GreenWEEE, part of GreenGroup and market leader in the recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (DEEE) in Romania, today inaugurated the third DEEE recycling plant in Buzău and a recycling line for electric motors, a national first.
The new factory located on the Frasinu industrial platform in Buzău is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, following an investment of 15 million euros. With the expansion of the processing lines, the company’s total recycling capacity has increased to 140,000 tons per year.
Since 2009, GreenWEEE has recycled 400,000 tons of WEEE through its three factories, the two in Buzău and one in Câmpia Turzii, recovering over 98% of the materials, later reintegrated into the economy as secondary raw materials.
On the occasion of this inauguration, GreenWEEE announced that it has also completed an investment of 2 million euros for the recycling of electric motors. Expanding recycling capacity is an important step in the company’s mission to maximize the recovery of materials such as iron, aluminum, copper, plastic or glass and reintroduce these valuable resources into production cycles.
In the global context, where the amount of e-waste is increasing rapidly, GreenWEEE has the capacity to recycle up to 1,000,000 refrigerators annually, giving special importance to the recovery of hazardous substances. Modern factory installations are designed to extract the freon efficiently and in maximum safety, because two-thirds of the freon contained in a figider is found in the polyurethane foam and one-third in the cooling plant. Just by recycling a refrigerator, GreenWEEE saves the CO2 equivalent of the emissions made by a car that circles the planet Earth twice.
Marius Costache, CEO of GreenWEEE said: “We have a promise that we are constantly renewing, to expand the infrastructure and recycling capacity for electrical waste, but also to extract as much value from it as possible. It cannot be underestimated how significant recycling is, which benefits multiple industries by providing resources in the form of secondary raw materials. In 15 years of activity, hundreds of thousands of tons of metals, plastics, sticks resulting from recycling have become products that we use in everyday life. This essentially means that we are a pillar of the circular economy, actively contributing to the reduction of waste and the efficient use of resources.
The inauguration of the factory was honored with the presence of Mrs. Alexandra Maria Bocșe, State Councilor at the Department of Climate and Sustainability within the Presidential Administration, who emphasized the essential link between the economy and climate change: “The new climate reality comes with many challenges for consumers and the environment business at the same time. There is initiative from the industry and that is very important, because if we only have public policies and legislation, but we don’t have industry, we don’t have operators who collect, select, process waste, we can’t implement environmental policies and climate policies.
And the measures related to the circular economy are very important for reaching the assumed climate objectives. If we manage to reuse certain materials, we reduce the carbon footprint of industrial processes, with positive implications for mitigating climate change.”
Ever since the inauguration of the first factory in 2009 in Buzău, GreenWEEE has been at the forefront of the recycling industry, continuously expanding its operations. In 2017, the company added a new factory in Câmpia Turzii, dedicated specifically to the recycling of refrigerators and cathode ray tubes. The year 2020 marked the launch of the first flat screen, LCD and plasma recycling line in Southeast Europe, thus strengthening its influence and ability to respond to today’s ecological challenges and economic demands.
The company is the only unit in Romania and one of the few in Europe with the WEEELABEX operating license, on five treatment streams. The WEEELABEX Standard (www.weeelabex.org) is the highest form of standard recognition for the collection, logistics and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment.
About GreenWEEE
GreenWEEE is the market leader in Romania in the treatment and recycling of DEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment), batteries and components from the automotive industry. The company operates in three factories, in Buzău and Campia Turzii, with a total treatment capacity of 140,000 tons/year, with more than 350 employees and a total investment of 40 million euros.
About GreenGroup
GreenGroup is an integrated regional recycling group and circular economy pioneer with over 20 years of activity. GreenGroup is a leading European market player in PET recycling and polyester fiber production, as well as a key player in electronics recycling, glass waste and industrial waste management. Since 2016, the majority shareholding is held by Abris Capital Partners, one of the most important private equity investors in Central Europe.
