Asociația Environ is a non-governmental and non-profit organization founded in September 2007 by four producers of electrical and electronic appliances in order to comply with the legal obligations imposed by the WEEE Directive 2002/96/EC, regarding the collecting process, treatment, recycling and non-pollutant disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Romania. Today, over 600 producers and importers of electrical equipment have chosen to meet their legal obligations transferring their responsibility to Asociația Environ, representing almost 15% market share from the Romanian EEE market. As a promoter of the circular economy in Romania, Environ aims to contribute to a cleaner environment not only by improving a responsible WEEE management system, but also by implementing projects and campaigns that encourage changing habits of selective collection and adopting a sustainable lifestyle.

As technology is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of Romanians and the market for durable goods is constantly growing,  Environ decided to conduct a national study in order to identify the habits of Romanian consumers regarding electrical and electronic equipment at the end of their life cycle.

See below the main findings and the full report available in English here.

• 4 out of 10 Romanians do not recycle old electronical appliances because they don’t know where to do it
• most of the respondents declared that they are influenced in the decision of buying new electrical equipment primarily by price (54%), energy class (32%) and favourable reviews (30%). Only 22% of Romanians surveyed consider that the sustainability of the brand or product are relevant in the acquisition process.
• most respondents say they replace their mobile phone once every 2-3 years (38%), while beauty and body care products are replaced on average once a year (23%). On the other hand, there are large appliances (refrigerator, oven, washing machine) that 66% of those who participated in the study said they would replace on average every 5-10 years.
• when it comes to the motivation of replacing equipment, it differs depending on the type of product: gadgets (mobile phones, laptops) and TVs are changed when a new technology appears (25%) or an attractive offer (21%), but when it comes to kitchen appliances, small appliances (vacuum cleaners) or large appliances (washing machines) this are replaced when they break down (73%) or are simply too old (31%).
• when it comes to post-consumer behaviour, 58% of Romanians say they hand over old appliances in exchange for vouchers or price reductions in buy-back programs.
• asked about the reasons why they don’t recycle more often, Romanians stated that they do not have recycling points nearby (44%), do not have information on how to recycle old equipment (18%) or consider that they should be rewarded (14%). When it comes to the familiarity they have about the collection system organized in the retail area only 17% of respondents declared they have used or know someone who has used the system of free delivery of small electrical waste without the obligation to buy a new product.

The Reveal Marketing Research study for Environ was conducted nationwide on a sample of 1,007 respondents between November 1st – 15th, 2022.