Disposal

As a Member State of the European Union, Romania has the assumed obligation to collect and recycle, on an annual basis, 80,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

This obligation is due both to manufacturers, and to central and local authorities, and, not the least, to each citizen.
In 2007, the Ministry of Environment initiated the National Campaign for the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment, also known as “The Great Disposal”.

The action mechanism is simple: citizens take their non-operating equipment in front of their houses or apartment buildings, than sanitation companies take them over and carries them to collection points, where they are taken-over by authorized collective organizations with a view to transporting them to recyclers. Collected equipment includes large and small household appliances (e.g. toasters, irons, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators), tools, lighting equipment, electronic and IT devices, toys).

Because of the novelty, the success of the first action in the Autumn of 2007 was relative, being collected only 600 tonnes of WEEE.

The second edition started on April 19, 2008, throughout the whole year 2008, 2,500 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment being collected within the Great Disposal.

In 2009, by means of the Great Disposal campaign, Romanians gave up 1,440 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) within ten stages of Great Disposal, provided that the campaign started in March.

This year, the Great Disposal has news. Firstly, in order to make waste electrical and electronic equipment collection more efficient, the campaign shall be conducted on a quarterly basis both in the urban environment, and in the rural one.

This year, the Great Disposal intends to collect 2,000 tonnes of WEEE from the population.
Collection evolution in 2009 during the Great Disposal.