RoRec, the Romanian Recycling Association, has finalized, over the last three months, 20 collecting actions in over 90 localities; over the 12 week-ends more than 5,000 citizens have chosen to become involved. They have taken, to drop-off centers and points, more than 9,000 kilograms of WEEE. The tens of volunteers participating in RoRec’s actions have also embarked on a large awareness and educational campaign covering WEEE-related issues.

All actions have been jointly implemented with local municipalities and RoRec member companies, but also with other eco programs organizers, such as the Green Umbrella.

„The RoRec Association has created a framework for partnering up with municipalities, so as to set up and operate municipal drop off centers, aimed to establish the WEEE flow from individual households. We have signed, up to this point, 17 partnership agreements with local municipalities, having several other agreements pending approval and effecting. With this, we are getting significantly closer to one of our main objectives, namely the Collection program in partnership with local authorities for the nationwide WEEE drop off collection centers. This programme includes the establishment of a network comprising over 100 hundred centers, all over the country, in communities of 40,000 citizens or more”, said Mr. Liviu Popeneciu, President of the RoRec Association.

The highest quantity of WEEE collected over one week-end was of over 15,000 kilograms of old equipments, collected in Alba Iulia, Jidvei and nearby localities, in the third week-end of September, as part of the „We support and uphold local traditions and values” campaign. In Alba, the RoRec Association has joined the 10th edition of the “Golden Grape” National Folklore Festival, organizing this environmental action together with the Alba Iulia city hall, the Alba County Council, the Jidvei city hall and the Jidvei Company, as well as Arctic, an appliance manufacturer, member of RoRec.

Before that, two environmental actions have been organized in the Sibiu and Bistrița Năsăud counties, under the motto „ We support and uphold local traditions and values”. These two special projects were associated with two events of high importance for the local communities: „The Mountain Peony Festival Gura Rîului” (July 3-4) and the „Heidenfeld Medieval Camp” (August 13-15). These two actions have covered nine villages in Mărginimea Sibiului, the Bistrița County and nearby villages, respectively. The „special projects” section also includes the proposal issued by the RoRec Association and the Vaslui Municipality, for all citizens to enjoy the Vaslui days in a clean city, after properly discarding of electric waste.

With the “The waste doesn’t belong at home. Take it for a hike!” campaign, the RoRec Association has managed to collect over 13,000 kilos of WEEE in Hunedoara and the nearby localities, and 12,400 kilograms in Deva. As a matter of fact, this campaign has visited, between August and mid-October, the Ilfov, Prahova and Hunedoara counties.

Another successful project was –and continues to be- the partnership with Green Umbrella: between July and October, the RoRec Association was present in Sibiu, Sfântu Gheorghe, Timișoara, Alexandria, Brașov and Cluj Napoca. RoRec has collected, during these specific joint activities, over ten tons of WEEE, benefitting from the full support of local authorities and of all citizens aware of how important proper disposal of old appliances really is.

"The outcome of the campaign in the last months is encouraging, because the public responds more positively to our actions. We have collection centres operational in 17 locations, as we have signed in the last period partnerships with three other municipalities in Bărcănești, Sânnicolau Mare and Ciolpani. We are constantly working to diversify the circle of operators that are specialized in WEEE treatment and recycling, in compliance with the standards and performance requirements and according to WEEE Forum practices, and to have technological audit procedures implemented by treatment, recycling, sampling and collecting operators by transposing WEEE Forum success methods and procedures" said Mr. Liviu Popeneciu President of RoRec.
Mr. Liviu Popeneciu stressed that " although the size of the RoRec Association’s activities is conditioned by the waste market in Romania, the past years’ experience allows us to forecast a strong positive trend for the next two years, if these elements are implemented: collection levels of over 70% in 2011 and up to 73% in 2012”.
The RoRec Association’s strategy is focused on three important tasks up to the end of 2011. “Firstly, we are working to implement efficient operational systems, so that the costs of WEEE management in 2011 are brought closer to the European average within the WEEE Forum, whilst the visible fee for most categories of electrical and electronic equipment shall be eliminated next year. Then, we have to balance the position on the WEEE market with the one the industry represented has on the profile market for the distribution of new products. Finally, WEEE management performances in Romania must be comparable with those at EU level, in compliance with Directive 96 and other applicable legislation”, concluded Mr. Liviu Popeneciu.