Romania can draw important lessons from existing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and from the Deposit Return System (DRS) when designing a system for textile waste management, Raul Pop, Honorary Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, said at the \u201cCircular textiles. Less waste, more future\u201d conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop pointed to the experience accumulated through the implementation of EPR systems in Romania, where producers can operate through different organizational models, as well as the country\u2019s Deposit Return System.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have already seen Extended Producer Responsibility systems being implemented, and we have seen different models operating in recent years. We have, in a way, the two options side by side: one in which producers can choose between several organizational systems, and the other, which is a regulated monopoly, namely the Deposit Return System,\u201d Pop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He argued that both models can provide valuable lessons for the future organization of textile EPR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe we can learn a lot from there \u2014 principles of operation, implementation mistakes, options that work and so on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop stressed, however, that the public administration faces significant capacity constraints and competing priorities, which are slowing down regulatory developments in the textile sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Ministry of Environment is buried under a lot of priorities,\u201d he said, adding that pressure comes both from the European Union towards Romania and from developments on the ground towards local and central authorities, particularly in areas such as enforcement and regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, progress on establishing a comprehensive framework for producer responsibility for textiles has been slow, according to Pop. He also noted that developments at European level have been relatively gradual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, he said, several pilot initiatives and \u201ctest systems\u201d emerging across Europe could provide useful evidence on what works and what does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think that is also the fastest recommendation, or the easiest-to-understand recommendation, that I could make to the entities or individuals active in the field of proper textile management: look at these attempts and learn from them,\u201d Pop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop also warned that the textile industry has yet to fully take ownership of the issue of managing textiles throughout their entire life cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe proper management of textiles throughout their entire life cycle is something that, in my opinion, the industry has not yet taken ownership of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged that individual companies may already be taking steps but argued that the broader industry \u2014 including companies operating from outside Romania and even from thousands of kilometres away \u2014 needs to be represented in the dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He identified this as one of the main risks for the future system: ensuring that the emerging framework is sufficiently representative and capable of addressing different types of market participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the first risks that needs to be managed is the representativeness of what is being consolidated as a system, so that it also captures these types of exceptions,\u201d Pop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A second major risk, according to Pop, is the capacity to work effectively with public authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He linked this challenge directly to the regulatory timetable, saying that Romania had failed to make significant progress over the past year and that the current political context did not suggest a decisive push for major reforms in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t managed to make significant steps in the past year, and, especially looking at the political context, I don\u2019t see a drive, I don\u2019t see a decisive movement to revolutionize the sector in the foreseeable future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop nevertheless welcomed what he described as improving cooperation between the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Economy, noting that the two institutions have increasingly worked together on regulations and enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said similar cooperation should extend to consumer protection authorities in areas where textiles have a significant impact on consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust as, at least theoretically, the control institutions of the Ministry of Environment work with the National Consumer Protection Authority on single-use plastics, they should also work together in other areas, such as textiles, where there is significant consumer exposure,\u201d Pop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He emphasized that determining the boundary between waste and a product \u2014 including reused or reusable products \u2014 requires the involvement of all relevant state institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you talk about a dividing line between waste and a product, even if that product is reused or reusable, it is absolutely essential to include in the discussion the responsibilities of all state institutions that are relevant to that particular field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Concluding on an optimistic note, Pop stressed that the transition to a circular textiles system will require sustained cooperation between public institutions and the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese things cannot work in isolation. All state institutions, as well as the business environment, need to collaborate, and they need to do it out of a genuine interest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For businesses, he argued that economic incentives should be at the core of the system rather than simply the desire to avoid penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe principle of operating based on the fear of fines will only push things into irrelevance and towards chasing the lowest possible costs, without ensuring the medium-term sustainability of such a system,\u201d Pop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also urged companies to consider the capacity of public institutions to respond effectively as a factor of risk and to plan their engagement with authorities accordingly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania can draw important lessons from existing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and from the Deposit Return System (DRS) when designing a system for textile waste management, Raul Pop, Honorary Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, said at the \u201cCircular textiles. Less waste, more future\u201d conference. Pop pointed to the experience accumulated through the implementation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-circular_economy","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5578,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5577\/revisions\/5578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sustainability-today.ro\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}