Romanians who don’t recycle may have to pay higher garbage taxes

Romania’s Environment Ministry plans to introduce the “pay for what you throw” concept in the local legislation to determine citizens to recycle more. The ministry has been working on a law draft to include this provision, according to an environmental organization involved in public consultations on the new regulations, reports local Economica.net. Romanians who throw recyclable waste to the garbage bin may have to pay an extra tax to the city hall, in addition to the current garbage tax. The Environment Ministry thus aims to align the national legislation on waste management to the European directives. The European Commission launched, in 2014, an infringement procedure against Romania for poor waste management. Although successfully applied in other EU countries, the “pay for what you throw” concept may be difficult to implement in Romania, where citizen aren’t aware of how much they pay to the local authorities for waste management. editor@romania-insider.com