The national policy on recycling and waste management is closely in line with the European Union’s approach, which is based on waste prevention, recycling, reuse and improvement of the final disposal of waste.

Waste prevention is an extremely important factor in waste management and is closely linked to improving production methods, as well as inducing consumers to change their demand for products and lead a healthy lifestyle that generates smaller amounts of waste.

Recycling and reuse aim at a high level of recovery of component materials, having identified a number of waste streams for which material recycling is a priority: packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles, waste batteries, waste electrical and electronic equipment.

Final disposal of waste, where waste cannot be recovered, must be carried out in safe conditions for the environment and human health, under a strict monitoring programme.

In Romania, at village, city and municipality level, the necessary areas for the separate collection of waste are provided, with specific containers for each type of waste; centres are available for the general population and for companies, where paper, cardboard, glass, metal, plastics, wood, textiles, packaging waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment, waste batteries and accumulators can be discarded free of charge.

The institutions responsible for recycling and waste management are developing tools to encourage citizens and businesses to collect selectively and recycle.