Cristina Sima, Environmental Regional Director at Tenaris, brings over a decade of expertise in environmental strategy and sustainability to her role overseeing operations in Romania. At Tenaris\u2014a global leader in seamless pipes and premium connections for the energy sector\u2014 she oversees the integration of circular economy principles into industrial processes. Her work at facilities like the C\u0103l\u0103ra\u0219i steelmaking plant and Zal\u0103u pipe mill exemplifies how resource efficiency, waste recovery, and industrial symbiosis can transform heavy industry into a model of sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this exclusive interview for Sustainability Today, Cristina Sima assesses Romania’s position in adopting circular economy practices compared to other Central and Eastern European markets. She highlights visible progress in sectors like steel, where Tenaris Romania achieves near-100% recycled raw material content through electric arc furnace steelmaking, alongside advancements in energy efficiency, water recirculation, and by-product valorization. Yet she points to persistent challenges: uneven implementation, limited regulatory incentives, and insufficient financing, which hinder scaling these practices economy-wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead, Cristina Sima shares Tenaris’s strategic priorities for the next 3\u20135 years\u2014boosting recycled inputs, slashing carbon intensity, and extending circularity across supply chains\u2014while offering candid advice for policymakers. Cautiously optimistic about Romania’s 2030 potential, she urges stable regulations, targeted funding, and industry collaboration to unlock innovation in recycling, digitalization, and waste-to-resource solutions. This conversation underscores circularity not just as an environmental imperative, but as a driver of industrial competitiveness and resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From your perspective, how advanced is Romania today in adopting circular economy principles compared to other Central and Eastern European markets?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Romania has made visible progress in recent years, particularly in industrial sectors where resource efficiency and waste recovery are becoming operational priorities rather than only compliance requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compared to other Central and Eastern European markets, Romania is at a transition stage: strong potential, improving regulatory alignment with EU circular economy objectives, but still uneven implementation across sectors and limited adoption of the concept with the responsible public authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the steel industry, we see encouraging examples of circularity already embedded in production models, especially where investments in recycling, energy efficiency, and industrial symbiosis have been made. The challenge now is scaling these practices across the wider economy, supported by infrastructure, financing mechanisms, and predictable regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How is the transition toward resource efficiency and circular business models influencing investment decisions within your organization?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For Tenaris Romania, circular economy principles are fully integrated into investment decisions, not treated as a separate sustainability topic. Investments are increasingly evaluated through a combined lens of resource efficiency, environmental performance, operational resilience, and long\u2011term competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our vertically integrated production model, based largely on scrap\u2011based electric arc furnace steelmaking, naturally supports circularity. This has driven continuous investments in increasing recycled content, reducing energy intensity, improving water recirculation, and recovering industrial by\u2011products. Circularity is therefore both a cost\u2011efficiency driver and a risk\u2011management tool, particularly in the context of carbon regulation and resource volatility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which factors most influence companies when investing in circular economy initiatives in Romania: regulation, access to financing, infrastructure, technology, or market demand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In practice, the main challenge is that there are currently limited regulatory incentives specifically rewarding companies that invest in circular economy solutions. While compliance requirements exist, they rarely translate into concrete advantages for companies that go beyond minimum standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, dedicated financing mechanisms to support circular investments, particularly in areas such as recycling and scrap processing, remain insufficient. For capital\u2011intensive industries, the absence of targeted funding or fiscal incentives significantly slows down investment decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, most circular economy projects in Romania are driven primarily by internal efficiency objectives, cost optimization, or international market requirements, rather than by regulation or public support schemes. Strengthening policy incentives and access to financing would be essential to accelerate circular economy investments at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How could public authorities better support companies transitioning from linear to circular economic models?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Public authorities can play a decisive role by focusing on three areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equally important is early and structured dialogue between policymakers and industry, to ensure that circular economy policies are technically feasible and economically viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How does Tenaris Romania integrate circular economy principles into its steel and pipe production processes, from raw materials to finished products?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenaris Romania embeds circular economy principles across its entire production chain, from raw materials to finished products. Its scrap\u2011based electric arc furnace steelmaking enables close to 100% recycled raw material content, significantly reducing the use of virgin resources and environmental impact. Circularity is further supported through high waste recovery, use of alternative materials, closed\u2011loop water systems, and continuous energy efficiency improvements. Vertical integration between steelmaking in C\u0103l\u0103ra\u0219i and pipe production in Zal\u0103u ensures tight control over material flows, making circular economy a core operational principle rather than an add\u2011on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vertical integration plays a key role: steel is produced in C\u0103l\u0103ra\u0219i and transformed into seamless pipes in Zal\u0103u, allowing for tight control over material flows, quality, and resource efficiency. Circular economy is therefore not an add\u2011on, but a core operational principle, delivering both environmental and economic value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How confident are you that Romania can accelerate its transition toward a more sustainable and circular economic model by 2030?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I am cautiously optimistic. Romania has access to European funding, a strong industrial base, and growing awareness of sustainability risks and opportunities. If policy coherence, administrative capacity, and infrastructure development improve in parallel, Romania can make progress by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key risk is fragmentation: progress will depend on the ability to align policy, industry, and education around a shared long\u2011term vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation and growth in Romania\u2019s circular economy ecosystem?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Significant opportunities exist in industrial recycling, alternative raw materials, energy efficiency technologies, waste\u2011to\u2011resource solutions, and digitalization of production processes. Industry, in particular, can act as a catalyst by creating stable demand for secondary materials and circular services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Innovation will increasingly come from collaboration across value chains, rather than isolated solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. What sustainability or circular economy priorities will define your company\u2019s strategy in Romania over the next 3\u20135 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our priorities include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n These priorities are closely linked to both environmental performance and long\u2011term business resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What policies or incentives could most effectively encourage companies to design products and processes with circularity in mind?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Policies that reward measurable performance improvements, such as reduced resource use, higher recycled content, or lower lifecycle emissions, are particularly effective. Incentives should support process transformation, not only end\u2011of\u2011pipe solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clear sustainability criteria in public procurement and stronger support for industrial pilots can also accelerate adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you could deliver one message to policymakers tomorrow about advancing the circular economy, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The circular economy is not only an environmental agenda; it is a strategic industrial competitiveness agenda. To succeed, policies must be long\u2011term, predictable, and developed in close partnership with industry, so companies can plan and invest with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equally important, this policy framework must be accompanied by dedicated funding mechanisms and financial incentives that actively stimulate investments in circular solutions, such as recycling, secondary raw materials, and resource\u2011efficient technologies. Without targeted support for capital\u2011intensive circular investments, progress will remain slow and fragmented, despite industrial commitment and technological readiness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cristina Sima, Environmental Regional Director at Tenaris, brings over a decade of expertise in environmental strategy and sustainability to her role overseeing operations in Romania. At Tenaris\u2014a global leader in seamless pipes and premium connections for the energy sector\u2014 she oversees the integration of circular economy principles into industrial processes. 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