On Thursday, May 18, 2023, ECOTIC organized an event dedicated to affiliated producers on the topic of an increasingly present topic in business strategies, the circular economy.
They were present at the event 60 people, for the 40 companies that market electrical and electronic equipment.
The presentations of the 6 experts they addressed both topics related to the current situation at European and local level regarding the circular economy, examples of good practices, as well as the new sustainability directive:
Mihaela Frasineanu, Deputy General Secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests submitted Circular Economy Strategy (CES) of Romania, which was adopted by Government Decision no. 1172 of September 21, 2022 and a first version of the action plan that can be found here. Electrical and electronic equipment is one of the 7 key sectors that are included in this plan. The PNRR includes a series of reforms and investments totaling €27.1 billion. Major benefits of the plan: +90.000 jobs and +0,2% GDP growth by 2026.
Luca Niculescu, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Coordinator for Romania's accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated that a third of the instruments that are under analysis within this accession are related to environmental protection. Romania's inclusion in the OECD will bring major benefits to Romania in terms of: investments, access to expertise (studies, analyses, databases in all fields), exchange of best practices, increase in country rating.
Constantin Damov, President of the Circular Economy Coalition (CERC), made an analysis of Romania's situation regarding the circular economy, as well as the steps Romania has taken in this direction: the introduction of a funding chapter dedicated to the Circular Economy in the PNRR, the EUR 15-200 support scheme from the Ministry of Economy from 000, the AFM state aid scheme for recycling factories, the standard for repairing electrical waste for reuse ASRO-2022, the law on the preparation for reuse of electrical waste (law 2020/42).
Damien Thiery, General Manager Workshops Without Borders, presented the 4 circular economy models which they implement locally: educlick, remesh, farm bio&co and logiectic. Through activity educlick, preparation for the reuse of IT electrical equipment waste, Workshops Without Borders together with ECOTIC have provided 10% of schools in Romania. The full presentation is available here.
Oana Groșanu, Executive Director of the Embassy of Sustainability in Romania, brought to the attention of those present, the urgency to treat sustainability in the company as an integrated element in all aspects of business. He also presented the directions from which more and more pressure on this issue will emerge. Here the full presentation is available.
The last presentation belonged Andreei Ghiocel, CSR Agency Reporting Division Director. The presentation highlighted the most important aspects of the new sustainability directive which, over time, will be applied to almost to all those present in the market. One of the standards that will be analyzed in this report will be the standard ESRS E5 – resource use and circular economy. Here the detailed document that formed the basis of the presentation given on May 18 is available.
The seminar provided a beneficial exchange of information and opinions between representatives of the authorities, players in the field of electrical and electronic equipment production, the recycling industry and the social economy regarding regulations for the circular economy, new models of production and consumption.
