finance Corporation said during Circular Economy Conference organized by Sustainability Today and The Diplomat-Bucharest.

“If recycling is the failure of circularity, the waste that ends up in the landfill practically represents the death of circularity and its burial.

Our goal should be to have zero waste at the landfill. The transformation of mentality and the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy will not be easy or cheap. We have to find the solutions to make the circular economy work.

Communication and education are very important. 30-35 years ago, we had some habits that were much closer to the circular economy than today’s habits. Now we have the habit of throwing everything away.

The transformation can only be done through education.

The government must collaborate with the private sector to implement stick and carrot mechanisms. I trust that the RetuRO system will work because it has such a mechanism. Similar mechanisms must be found for other fields, such as the construction field. Construction waste is the most visible because it is the only waste that no one has taken care of.

We have to start from a correct analysis, from some real data and we need a system that measures these data correctly.”