2020 represented a year of adaptations: we adapted to work from home, physical distancing and online schooling. At the same time, ECOTIC's awareness-raising activities and WEEE collection activities were also adapted to the new pandemic context: door to door pick-ups and online educational activities.
Likewise, this year represented for ECOTIC the launch of the national information campaign "Act in Romania like abroad ” (fiiintara.ecotic.ro), which brought good practices from European countries closer to Romanians. The campaign was organized with the support of the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, and included a TV spot and a social media campaign, reaching over 13 million citizens nationwide.
April was the month when ecological education for adults and children alike was exclusively online. The awareness raising campaign started with inspirational elements such as articles, videos or various study materials, for example the Environmental Protection Handbook, developed by ECOTIC in partnership with Info Cons, designed to support all those who want a comprehensive ecological education. It is also worth mentioning the ecological education vlogs, the live storytelling sessions in which children listened to stories on ecological topics and the creative recycling vlogs through which parents and children alike learned to make creative recycling projects thus giving new life to house objects.
In 2020, ECOTIC and the Coalition for Circular Economy (CERC) took solid steps in promoting the reuse of electrical and electronic equipment by technically supporting the Romanian National Standardization Body (ASRO) in order to transpose the international repair standard of waste electrical and electronic equipment - EN 50614: 2020 into Romanian. This standard applies to processes related to the preparation for reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment and provides a framework to guarantee consumers the quality and safety of reconditioned EEE.
Door to door collection predominated in 2020 as ECOTIC extended this service through its partners in Neamț, Constanța, Cluj and Iași counties. The traditional collection and awareness campaigns in urban and rural areas were also developed. The 173 WEEE and WBA awareness and collection campaigns informed citizens in 12 counties about the importance of separate collection of WEEE by bringing collection points and pick-up services closer to their homes.
In October, ECOTIC marked the International Day for the Recycling of e-Waste by launching the unique number 021 9641 addressed to all those interested in handing over WEEE. More than 1,000 people called this number to find out how to properly hand over WEEE or to identify the nearest collection points.
ECOTIC and GreenWEEE organized, this year as well, the "Enter the circle of solidarity ” donations project, together with APDETIC, the Informal IT School, Ateliere senza Frontiere and Radio France International. 14 educational institutions, the vast majority of them in rural areas, were equipped with 132 pieces of IT equipment. Of the more than 70 organizations that signed up to receive refurbished IT equipment, the majority were represented by schools from rural areas. There is a growing need for IT equipment in schools.
In this context, ECOTIC decided to extend the possibility of donations of IT equipment by large and small companies throughout the year, by filling in a form on the website.
In order to support parents in preventing the ingestion of button batteries, ECOTIC BAT has launched an educational video spot that highlights the danger to which children are exposed. It presents tips on their proper storage and the main steps parents should take in case of unpleasant situations involving battery ingestion.
It is available on www.ecotic.ro/baterii as well as on the YouTube channel - Organizatia ECOTIC.
"2020 was a year of change and adaptation. The pandemic forced us to adapt our way of working to the new situation. However, it is a change that allows us to further expand our awareness activities, thus reaching a larger audience. We hope that 2021 will bring changes for the better, for the whole society. " Valentin Negoiță, the president of ECOTIC, declared.
In 2021, we will continue the online awareness activities, as well as the already established information and collection campaigns for the Clean Cities and Clean Communes brand. At the same time, we will continue to make efforts to come to the aid of citizens with collection points closer to them.