COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Romania Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal waste
Date: 2018-09-24
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: EU environmental policy, Romania, application of EU law, circular economy, environmental law, environmental protection, pollution control, prevention of pollution, waste, waste management

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  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 24.9.2018 SWD(2018) 423 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The early warning report for Romania Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS on the implementation of EU waste legislation, including the early warning report for Member States at risk of missing the 2020 preparation for re-use/recycling target on municipal waste {COM(2018) 656 final} - {SWD(2018) 413 final} - {SWD(2018) 414 final} - {SWD(2018) 415 final} - {SWD(2018) 416 final} - {SWD(2018) 417 final} - {SWD(2018) 418 final} - {SWD(2018) 419 final} - {SWD(2018) 420 final} - {SWD(2018) 421 final} - {SWD(2018) 422 final} - {SWD(2018) 424 final} - {SWD(2018) 425 final} - {SWD(2018) 426 final}  
 
 
1.  Introduction 

This early warning report is part of the Commission's overall implementation report and aims 
to assist Member States at risk of failing to meet the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-
use/recycling of municipal waste set out in Article 11(2)(a) of Directive 2008/98/EC. It builds 
on  previous  support  provided  by  the  Commission  to  help Member  States  comply1  with  EU 
law in the area of municipal waste management. This resulted in country-specific roadmaps2 
being drawn up for the relevant Member States.  

The  assessment  underpinning  the  early  warning  report  is  based  on  a  collaborative  and 
transparent process involving the Member States concerned and an in-depth analysis of their 
most  recent  policy  developments.  This  also  involved  extensive  consultation  with  the 
authorities in charge of waste management.  

The possible actions identified during this process are based on the existing best practices and 
aim  to  help  Member  States  in  meeting  the  2020  municipal  waste  preparation  for  re-
use/recycling; they therefore focus on policy measures that can be taken forward in the short 
term. These actions should be seen as complementary to those recommended in the roadmaps 
that  were  drawn  up  as  part  of  the  preceding  compliance  promotion  activities  and  to  the 
recommendations made in the Environmental Implementation Review3. 

2.  Key findings 

In  2016,  Romania’s  recycling  rate  (including  composting)  reported  to  Eurostat  was  13 %, 
while  its  landfilling  rate  was  69 %,  one  of  the  highest  in  Europe.  Based  on  an  analysis  of 
existing and firmly planned policies in the area of waste management, Romania is considered 
at risk of missing the 2020 target of 50 % preparation for re-use/recycling of municipal waste. 

The assessment4 that underpins the early warning report concludes that: 

  Romania’s  separate  collection  service,  including  for  bio-waste,  is  not  being 

sufficiently implemented; 
there are not enough economic incentives to move away from disposal; 

 
  extended producer responsibility schemes for packaging are not efficient and do not 

fully cover the costs of separate collection; 
the necessary infrastructure is still lacking; 

 
  more investment is needed in projects higher up the  waste hierarchy (e.g. recycling) 

that go beyond treatment of residual waste; and 
  public engagement in separate collection is very low. 

The  table  below  lists  possible  actions  to  support  Romania’s  efforts  to  improve  its  waste 
management. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/support_implementation_1st_phase.htm 
2 Roadmap for Romania: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/pdf/RO_Roadmap_FINAL.pdf 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eir/country-reports/index2_en.htm 
4 Eunomia Research & Consulting et al. (2018), ‘Study to identify Member States at risk of non-compliance with 
the 2020 target of the Waste Framework Directive and to follow up phase 1 and 2 of the compliance 
promotion exercise. The early warning report: Romania.’ 

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OVERVIEW OF POSSIBLE ACTIONS TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE 

Waste management plans 

1)  The necessary timely updates (by the end of 2018) of the county waste plans following 

the adoption of the national waste management plan.  

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes 

2)  Establishment  and  enforcement  of  a  national  packaging  clearing  house  system  in  line 
with  the  principles  set  out  in  the  revised  Waste  Framework  Directive5  as  general 
minimum  requirements  for  extended  producer  responsibility  (EPR).  Duties  to  be 
assigned to such an authority would include: 

  collecting  and  reporting  national  data  on  production  and  recycling/recovery  of 

packaging; 

  monitoring and auditing packaging EPR schemes; 
  setting market shares and obligations for individual EPR schemes; 
 

tracking the activities of any producers that are not part of an EPR scheme.  

