Is Romania turning into Europe's dumping ground?

The criminal business related to household waste has added tons of garbage to Romania.

Every year, Western European countries send tons of rags, broken glass, plastic waste, cardboard, and old batteries to Romania. And this is despite the fact that the import of non-recyclable waste is prohibited in the country.

However, criminal dealers have found a way to enrich themselves by importing garbage into Romania under the guise of "used" products. Under this pretext, some Romanian enterprises conclude contracts with foreign companies engaged in the disposal of household waste in the European Union. However, the goods delivered to this Balkan republic are not processed, but simply unloaded in a mountainous area, forming illegal landfills.

According to the Romanian Trade Register, 3,395 companies are currently engaged in the garbage business in the country. This is 3 times more than a decade ago. And it seems that this business is quite profitable. In Western European countries, storing a ton of garbage at a household waste landfill costs about 500 euros, while in Romania it costs only 50 euros. The difference is 10 times!

Through the efforts of the staff of the Bureau for the Investigation of Economic Crimes, together with the National Directorate for Consumer Protection, inspections of suspicious companies are carried out. However, the Romanian Environmental Protection Agency is sounding the alarm: in 2023, the Border Police stopped attempts to import about 6,000 tons of garbage into the country. And how many tons could not be detained – one can only guess, discovering new piles of waste on the territory of the country.