Post by depletedreasons on Jan 9, 2008 10:21:24 GMT -5
Recycling Doesn't Resonate in Romania
The country's recycling drive requires, perhaps most of all, a change in people's skepticism and resistance. Next step: coercion?
by Sinziana Demian
The day after the first blue and yellow plastic bags for recyclables were delivered to 55 Fintinele Street at the beginning of November, they disappeared. Stolen, as the superintendent and other residents of the 88 apartments here believe.
A few days later, the building administration tried a new strategy: place the bags not empty but half full, with plastic and paper respectively, so that people would see immediately what they are meant for. The bags disappeared again, hours later, and the experiment was halted before it even had a chance to begin.
"People here don't think this recycling business is very important, and instead they just helped themselves to clean, spacious bags to use for other purposes," said Florica Mezei, the superintendent.
This was but one of several unfulfilled efforts to teach Romanians to sort their garbage and recycle plastic and paper. The campaign meets problems every step of the way: insufficient funds to provide enough containers on a regular basis to all buildings; inadequate collection vehicles; and skepticism and resistance on the part of many people, who seem to find it much easier to just put everything together in the traditional garbage bucket and dump it.
Recycling initiatives in Romania are so new that nationwide statistics are spotty, and sorting refuse is far from being a priority in many cash-strapped towns. Even in larger cities like Cluj-Napoca, a Transylvanian university town of 360,000 residents, and the capital Bucharest, there is limited interest in sorting waste. Cluj has a mere 2 percent recycling rate, according to Eugen Veres, chief executive of Brantner-Veres, the company which provides most waste collection services in the city.
While a university town would seem a natural place for recycling to succeed, the slow pace indicates that Romania is a long way from European Union norms. EU law calls for the country to recycle half of its waste by 2013 a target that seems improbable today. Across the EU, the amount of recycled waste doubled between 1995 and 2005, and nearly half of discarded paper products, plastic, and glass is recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Veres admits that so far efforts to implement a recycling system in Cluj have been few and far between, but he says this should all change in the coming months. An auction early in 2008 will reassign waste collection companies to different neighborhoods, and separate collection of paper, plastic, and regular waste will become mandatory. However, Veres believes that this will only really work here when people will be forced into accepting change.
"The solution is self-evident," he says. "We will impose different collection fees on buildings that effectively recycle and buildings that don't. The moment people have to pay, they'll start being more careful."
The view that coercion will be the most effective approach for now is shared by many here, including Sandor Korosfoy, the founder and director of the environmental association Floarea de Colt (Edelweiss). He thinks civic spirit is just now growing in the country, and people still have the mentality that "things like these will never work here."
"It is not even a matter of being educated about separating garbage," Korosfoy says, "because everyone will tell you that in theory it's a good thing. But then they don't do it, because they lack civic attitude and consciousness."
STARTING AT THE BOTTOM
Edelweiss is currently running an eight-month long project called Eco-Impact, trying to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. A major part of the campaign is to engage more than a dozen schools in competitions with a recycling component. Prizes will go to students who, for example, gather the most paper and plastic.
"You either have to punish or reward people here," says Korosfoy. "We are still a long way away from doing something just because it's the right thing to do."
The compensation system has also been at the center of a recycling campaign run last year by Vodafone, the second biggest mobile phone operator in Romania. In March, Vodafone opened collection points in 83 of its stores for people to bring in their old phones, in exchange for caps, T-shirts and various small gadgets. According to information released four months later, the company had collected 3,250 old phones and 163 kilograms of accessories.
Recycling electronic equipment and household appliances seems to be an even bigger challenge in Romania, as people have a tendency to keep old television sets, radios, refrigerators or washing machines. A nationwide campaign in November tried to convince people to dispose of such items at their doorsteps, where they would be collected by special vehicles. The campaign, which had very modest results, was indirectly prompted by another EU directive on recycling electronic equipment and household appliances.
GREEN WITH ENVY
For now, those who want to get rid of such items can make an appointment for special collection outside their homes or take them to one of several collecting points in the city. Most people say they are either not aware of these options or that the effort is too involved, so those who don't horde their old items just throw them in or around garbage containers. Looking around bins, there are rusty sinks, threadbare sofas, shattered glass, and bits of concrete.
The situation is not much better in the few "green spots" Cluj has. One such recycling center in the Grigorescu neighborhood serves around 250 apartments, and has seen mixed results. While 66-year-old Rozalia Avram keeps three categories of garbage bags in her hallway and is happy that she can discard plastic bottles in a special container, 21-year-old Adrian Popescu says he didn't even notice the new facility, which he passes by twice a day, and that his mother is in charge of garbage disposal.
"It is all a bit chaotic at the moment, because you cannot check on every single person to see what they throw out here," says Traian Margineanu, the superintendent of one of the buildings around the green spot. "I think it'll take not one, but two generations at least, until Romanians will learn to really value clean surroundings and be fully committed to recycling."
