GoTech World 2022. Interview with Dorin Mihai, General Manager at Tomra Collection Romania

GoTech World 2022. A government decision in October 2021 was the first step towards regulating the return guarantee system in Romania. According to this regulation, consumers pay a guarantee of 0.50 lei when buying a drink in a shop. Once the drink has been consumed, in order to get their guarantee back, consumers will have to bring the empty packaging to a return point, where there is a system where they will be given back the amount representing the value of the guarantee.

Such a highly useful system, developed by Tomra, the global leader in automated packaging retrieval technology, was showcased at the exhibition area booths at GoTech World, the largest IT & Digital event in Central and Eastern Europe.

The system includes disposable primary packaging made of glass, plastic or metal with volumes ranging from 0.1 to 3 litres for beverages. The Romanian return guarantee scheme will represent a sustainable change in the way shoppers interact with retailers.

Dorin Mihai, General Manager of Tomra Collection Romania, explains the advantages of this technology: “These machines are already in the country, we have more than a few hundred installed and you will find them in large, medium and small retail chains. This system effectively automates the packaging retrieval part of the guarantee system, so by putting the packaging in here, it is identified, validated, then compacted and the reports are at the retailer’s and the guarantee system’s fingertips.”

“We can enter a lot of packaging. At some point, he sorts them, puts them in separate vats, compacts them and then we can press the button and get the voucher with which we go to the retailer and they redeem the coins,” added Dorin Mihai.

He also reminded of the necessity and obligation to introduce these machines, according to the legislation: “There is a law that establishes this guarantee-return system. It will come into force in November next year (2023) and all traders who put plastic, metal and aluminium or glass packaging on the market are obliged to take it back. This means that a guarantee of 50 money will be put on the packaging, and when this packaging is brought back automatically or manually, those who bring it back will receive the guarantee.”