Long seen as a laggard in EU recycling performance, Romania is now moving quickly to reduce plastic waste. Driven by upcoming EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) deadlines, the country has introduced bans on lightweight plastic bags, tightened producer responsibilities, and begun penalizing companies that miss recycling targets. The message is clear: plastic that can’t be collected and recycled now carries real financial and operational consequences.
The biggest shift came with the launch of Romania’s nationwide deposit return system, one of the largest and fastest-scaling in Europe. With roughly 80,000 return points and a unified €0.10-equivalent deposit, the system is rapidly capturing billions of bottles and cans, delivering higher-quality PET back into local recycling streams. For brands, this means packaging must now be designed for compatibility with a system that prioritizes clean, sortable material—and penalizes formats that fall outside it.
Beyond bottles, Romania is under growing EU pressure to fully implement the Single-Use Plastics Directive, signaling further restrictions on high-leakage items like cutlery, EPS foodservice ware, and certain flexibles. As EPR costs rise, companies are being pushed to rethink resin-heavy formats, shift toward lighter or hybrid materials, and invest in solutions that align with real-world collection systems instead of theoretical recyclability.
Romania still faces gaps in infrastructure and enforcement, but the direction is unmistakable: less plastic, more circularity, and stricter accountability. For producers operating in Central and Eastern Europe, Romania has become a live test market for accelerated plastic reduction, where designing for deposit systems, reducing virgin resin, and supporting local recycling capacity aren’t future requirements but immediate competitive advantages.
