“Waste is an extraordinary business”

Eco-Rom Ambalaje, a company specialising in packaging waste management domestically, last year derived turnover worth over 8m euros, up from 2008, despite the population's falling consumption and implicitly declining packaging quantities on the market. The company is a join-stock company founded by 12 companies including Coca-Cola HBC, Chipita and Pepsi Americas, which are bound by law to collect and reuse part of packaging put out on the market. "(...) The company's business is not particularly focused on profit-making and dividend distribution, but on minimising costs related to waste collection and reuse", explained Sorin Cristian Popescu, general manager of Eco-Rom Ambalaje. "Waste is an extraordinary business, especially for sanitation companies. They have a resource at hand and almost for free, which pays a lot of money," Popescu added. Eco-Rom Ambalaje accounts for around 65% of the market, considering that its 1,500 clients in 2009 put out around 650,000 tonnes of packaging on the market.