RetuRO, the administrator of the Deposit Return System (DRS), the largest circular economy project in Romania, has announced the program’s progress and results for the January–August 2025 period.
In August, the Deposit Return System reached a key milestone: the volume of packages returned since the beginning of this year exceeded the total recorded throughout 2024. This shows that returning DRS packages has become a common practice among Romanians.
In the first eight months of 2025, Romanians returned approximately 3.6 billion packages, while RetuRO delivered more than 255,000 tons of materials — PET, aluminum, and glass — to recyclers. In August alone, 605 million packages were collected, representing nearly 94% of the quantity placed on the market.
Since the system’s launch in November 2023, nearly 7 billion deposit-bearing packages have been returned, amounting to about 500,000 tons of materials handed over to recyclers.
With a collection rate of 81% in the first eight months of this year, the Deposit Return System continues to support Romania’s transition toward a circular economy, engaging millions of Romanians in adopting environmentally responsible behavior.
