After taking part in the International REW Istanbul 2012 Fair, organized between 7- 10 June, RoRec representative Mihaela Serban was interviewed by Info Mediu magazine on the WEEE collection system in Romania, including estimated WEEE to be collected in the next years, as well as RoRec’s projects to involve more citizens in its collection campaigns. See here the whole interview.
What are you doing in Istanbul, at this fair in a country like Turkey that certainly doesn’t qualify as a European country, by not being an EU member state, yet organizes such events?
I came as a visitor to see the news in recycling technologies and waste electrical and electronic equipment collection solutions. You said that Turkey is not an EU member state, but has the initiative of organizing a fair specialized in waste management. Although barely starting to transpose and implement the European legislation on waste electrical and electronic equipment management, Turkey has the recycling technology and is well represented at this fair.
Since you mentioned collection, how is this collection done in our country?
The solutions RoRec Association implemented in Romania to collect WEEE from the population are, among others, the centers from the National RoRec Collection Network that provide viable solutions enabling citizens to dispose of waste appliances in a civilized manner. In addition, we conduct a major national environmental campaign under the logo “Waste doesn’t belong at home. Take it for a hike!” through weekly events organized in all the counties from Romania. We are also implementing educational collection programs in schools, through the Recycling Patrol program, so that the little citizens to be understand the importance of selective collection and correct recycling for the environment.
What are the collection targets for the next years, given that the collected quantity has decreased over the past years?
Of course, the target can only aim higher: more infrastructure, larger collected quantities, education regarding the selective collection of such waste, our responsibility towards the issue of environmental protection, community spirit.
How do you achieve this? What methods do you use to raise the awareness of citizens to dispose of this waste in a civilized manner?
Our projects are ambitious, consistent and coherent, on long term. The National RoRec Collection Network is a growing project – we have launched nine new centers at European standards in the past two months alone. The number of volunteers, Recycling Patrol agents, partners and friends who follow us on our Facebook accounts (asociatiarorec and patruladereciclare) increase exponentially every month. All these “ambassadors” of our message help us get closer and closer to the citizens every day, making them more aware that lending a hand is easy and they cannot claim to live in a civilized environment unless they get involved in the community life.