RetuRO, the administrator of the Romanian Guarantee-Return System, announces the appointment of Ms. Adela Smeu as the company’s General Manager (CEO), starting March 19, 2026.
Adela Smeu brings over 25 years of experience in multinational organizations, is a results-oriented leader and has led complex transformations of the businesses she has been involved in – mergers, acquisitions and strategic initiatives that have generated both performance and positive impact on the environment.
In her most recent role, as CEO of Brico Dépôt Romania (Kingfisher Group), she led an organization with revenues of over 300 million euros and over 2,000 employees, active in 31 locations. Her mandate included the evolution towards a sustainable business model, the development of high-performing teams, digital transformation and the management of highly complex projects.
Oriented towards continuous learning, Adela Smeu is a graduate of leadership programs at Stanford University and IMD Business School. With a master’s degree from Sheffield University and a bachelor’s degree from the West University of Timișoara – Faculty of Economic Sciences, she is currently attending the INSEAD International Executive Program.
Her experience in coordinating complex retail operations, in operational excellence, corporate governance, as well as in the financial field recommends her to promote RetuRO’s mission of continuous development and growth with major impact in the circular economy.
Her appointment as CEO of RetuRO marks a new stage in the consolidation and maturation of the Guarantee-Return System, now in its third year of operation, with ambitious objectives regarding operational efficiency, achieving collection targets for 2026, digitalization and strengthening control and transparency mechanisms.
“I am delighted to join the RetuRO team at such an important moment for the transition to the circular economy. The opportunity to lead an organization that directly contributes to environmental protection, while developing an efficient and scalable business model, represents the kind of transformational challenge that motivates me and that I take on with enthusiasm,” said Adela Smeu.
The Supervisory Board of RetuRO expresses its confidence that Ms. Adela Smeu’s solid leadership experience, as well as operational discipline and corporate governance, will contribute to the consolidation of the Guarantee-Return System, the proven performance in the two years of operation and to increasing its efficiency in the medium and long term.
RetuRO Sistem Garanție Returnare S.A. (www.returosgr.ro) is a company that operates on the not for profit principle – which means that any profit made by the company from the collection of beverage packaging will be reinvested, exclusively, in the development of the SGR. The company was created by a consortium of three private shareholders: the Romanian Brewers’ Association for the Environment (30%), the Association of Soft Drink Producers for Sustainability (30%) and the Retailers’ Association for the Environment (20%) and one public shareholder, the Romanian state, through the central environmental authority, the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests (20%).
RetuRO, the administrator of the SGR, operates with exclusively private funding and has the role of ensuring transparency on the quantities of beverage packaging placed on the market and returned by consumers, contributing to the sustainable development of Romania, through the responsible management of packaging waste, in order to achieve the recycling targets imposed on Romania by the European Union.
