Circularity and Municipal Waste in Romania An Evaluation between 2011 and 2021

With the aim of moving to a circular economy, as specified in the European Union amending Directive 2018/851, by the year 2025, member states must reach a level of at least 65% by weight in the preparation for reuse and recycling of municipal waste, with the possibility of a 5-year postponement, under certain conditions. However, the generation of municipal waste has registered an increasing trend, due to the low recycling rates in many member states of the European Union, the low inefficiency of the collection systems and the poor implementation of the legislation in force. Through the research carried out, we want to highlight the trends regarding the generation, treatment, and recycling rates of municipal waste in Romania, in the period 2011-2021, but also the degree of fulfillment of the assumed targets regarding municipal waste. For this, we used the European databases available for the indicators selected in the research, as indicators of a circular economy. The analysis undertaken showed that in the last decade the amount of municipal waste per capita has increased, but it is far below the European Union average. Regarding the treatment of municipal waste, it is noted that the main operation is still landfill disposal and other similar operations, with an increasing trend compared to the base year of the analysis and contrary to the specifications of the European Union Framework Directive on waste, according to which waste disposal should be the last choice, when we consider the hierarchization of waste. The recycling rate of municipal waste was only 11.3% in 2021 and put Romania in last place in the ranking of the member states of the European Union. The bio-waste recycling rate did not have good values either; this was 14 kilograms per capita, decreasing in the analyzed period and well below the European Union average.