Resource Recovery Summit: European circular economy forum held in Bucharest this March

Romania will host the Resource Recovery Summit 2026, a major European forum dedicated to the circular economy, on March 18 in Bucharest. The event will bring together high-level political representatives, policymakers, business leaders, and environmental experts from across Europe.

Organized by the Romanian government through the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests, the event is held in collaboration with Green Revolution Association, with the support of Envipco and RetuRO as strategic partners. According to organizers, it highlights Romania’s commitment to advancing the European Union’s climate and sustainability agenda.

“Europe’s transition to the circular economy requires not only plans, but also systems, investments, and cooperation. Romania is committed to building policies that translate environmental goals into everyday practice, from resource recovery to smarter waste management,” said environment minister Diana Buzoianu.

“Our Deposit Return System has already become a globally recognized success story, proving that ambitious environmental policy can deliver fast and measurable results. The Resource Recovery Summit in Bucharest creates the right space for decision-makers, experts, and industry to work together on solutions that can be replicated across Europe,” she added.

The circular economy is central to the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal, which targets doubling the bloc’s circularity rate from 12% to 24% by 2030. In 2026, the European Commission is expected to publish the Circular Economy Act, while new EU rules on packaging waste will require Member States to implement deposit-return systems for single-use beverage containers by 2029.

Romania’s DRS, launched on November 30, 2023, is currently the third largest in the European Union by volume, after Germany and Poland. By the end of 2025, around 8.5 billion beverage containers had been returned, generating over 618,000 tonnes of PET, glass, and aluminium, and reaching a collection rate of 83%.

The summit will address topics such as coordination of deposit-return systems across Member States, circularity as a driver of competitiveness, and aligning private-sector investments with EU environmental objectives. Organizers say the event aims to turn regulatory ambitions into scalable, measurable results for Europe’s circular transition.

Further details are available here.

(Photo source: the organizers)