Romania's entry into the Schengen Area has brought challenges for cross-border waste transport, and our risk analysis shows that 77% of transporters who delivered waste to final recycling points in 2025 were either unauthorised or not registered in the Transporters' Register at the National Environmental Protection Agency, said Andrei Corlan, Chief Commissioner of the National Environmental Guard (GNM), at a specialist conference on Thursday.
'Joining Schengen, a major achievement for our country, has brought challenges regarding cross-border waste transport. Last year, we inspected 1,803 transporters and recipients, covering both imported waste and domestic transport. The results of the risk analysis from these inspections reveal that 77% of transporters who delivered waste to final recycling points were either unauthorised or not registered in the Transporters' Register at the National Environmental Protection Agency. In 2026, one of our objectives will be to sanction all of them. Another issue we found was a discrepancy between the quantity that reached recycling and the quantity that was transported, of approximately two million tonnes,' Corlan emphasised.
According to the GNM head, in 2025 the institution conducted an average of 40,000 inspections per year.
'The Environmental Guard set a record in its 23 years of existence: the highest number of fines issued, totalling 164 million lei, with 89% collected and a 90% success rate in court. (...) You know very well that the Environmental Guard has changed its approach and we no longer limit ourselves to a purely enforcement-oriented discourse, reporting strictly on what we do - number of inspections, number of sanctions, number of measures - but, given the large volume of information we collect through our field activities, we average 40,000 inspections per year. The report (for 2025) will be published on March 12, on the National Environmental Guard's Day. What I can say about our inspections under the National Waste Management Plan (PNGD) is that last year we issued fines worth 25 million lei, compared with 17 million lei two years ago and 16.5 million lei three years ago. I can only say that I await the results of the report with concern,' Andrei Corlan stated.
Decision-makers and leaders from the waste recycling industry are participating on Thursday in the first Pria Environment conference of the year, which addresses topics such as waste management, the circular economy, sustainability, and the role of local authorities in this cycle.
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