The Annals of “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati. Fascicle IX, Metallurgy and Materials Science

Packaging Waste Management and the Main Challenges in Recycling Processes

Carmelia Mariana BĂLĂNICĂ DRAGOMIR — 2025-03-15

Separate collection of packaging is an important step towards a circular economy. Setting a mandatory collection rate is an incentive for the development of efficient and well-targeted collection systems at national level, thus increasing the amount of waste sorted and potentially recycled. This article presents a comparative analysis, by waste type, of the evolution of packaging waste recycling, for the period 2008-2022. If in the period 2013-2022 the average of EU member states was 65.74% for recycling rates of packaging waste, in Romania the rate it was 50.31%, which involves a series of additional efforts. At the national level, during the period 2013-2022, the highest percentage of packaging waste recycling is represented by paper, cardboard 74.35% and metal a percentage of 56.02%, with wood waste in last place at 23.77%.

Evaluating the Sustainability of Municipal Waste Management in Romania

Carmelia Mariana BĂLĂNICĂ DRAGOMIR — 2025-03-15

The study examines the municipal waste generation per capita trends in Romania from 1995 to 2022 compared to other EU countries using Eurostat data. The analysis divides the period into pre-accession (1995-2008) and post-accession (2008-2022) phases. In the first period, Romania maintained a low and stable waste generation rate, below 300 kg per capita yearly, due to low consumption, incomplete waste collection, and limited waste management capacity. After joining the EU, there was a slight increase in waste generation with improved data reporting and infrastructure, but Romania still had one of the lowest waste generation rates in the EU. Challenges remained in waste monitoring, rural collection, and public awareness. By contrasting Romania's data with high waste generating countries like Denmark and Germany, the study suggests that factors like waste monitoring and public awareness contribute to lower waste per capita figures.