Romania’s recycling industry has seen significant long-term investment and is increasingly shaped by a strategic regulatory framework, according to Marius Ghica, Deputy General Manager of GreenTech.

“Our shareholders have invested approximately €100 million in the recycling industry since becoming part of the company’s ownership. We are a PET recycling business, and I believe it is very important to look at this regulatory framework from a strategic perspective, not as an optional one. Sustainability also means predictability of material flows,” Ghica said at Circular Economy Conference organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest and Sustainability Today.

“We now have a regulatory framework that has essentially created a market. We also have a very important actor, and I must say that RetuRO is a success story—we are moving in the direction of that sustainability.”

Key statements

• “We operate in a business environment, which means we must remain competitive. It is important to have this predictability that the regulatory framework and the collection ecosystem provide. However, there is still quite a lot to be done.”
• “We have ambitious targets ahead, but within a predictable, transparent, and competitive framework, we can increase collection rates and remain sustainable. This is no longer just a matter of sustainability reporting—it is a matter of geostrategic positioning.”
• “It would be useful to have a mono-polymer stream so that we can achieve an effective and efficient recycling process. An EPR scheme would help, as it would significantly improve material quality.”
• “At present, we are investing in expanding our capabilities to process materials beyond PET packaging. The quality and cost of recycling depend directly on the quality of the processed material.”