More than half of Romanians have adopted the Deposit-Refund System (DRS), and 25% of them say they frequently return packages with the DRS symbol to collection points, according to findings of a recent Kantar survey.
As many as 58% of respondents said they have returned DRS packaging at least three times so far, but at the opposite end, over 38% of people who have not yet participated in the Deposit-Refund System intend to do so in the near future.
Currently, the level of DRS awareness among Romanians is very high, at 96%, up from 90% in November 2023. Also, over 70% of respondents say DRS is the best solution for packaging collection and recycling.
Three quarters of Romanians (75%) say RetuRO is the company whose mission is to make the country tidier, and which deploying constant efforts to educate and encourage the population to responsible behaviour towards the environment and the importance of recycling.
"This survey confirms that Romanians have a real concern for the environment and want to get involved and recycle. The Deposit-Refund System provides them with an accessible and practical tool through which they can do this. The findings of the survey are excellent, and the premises are optimistic, if we look at the fact that most consumers who have not yet used the Deposit-Refund System are considering adopting it in the near future. At the same time, most Romanian consumers consider DRS to be the best solution for collecting and recycling packaging. An important aspect we see is that consumer familiarity has increased as people have begun to acquire the system in their daily lives. The constant information campaigns that RetuRO has carried out on all channels and in all contact points have also contributed to increasing the DRS awareness among Romanians. We can confidently say that DRS has started a structural and cultural shift in Romania regarding the importance of recycling", said Gemma Webb, CEO and President of RetuRO SGR.
In the first four months since the official release of the Deposit-Refund System, over 100 million packages nationwide were returned by consumers and more than one billion packages were released on the market by manufacturers.
The Kantar survey was conducted in March this year on a sample of 600 people across the country, aged between 18 and 64.