Coca-Cola HBC & Romania’s Largest Circular Economy Project

Across Europe, Deposit Return Systems (DRS) are playing a crucial role in building a circular economy for packaging. In Romania, a successful partnership with producers, retailers, the government and the operator RetuRO is delivering strong results.

A DRS allows consumers to buy a product with a deposit additional to the price and then, once it has been used, return the packaging to a collection point in exchange for their deposit back. From these collection points, the used packaging is sent to counting and sorting centres, then to recyclers where it is cleaned, and then returned to the manufacturers to be re-used or re-purposed.

Launched in December 2023, the DRS in Romania has recently marked its first full year in operation with some strong statistics:

• Seven counting and sorting centres across the country
• More than three billion containers returned in one year
• In October 2024, 84% of containers sold in the market were returned through the scheme.
• 200,000 tonnes of packaging recycled in one year
• 98% of households in Romania are aware of the DRS
• Six out of 10 Romanians regularly return the packaging to collection points.

The European Union has set key goals – to collect 77% of PET by 2025 and 90% by 2029, and to recycle 75% of glass and 60% of aluminium from 2030 – which it hopes to achieve through DRS.

In Romania, DRS is managed by the national operator RetuRO, which comprises a consortium of private companies and the Romanian Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests. Coca-Cola HBC joins this consortium through the industry association – Romanian Soft-Drinks Producers for Sustainability (APBRS). The Brewers for Environment association represents the other producers as a shareholder from the industry and they are also joined by the Retailers for Environment association and the Romanian State via the Ministry of Environment.

What is the DRS?

“The DRS is the largest circular economy project in Romania today,” explains Gemma Webb, CEO and President of ReturRO. 

“The whole purpose of this project is to increase the recycling rates here in Romania.”

This massive undertaking involves nearly 80,000 collection points across the country, making it the most comprehensive integrated system of its kind globally.

Under the scheme, consumers pay a deposit of 0.5 Romanian leu (approximately US$0.10) for each eligible beverage container, which can be reclaimed upon returning the empty container to designated collection points. The system covers all beverages, including wine and spirits, and plastic, glass and aluminium drink containers ranging from 0.1 to 3 litres.

“The DRS puts in the infrastructure to make it easy for consumers to recycle,” Gemma says. 

“Our network of retailers then collect the used packaging for us to sort, count and sell to recyclers. This is highly complex as we have to have sorting and counting centres all over the country.”

The DRS in Romania is one of the most intricate packaging recovery systems in the world. It requires the collaboration of 19 million Romanian citizens, 80,000 retailers, 4,000 importers and producers and involves seven billion glass, plastic and aluminium containers  The DRS is expected to manage 5.6 billion containers in 2025.

The system is mandatory for the retailers, importers and producers, but engaging the population with the system is essential.

“The great thing is that Romanian consumers have taken to it, and they’re proud of it,” Gemma shares. “This is really good packaging material because it’s clean, it’s separated into different colours, and it is already back in the system.”

Mircea Fechet, the Minister for the Environment, Waters and Forests was instrumental in setting up the DRS. He says Romanian citizens truly believe in the system: “They are the ones who make the most effort because they go back to the shops with all the containers. They are the true heroes of the DRS here in Romania.”

The partnership behind DRS

“Anything that can be realised cannot be done without partnership,” says Mihaela Frăsineanu, State Counsellor on the Chancellery of the Romanian Prime Minister. “That’s why we first started talking with the beverage industry in September 2016 and since then have implemented the DRS here in Romania.”

Coca-Cola HBC played a key role in setting up the DRS by providing essential knowledge from other European CCHBC markets.

“We partnered with the government and other players in the industry such as beverages and beer producers and retailers,” explains Marcel Martin, Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer at Coca-Cola HBC.  “This group of companies, together with the government, are shareholders of RetuRO and helped to create our common vision.”

RetuRO is the most successful public-private partnership in Romania and the only partnership of this kind for the circular economy. As a shareholder of the DRS administrator, the government collaborates with producers and retailers. The system also requires key stakeholders to implement and drive it. 

“Partnerships are absolutely critical because to make an impact, all the contributors that produce or sell packages, the regulators and the government need to come together and have a common approach,” Marcel says. 

Innovation at Coca-Cola HBC’s Ploiești plant

Coca-Cola HBC's Ploiești plant is the company’s second-largest facility in the Coca-Cola HBC Group, generating 70% of the total volumes sold in Romania while simultaneously exporting to 15 other countries in the region.

It is also home to state-of-the-art decontamination technology that operates on 100% renewable electricity for processing recycled plastic that enables the plant to transform up to 20,000 tonnes of PET annually into bottles made entirely from recycled PET (rPET).

“What we do in Ploiești is closing the circle of packaging circularity and producing food grade recycled PET,” Marcel explains. “Innovation is absolutely critical because circular packaging requires new solutions. We have to explore, invest in and collaborate to design these new solutions.”

The investment in this rPET production unit was approved to become operational at the same time with the Deposit Return System, as, through DRS, beverage producers should access quality raw material to use in their packaging.

The benefits of DRS

While the environmental improvements of DRS might be the first that come to mind, the system’s benefits extend far further to include:

Culture and consumer engagement

“There are a number of benefits from the DRS, including the culture that’s created by partnerships between industry players, retailers and the government. It is also the enthusiasm that it gives consumers. It is definitely going to be reflected in what you see in the country in terms of protecting nature and the environment.”

Marcel Martin

Economic value and green jobs

“I am hoping that DRS will also bring a lot of capital in new investments for new technologies and develop investments that will generate green jobs. This is a great story for Romania and a great story for the Romanian circular economy.”

Mircea Fechet

Transparency 

“One of the benefits is you have complete transparency of the system, from putting the product on the market, through to collection, sorting, counting, right to the recyclers,” 

Gemma Webb  

Global potential

“I believe that this example has to be spread around other countries. They can look at the complexity of our system and build on our learnings. I believe that this can be an example for all the DRS in the world, not only in Europe.”

Mihaela Frăsineanu

Is DRS the future of recycling?

As one of the largest integrated DRS in the world, Romania’s system is setting an example for the rest of the world and proving that it is not just possible, but it is possible at scale and quickly. 

Marcel points out that DRS and a country’s sustainability goals go hand in hand: “All European Union countries need to reach a 90% collection by 2029 target,” he says. “This is an important objective of the European Union, but it is also an important criteria for creating this concept of a circular economy.

“We are ready to support rolling similar schemes in other countries, including Austria, Poland and Greece, in 2025. It is a significant initiative that takes a lot of effort, and for this reason, learning is extremely important.”

Mircea agrees: “I hope that 10 years from now – or maybe less – when we look back and look up for the things that we developed we will say that the DRS was the best decision regarding the circular economy that the Romanian Government has taken for the last 35 years.”

To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.

Explore the latest edition of Manufacturing Digital and be part of the conversation at our global conference series, Manufacturing LIVE.

Discover all our upcoming events and secure your tickets today.

Manufacturing Digital is a BizClik brand.