Romania may fine people who don’t sort their waste

Romania’s Environment Ministry plans to come up with an ordinance draft that would set fines for people who don’t sort their waste. Environment minister Gratiela Gavrilescu said the selective waste collection and disposal will be mandatory even for people living in apartment buildings who throw their waste through the garbage chute. Thus, all apartment buildings will have to have to garbage chutes, one for dry and one for moist waste, local EuropaFM reported. However, the details of this measure still need to be announced. The environment minister also announced that starting January next year, the tax for dumping waste in landfills will increase significantly, after several delays. Romania recycles less than 5% of the household waste although it committed to recycling half of its waste by 2020. Another measure to increase recycling is charging a new tax on recyclable packaging, such as glass and plastic bottles. The Government will adopt this new tax next week, Gratiela Gavrilescu said. The value of this tax will be of under RON 1 per piece and consumers can recover this tax by taking their used bottles to the supermarket or hypermarket or to waste collection points. Romanians generate the lowest amount of waste in EU editor@romania-insider.com