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Environmental information systems
The indicator shows the share of material recovered and fed back into the economy – and thus saving extraction of primary raw materials – in overall material use.
Since 2005, the government has established mandatory extended producer responsibility schemes for all packaging. However, the circular material use rate in 2021 was only 1.4%, compared with 1.7% in 2016. This remained mostly the same in 2022, with a slight decrease to 1.3% in 2023 (see graph), and thus calls for immediate action. As an example, to reduce food waste, 20 receiving operators of food donations were registered in 2021; these operators comply with regulations on the safety of agrifood products and .
The national waste management strategy and the national waste management plan have set the goal of halving per capita food waste by 2030 and set thresholds of a 55% recycling rate for municipal waste by 2025 and a 65% recycling rate for packaging waste by 2025. These national plans also call for implementing separate collection systems for household hazardous waste by 2022, .
Since 2016, the Law on the Reduction of Food Waste has established accountability measures for the food waste reduction in the agrifood chain, including measures regarding the transfer of food through donation. The 2016 Green Procurement Act introduced the first regulation on minimum requirements for the .
References and footnotes
- ↵Government of Romania, Strategia naționalǎ privind economia circularǎ, Bucharest, 2022, accessed 25 June 2025, https://dezvoltaredurabila.gov.ro/strategia-nationala-privind-economia-circulara-13409762.
- ↵Codul Român al Sustenabilitǎții, ‘Bun Venit Pe Site-Ul Codului Român Al Sustenabilității!’, Codul Român al Sustenabilitǎții website, accessed 25 June 2025, https://codsustenabilitate.gov.ro/.
- ↵Harta Reciclǎrii, ‘Cum ne putem adapta la noua realitate climatică?’, Harta Reciclǎrii website, accessed 25 June 2025, http://www.hartareciclarii.ro/.
- a bMinisterul Mediului, Apelor și Pǎdurilor and Agenția Naționalǎ Pentru Protecția Mediliu, Raport Anual Privind Starea Mediului în România, Anul 2022, Bucharest, 2023, accessed 25 June 2025, http://www.anpm.ro/documents/12220/2209838/RSM+2022.pdf/778fd7cc-2383-4e47-b9ef-b90d36ea638e.
- a bParliament of Romania, Law No 69 of 25 April 2016 on green public procurement, accessed 27 June 2025, https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/177918.