Romania’s deposit-return system hits record with 580 mln beverage containers collected in July

Romania’s deposit-return system has set a new milestone, with consumers handing back more than 580 million beverage containers in July alone, the highest monthly figure since the program’s launch in late 2023, RetuRO announced on Tuesday, August 26.

The company, which manages the nationwide Deposit-Return System - SGR, said that from January to July 2025, around 3 billion containers subject to the scheme were returned by consumers. Over the same period, RetuRO delivered 215,000 tonnes of packaging to recycling companies.

July’s record of 580 million returned bottles and cans represents 79% of all packaging placed on the market that month, a level that RetuRO described as proof of the system’s accelerating impact on consumer behavior.

“Millions of Romanians are adopting more responsible environmental habits through the Deposit-Return System,” RetuRO said in its update.

RetuRO, founded as a not-for-profit operator, reinvests any surplus into the development of the system. It was established through a partnership of private industry associations - Brewers of Romania for the Environment (30%), Soft Drinks Producers for Sustainability (30%), and Retailers for the Environment (20%) - alongside a public shareholder, the Romanian state, represented by the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests (20%).

Funded entirely through private contributions, the company is responsible for ensuring transparency in how beverage packaging is placed on the market and returned by consumers. The project, the largest circular economy initiative in Romania, is designed to help the country meet European Union recycling targets by ensuring responsible management of packaging waste.

Earlier this month, RetuRO launched a pilot project in two of Bucharest's parks that lets people leave their bottles, PET containers, and cans in special compartments attached to public trash bins so others can collect them and reclaim the deposit.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Ovidiu Micsik)