Mircea Fechet: "Imports of second-hand clothes are actually a disguised import of waste"

Imports of second-hand clothes seem to have turned into a disguised import of textile waste in recent years, Mircea Fechet, the Minister of the Environment, Waters and Forests, told DC News yesterday, who claims that there are criminal networks that pressure on the border regarding this type of imports.

Mircea Fechet said: "From 2025 we will collect textile waste separately, which represents an important fraction in the municipal waste component. Personally, three weeks ago, I was in the Răcăciuni commune in my county, I went in front of the garbage truck and looked to see what people were throwing in the dumpster. I found that they don't just throw away blankets, aluminum and paper, they throw away significant amounts of textiles, old clothes. It seems that we have a big problem with imports of second-hand clothes, which are actually a disguised import of waste. It's one thing to reuse a coat or buy a tie second-hand, as I did, the last time was a few months ago, as long as it's within the law, with respect to it, and it's another to use this activity under the guise of importing second-hand goods to turn it into an organized crime network that brings waste to Romania. According to those from the Environmental Guard, Romania, unfortunately, is under huge pressure on the waste management system for several reasons. The first refers to the fact that in our country it is the cheapest in Europe to store garbage. If in Italy it costs you 500 euros to store a ton of waste in the landfill, in Romania it costs you 50 euros, i.e. 10 times less. That's why those who deal with such things are constantly trying to penetrate the customs of our country".

The Minister of the Environment welcomed the initiative of the supermarkets that placed separate bins for used textiles in adjacent parking lots.

Mircea Fechet showed: "It's a very good thing, because the textile fraction is collected - old clothes from the population, especially since these fiber fractions can be recycled and treated, their place not being in landfills. In fact, a large recycler in our country has developed a technology to recover and reuse these artificial fibers from the famous polyester clothes, which can be reintroduced into the production process".

We remind you that at the beginning of 2023, the former Minister of the Environment, Tanczos Barna, announced that our country had implemented a pilot project regarding an IT system to track the traceability of waste that on the national territory and that, following monitoring, it was returned from the border over 3,000 tons of waste.

Tanczos Barna stated: "Things are not perfect yet, there is more work, because there are still attempts to bypass the crossing points that are allowed, to enter at night, to declare the waste as second-hand. (...) If a lot of textiles are brought in as second-hand but 90% are thrown away and 10% are put on the shelf to be resold, it is not good. This is precisely why there is a need for a much clearer regulation of what is meant by second-hand and what is meant by reusable in the case of electrical appliances, any type of equipment and textiles."