Marius Brînzea, Reciclad’OR Strategy Director, featured in the March 2026 issue of PIAȚA Magazine with an in‑depth analysis of Romania’s packaging collection and recycling performance in 2025
Marius Brînzea, Strategy Director at Reciclad’OR, appears in the March 2026 edition of PIAȚA magazine (Issue 234) with a comprehensive analytical piece dedicated to the performance of Romania’s packaging collection and recycling systems in 2025.
The article, titled “The Contribution of OIREP and DRS Systems to Achieving Romania’s National Packaging Recycling Targets in 2025,” stands out through an approach that departs from the simplified narratives that have dominated public discourse in recent years.
Instead of impressions or isolated figures, Marius Brînzea builds a complete, data‑driven radiography — based exclusively on publicly available information with clearly indicated official sources — of how the two major Extended Producer Responsibility systems, OIREP and DRS, contributed to meeting national targets.
What this article brings to the public debate
Starting from the unprecedented transparency of national data — both through the monthly publication of DRS figures and the datasets released by the Environmental Fund Administration since 2024 — Marius Brînzea uses this information base to answer essential strategic questions for the entire packaging industry.
Key data and conclusions presented in the article
- Together, OIREP and DRS systems collected and recycled 1,464,783,480 kg of packaging waste in 2025, exceeding the minimum required amount of 1,409,989,680 kg needed to meet annual targets.
However, the contribution of the two systems was not equal:
76% came from OIREP organizations (1,112,085,937 kg) and 24% from the DRS (352,697,543 kg).
- The article places these figures in the broader European context, where Eurostat data shows that Romania reported a packaging recycling rate of 37.3% in 2023 — one of the lowest in the EU, compared to a European average of 67.5% and a target of 70% for 2030.
Moreover, seven Member States have already reached the 2030 target — Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Czechia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain — most of them exclusively through OIREP‑type systems.
- Marius Brînzea also analyzes the long‑term outlook for the DRS, arguing that as mature European deposit‑return systems reach a natural performance ceiling (80–90% collection rate), the additional growth potential becomes limited.
The strategic conclusion of the article
Romania must now invest in strengthening the OIREP system, modernizing separate collection infrastructure, and continuously educating the population in order to build a credible trajectory toward convergence with the European states leading the circular economy transition.
Why this voice matters in the public debate
Marius Brînzea is one of Romania’s most knowledgeable experts in Extended Producer Responsibility.
As Strategy Director at Reciclad’OR — one of the country’s leading OIREP operators — he brings to the public sphere a perspective grounded in the operational reality of the industry, not in momentary rhetoric.
At Reciclad’OR, we believe that good decisions — in both public policy and business — are built on accurate data and a deep understanding of context.
Being featured in PIAȚA magazine, one of Romania’s most respected business publications, confirms the industry‑level recognition of this approach.
The full article can be found in PIAȚA Magazine, Issue 234, March 2026, pages 56–58.
About Reciclad’OR
Reciclad’OR is one of Romania’s leading OIREP organizations, with expertise in responsibility transfer, collection and recycling, environmental consultancy and circular economy solutions.
If you are a producer, importer or retailer and want to understand how these profound legislative changes affect your business — and how to efficiently meet your recycling responsibilities — we are here to support you.
