This week, at the Public Services and Utilities International Fair 2011, we have launched a new program for local authorities interested in implementing a coherent waste electrical and electronic equipment collection system, compliant with the European norms on the collection and recycling of this type of waste.

The WEEE collection systems inspired from the WEEE Forum practices is a documentation and workshop program organized with the support of the collective association members of the WEEE Forum from several Western-European countries with relevant experience and results in this field.

Townhalls interested in this program are invited to contact the RoRec Association by phone at 021/2327182 or 021/2327183 and by mail at cristian.ionescu@rorec.ro, for additional details about documentation topics, meeting agendas and traveling periods.

The program was announced during the communication session “Waste in Romania and the applicable European legislation – Potential solutions, input from stakeholders”, an event organized by the REPORTER Press Group and supported by the RoRec Association, at the Public Services and Utilities International Fair 2011, held at Romexpo between September 8^th and 11^th.

“According to the European legislation, transposed nationally, we have to collect at least 4 kilograms of electrical waste per year/inhabitant. Through the recent GD 1037/2010, the government makes it mandatory to establish one WEEE collection point in every locality, and, in cities or municipalities, one collection point for every 50,000 inhabitants. The responsibility thereof lies with the local public authorities. In itself, this is a real opportunity for matching the communities’ need to benefit from coherent WEEE collection structures with the requirement existing at the level of authorities – as they must build these centers and provide a proximity service to citizens, as well as to producers who are responsible for taking-over the collected waste and funding the treatment and recycling operations.”, added Mr. Liviu Popeneciu, president of the RoRec Association.

The communication session at TUP consisted of an exchange of opinions between the representatives of the local authorities that already benefit from the collection solutions offered by RoRec and those who were interested in implementing this WEEE collection system, as well as understanding the realities of the entire waste management chain: the collected quantity from a commune is carefully monitored throughout each treatment and recycling stage in order to reintroduce the resulting valuable fractions in the industrial flow and prevent the technologies thus used from affecting the environment and the population’s health.