The  clearing  house  would  create  and  manage  a  national  registry  for  producers, 
importers and traders – thereby tackling free riders. Auditing the EPR schemes would 
also allow the clearing house to check whether recycling quotas are being met. 

3)  Introduction  of  a  legal  basis  for  creating  a  clearing  house  for  waste  electrical  and 

electronic equipment (WEEE) in the relevant legislation6. 

4)  Requirement  on  the  packaging  producers  to  be  audited  by  a  third-party  auditing 

company accompanied by  fines for any infringements. 

5)  Financial  contributions  paid  by  producers  to  cover  the  costs  of  all  of  the  aspects  of 
waste management necessary to meet the recycling targets (separate collection, sorting 
and  treatment  operations,  providing  information  for  waste  holders,  data  gathering  and 
reporting, etc.). 

6)  Clear definition of individual EPR schemes’ geographical coverage. 

Separate collection 

7)  Development  of  national  minimum  service  standards  for  waste  collection  (including 
bio-waste)  to  specify,  for  example,  the  type  and  volume  of  containers,  minimum  and 
maximum frequency of collection and type of vehicle used, taking into account the type 
of housing stock, typical climate, etc. 

5 Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive 2008/98/EC 
6 Note: Although calculation method 2 is not expected to apply to WEEE, action needs to be taken now in 
relation to this major waste stream, and there are parallels with the action required on packaging.  

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8)  Establishment  of  a  ‘blueprint  for  collection  services’  that  encourages  a  move  towards 
door-to-door  collection  services  wherever  appropriate,  with  a  view  to  increasing 
participation, increasing capture rates and reducing contamination. 

9)  Implementation of collection service requirements for commercial premises, as this may 
help  to  ensure  that  businesses  separate  their  waste  streams  and  subscribe  to  the 
appropriate collection services. 

Economic incentives 

10) Implementation of the landfill tax as soon as possible. 

11) Setting  up  a  mechanism  to  sanction  local  authorities  which  fail  to  implement  the 
required  collection  services,  and  a  further  mechanism  for  issuing  fines  to  local 
authorities which fail to meet recycling targets. 

12) Review  and  clarification  of  waste-related  revenue  flowing  into  the  Romanian 
Environment  Fund  and  expenditure  on  waste.  The  review  should  consider  how  funds 
could be used to best support waste management. 

13) Consideration of introducing a deposit refund scheme for beverage containers as a way 

to capture more high-quality material. 

Technical support to local authorities 

14) Development  of  a  system  at  national  level  that  provides  technical  support  for 

municipalities, specifically in the following areas: 

a.  choosing collection services;  
b.  service procurement; 
c.  service management; 
d.  communication campaigns; 

coupled with active sharing of good ideas and practices that can improve efficiency 
in terms of cost reduction and improvement in performance. 

Communication and awareness-raising 

15) Development of a set of national communications materials addressed to the public for 
use at local level, with clear and consistent messages, and with particular focus on bio-
waste.  These  materials  should  be  used  as  part  of  awareness-raising  campaigns,  in 
leaflets and at civic amenity sites. 

Spending of EU funds 

16) Ensuring funds are distributed in such a way that the spending delivers value for money 
and  are  allocated  to  activities  and  equipment  likely  to  deliver  the  results  that  are 
urgently  needed  –  i.e.  more  dry  recyclables  captured  through  collection  systems  and 
lower  subsequent  loss  rates,  as  well  as  better  management  of  bio-waste.  For  the  most 
part,  EU  funds  are  expected  to  be  best  channelled  towards  bio-waste  collection  and 
treatment, as well as recycling centres or civic amenity cites where needed. 

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17) EU funds could also go towards a transition from flat-fee waste charges to pay-as-you-
throw  schemes,  setting  minimum  collection  service  standards  and  standards  for 
recycling centres, and developing a capacity-building programme. 

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