Survey: Companies in Romania estimate an increase in the impact of regulations in the area of circular economy

Over two-thirds (67%) of the companies active in Romania expect an increase in the impact of regulations in the circular economy area, with transparent communication and information of shareholders appearing at the top of the transition priorities, shows a survey published on Wednesday by Deloitte.According to the research entitled "Circular Economy. Perception and Implementation Status in Romania 2024," six out of ten companies (59%) say that they have developed or are working on a profile strategy in an advanced phase, which includes various measures, from general ones, such as energy transition (80%) and emissions measurement (62%), to those specific to the circular economy, such as measures to extend the life cycle of products (53%), packaging and the origin of raw materials (49%), optimizing the use of resources (46%) or ecodesign (39%).On the other hand, communication, information and "education" of shareholders - from employees and suppliers to the final consumer - appear this year at the top of the priorities of transition strategies, according to the research.Regarding investment plans for the transition to the circular economic model, reducing the amount of packaging and packaging waste (67%) and optimizing technological processes to increase the viability of raw materials (67%) lead the list of priorities, followed by creating packaging recovery systems for reuse (51%) and reducing the use of plastic (44%).At the same time, research and development, innovation and ecodesign activities, which are, in fact, the starting point in the sustainable transformation of the way of producing and selling, are relevant in the investment plans of less than four out of ten respondents.According to the same source, the sources of financing that companies use are diverse and complementary, from their own sources, mentioned by 70% of respondents, to EU funding (27%), private equity (22%) and bank loans (15%).Regarding the expectations related to how state support instruments in the field of circular economy should evolve in the future, respondents mentioned primarily the debureaucratization of procedures (66%) and the diversification of instruments (65%), as well as the increase in the value of current instruments (28%).Also, over half of the study participants (57%) emphasised the importance of specific training of employees through training programmes adapted to their activity profile, which should detail concepts such as the environmental footprint of the business, energy efficiency, resource viability, etc.From the perspective of supply chains, less than half (46%) of respondents have implemented a procedure for evaluating suppliers from the point of view of meeting sustainability criteria. Of these, 69% stated that they included specific circular economy criteria in the procedure.The Deloitte study "Circular Economy. Perception and Implementation Status in Romania 2024" was conducted based on a survey among approximately one hundred companies on the local market, entrepreneurial businesses or subsidiaries of multinational corporations, predominantly from the manufacturing industry and the service sector, as well as from retail, consumer goods, energy, construction, agriculture, and the pharmaceutical industry.