Provided by Transitions Online—Intelligent Eastern Europe
www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2008/gb2008018_157267.htm?campaign_id=rss_eu
The country's recycling drive requires, perhaps most of all, a change in people's skepticism and resistance. Next step: coercion?
by Sinziana Demian
The day after the first blue and yellow plastic bags for recyclables were delivered to 55 Fintinele Street at the beginning of November, they disappeared. Stolen, as the superintendent and other residents of the 88 apartments here believe.
A few days later, the building administration tried a new strategy: place the bags not empty but half full, with plastic and paper respectively, so that people would see immediately what they are meant for. The bags disappeared again, hours later, and the experiment was halted before it even had a chance to begin.
"People here don't think this recycling business is very important, and instead they just helped themselves to clean, spacious bags to use for other purposes," said Florica Mezei, the superintendent.
This was but one of several unfulfilled efforts to teach Romanians to sort their garbage and recycle plastic and paper. The campaign meets problems every step of the way: insufficient funds to provide enough containers on a regular basis to all buildings; inadequate collection vehicles; and skepticism and resistance on the part of many people, who seem to find it much easier to just put everything together in the traditional garbage bucket and dump it.
Recycling initiatives in Romania are so new that nationwide statistics are spotty, and sorting refuse is far from being a priority in many cash-strapped towns. Even in larger cities like Cluj-Napoca, a Transylvanian university town of 360,000 residents, and the capital Bucharest, there is limited interest in sorting waste. Cluj has a mere 2 percent recycling rate, according to Eugen Veres, chief executive of Brantner-Veres, the company which provides most waste collection services in the city.
While a university town would seem a natural place for recycling to succeed, the slow pace indicates that Romania is a long way from European Union norms. EU law calls for the country to recycle half of its waste by 2013 a target that seems improbable today. Across the EU, the amount of recycled waste doubled between 1995 and 2005, and nearly half of discarded paper products, plastic, and glass is recycled, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Veres admits that so far efforts to implement a recycling system in Cluj have been few and far between, but he says this should all change in the coming months. An auction early in 2008 will reassign waste collection companies to different neighborhoods, and separate collection of paper, plastic, and regular waste will become mandatory. However, Veres believes that this will only really work here when people will be forced into accepting change.
"The solution is self-evident," he says. "We will impose different collection fees on buildings that effectively recycle and buildings that don't. The moment people have to pay, they'll start being more careful."
The view that coercion will be the most effective approach for now is shared by many here, including Sandor Korosfoy, the founder and director of the environmental association Floarea de Colt (Edelweiss). He thinks civic spirit is just now growing in the country, and people still have the mentality that "things like these will never work here."
"It is not even a matter of being educated about separating garbage," Korosfoy says, "because everyone will tell you that in theory it's a good thing. But then they don't do it, because they lack civic attitude and consciousness."
STARTING AT THE BOTTOM
Edelweiss is currently running an eight-month long project called Eco-Impact, trying to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. A major part of the campaign is to engage more than a dozen schools in competitions with a recycling component. Prizes will go to students who, for example, gather the most paper and plastic.
"You either have to punish or reward people here," says Korosfoy. "We are still a long way away from doing something just because it's the right thing to do."
The compensation system has also been at the center of a recycling campaign run last year by Vodafone, the second biggest mobile phone operator in Romania. In March, Vodafone opened collection points in 83 of its stores for people to bring in their old phones, in exchange for caps, T-shirts and various small gadgets. According to information released four months later, the company had collected 3,250 old phones and 163 kilograms of accessories.
Recycling electronic equipment and household appliances seems to be an even bigger challenge in Romania, as people have a tendency to keep old television sets, radios, refrigerators or washing machines. A nationwide campaign in November tried to convince people to dispose of such items at their doorsteps, where they would be collected by special vehicles. The campaign, which had very modest results, was indirectly prompted by another EU directive on recycling electronic equipment and household appliances.
GREEN WITH ENVY
For now, those who want to get rid of such items can make an appointment for special collection outside their homes or take them to one of several collecting points in the city. Most people say they are either not aware of these options or that the effort is too involved, so those who don't horde their old items just throw them in or around garbage containers. Looking around bins, there are rusty sinks, threadbare sofas, shattered glass, and bits of concrete.
The situation is not much better in the few "green spots" Cluj has. One such recycling center in the Grigorescu neighborhood serves around 250 apartments, and has seen mixed results. While 66-year-old Rozalia Avram keeps three categories of garbage bags in her hallway and is happy that she can discard plastic bottles in a special container, 21-year-old Adrian Popescu says he didn't even notice the new facility, which he passes by twice a day, and that his mother is in charge of garbage disposal.
"It is all a bit chaotic at the moment, because you cannot check on every single person to see what they throw out here," says Traian Margineanu, the superintendent of one of the buildings around the green spot. "I think it'll take not one, but two generations at least, until Romanians will learn to really value clean surroundings and be fully committed to recycling."
Provided by Transitions Online—Intelligent Eastern Europe
www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jan2008/gb2008018_157267.htm?campaign_id=rss_eu