From Reporting to Action: What Sustainability Means for Romanian Business Today

17/06/2026/in Blog, Business, CSR, Homepage, Media, Various

Reciclad’OR, partner at the Capital Business Roundtable on Sustainability | Bucharest, June 16, 2026

What does sustainability mean for Romanian businesses in 2026? On June 16, Capital brought together, at the same roundtable, leaders from energy, food industry, transportation, academia, and consulting to discuss, in concrete terms, what it means to build a sustainable business. The event, “Sustainable Business Models. The Real Costs of Sustainability” — confronted not the myth of sustainability as a corporate image, but its reality: with costs, with timelines, with opportunities and with pressures that don’t disappear through any press release.

Reciclad’OR participated as a partner, with Marius Brînzea, Strategy Director, as its voice in the debate, bringing the perspective of a direct actor from the circular economy ecosystem — with data, not declarations.

12 Years of Romanian Business Sustainability: From Voluntary to Mandatory

Marius Brînzea opened with a timeline that few still know in detail. The NFRD from 2014, voluntary for the majority. The Green Deal from 2019, which transformed sustainability from a fad into a strategic pillar. The CSRD from 2022, which introduced mandatory requirements and real sanctions. And the ESRS standards from 2023, with double materiality as the key principle.

But the most important change is not in the timeline — it is in the present. Omnibus I, which entered into force on March 18, 2026, redefined who is still subject to the CSRD: thresholds increased fourfold, from 250 employees and €50 million turnover to 1,000 employees and €450 million. The direct effect: of the approximately 50,000 companies initially targeted at the European level, around 5,000 remain. Ninety percent are released from the legal obligation.

Added to this is the simplified ESRS draft, published on May 6, 2026 by the European Commission: the number of mandatory data points drops by 61% compared to Set 1. And VSME — the voluntary standard for SMEs, formalized alongside a “value chain cap” that gives companies with fewer than 1,000 employees the legal right to refuse requests that exceed the standard.

“It sounds like a relief, but it isn’t,” said Brînzea. “The fundamental direction remains unchanged — the same objectives, the same double materiality, the same third-party assurance. What has changed is the speed and the perimeter. It is a calibration, not a withdrawal.”

Romanian Business Sustainability: The Operational Paradox

The most important message from the Strategy Director of Reciclad’OR’s second intervention was a counterintuitive one: reducing the CSRD perimeter does not reduce operational pressure. Sustainability requirements in Romanian business are moving from legislation into the market.

The approximately 45,000 companies removed from scope remain in the value chain of the 5,000 that continue to report. Those 5,000 must collect data across the entire chain — suppliers, distributors, retailers, subcontractors — under articles left unmodified by Omnibus. The pressure does not disappear; it shifts from Brussels to the market. And the market, as Brînzea emphasized, is often more disorderly than the European legislator.

Outside the CSRD, requirements remain intact: banks through SFDR, investors through the EU Taxonomy, CSDDD due diligence from 2029, ESG clauses in contracts. “Value chain demands don’t disappear; they move from legislation into the market,” he said. “And market demand is, as a rule, more disorderly than that from Brussels.”

Real gains do exist, however: a more relaxed timeline — waves 2 and 3 postponed to the 2027 financial year —, legal protections for omitting trade secrets and, above all, more professional judgment: the materiality decision becomes managerial, not prescribed. Brînzea’s practical conclusion: standardize everything on VSME, refuse ad-hoc questionnaires and use the legal right of refusal. “Those who standardize now will win; those who treat sustainability as a quick fix will pay twice.”

The Real Cost of Sustainability in Business: €25.4 Trillion Lost Annually

If the first two responses addressed regulation, the third moved the discussion to where it truly matters for Romanian business sustainability.

The savings on reporting are real: according to EFRAG’s cost-benefit analysis, costs drop by 44% for the period 2027–2031 — approximately €4.7 billion saved at the Union level. From 2029, stable annual savings of 33–36%. But, Brînzea insisted, these are surface-level figures.

The Circularity Gap Report 2026, produced by Circle Economy with Deloitte, quantifies the structural loss of the global linear economy at €25.4 trillion annually — approximately 31% of global GDP. “For every three euros we create, one is lost because we are linear, not circular,” he said.

And Romania is in the worst possible position: a circularity rate of 1.3%, ranked 27th out of 27 in the European Union, ten times below the European average of 12.2% and twenty-five times below the Netherlands. We are 74% below our own target assumed for 2025. We have four years to reach 10% — and that distance cannot be covered by any report: it is covered by real investments in collection, sorting, and recycling infrastructure.

The mechanism blocking the transition is well-known: fossil subsidies of approximately $1.4 trillion per year globally keep virgin raw material artificially cheaper than recycled material. Virgin plastic costs between €1.20 and €1.50/kg; recycled, between €1.40 and €1.80/kg. Without subsidies, the ratio reverses. “The difference is driven solely by subsidy policy, not operational efficiency,” Brînzea explained.

The final conclusion was direct: “Regulation gives us the map and gives us the time — 24 months. But the map doesn’t collect, sort, or recycle. Real economic value is unlocked only when we move from reporting, to doing.”

A Business Sustainability Debate That Went Beyond Compliance

The roundtable did not remain at the regulatory level. Alongside Marius Brînzea, contributing to the debate were Tulia Casvean (Director Corporate Communications & PR, Transavia SA), Teodora Mărăcineanu (Marketing Director, Electrolux Group), Cristina Bălan (Senior Partner Sustainability, CSR BootIQ), prof. univ. dr. Voicu Dan Dragomir (Bucharest University of Economic Studies), Sorin Chiriță (Director, SAPE), Virgil Profeanu (Founder, VEGO), Radu Balcu (General Manager, GP Intermodal), Florin Danilă (General Manager and Founder, Cumpăna 1993)

Together, they brought to the discussion solutions, challenges, and best practices for a more responsible and future-ready business environment — from reporting models adapted to Romanian reality, to concrete examples of sustainability integration in value chains, to the pressures faced by companies across very different industries.

The shared conclusion emerged from the debate, not from any press release: sustainability in Romanian business is no longer a strategic option for companies that want to remain relevant. It is infrastructure. And infrastructure is built, not reported.

The Voice That Matters

Reciclad’OR is a market leader in responsibility transfer activity in Romania — because sustainability is not a report, it is infrastructure.

Over 1,200 companies have not chosen the same OIREP by chance.

Reciclad’OR — the voice that matters when responsibility also means results.

Because we believe sustainability is not done out of obligation. It is done out of vision.

Reciclad’OR is one of the most important OIREP-type organizations in Romania, with expertise in responsibility transfer, collection and recycling, environmental consulting, and circular economy.

If you are a producer, importer, or retailer and want to understand how to efficiently fulfill your recycling responsibilities, we are here!