The Visible Fee

The RoRec Association’s activities are financially supported through the contribution paid by the consumers for the costs of the collection, treatment and non-polluting disposal of electrical and electronic waste. This contribution takes the form of a visible fee, known as the green fee, the green stamp or the eco-fee.

By paying the visible fee. This is a fee applied as of 30 July 2007to electrical and electronic equipment and home appliances, representing the costs of the collection and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment.

The value of the visible fee covers in this way the financing of the entire collection and recycling process, as well as the fulfilment of the environment objectives set both in the European and Romanian legislation.

Because we are directly responsible for the waste we produce.

According to the legislation currently in force, the waste electrical and electronic equipment is collected in special collection centres or in the shops that run one-to-one exchange programmes. It is forbidden by law to throw old equipment to the dust bin, on fields or behind the block where we live.

Statistics prove that environment problems become more serious all the time. Recycling has become a compulsory solution for the conservation of natural resources and for the reduction of environment pollution. By learning to recycle, we learn in fact to become responsible inhabitants of the blue planet.

First of all, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is harmful for the environment, being ten times more dangerous than household waste. WEEE has in its structure many non-degradable elements, which contain toxic substances, the most dangerous of which are plumb, mercury and cadmium. By collecting and treating WEEE according to environment standards, the harmful substances do not reach any longer the water, air or soil. In this way, we contribute actively to the protection of the environment.

When it comes to WEEE, 75% of the components are recyclable and can be reintroduced in the industry, at much lower costs. In consequence, when we choose to dispose responsibly of old, useless or broken appliances in our homes by taking them to the collection centres, we prevent the needless consumption of raw materials and the waste of materials that are still useful.

This fee finances the costs of recycling electrical and electronic equipment that we want to replace, either because it is broken or outdated. This fee, established according to the type of newly-purchased equipment, ensures the funds needed for the non-polluting disposal of old equipment which has now become waste.

By paying this sum, in a transparent way, each of us contributes directly to the protection of the environment, to the recovery of useful parts of old appliances and the creation of an efficient system of waste disposal and neutralisation.

No. The value of the fee is included in the purchasing price of the electrical or electronic product.

Yes. Regardless of the brand, we pay the visible fee, because it is included in the purchasing price. All electrical and electronic equipment producers and distributors apply the visible fee.

The sums resulting from the visible fee are collected by the Romanian Association for Recycling – RoRec, in a transparent manner, through a process which is controlled by the authorities, and they are then spent in the waste management process.

This process includes:

• Managing local and regional collection centres
• Sorting, disassembling, neutralising and recycling old equipment
• Transporting different types of waste to the specialised recyclers
• Treating and recycling various components according to performance indicators established by law, in order to obtain secondary raw materials and re-introduce them in the production process
• Consumer information
• Reporting to state authorities

All these operations are supported through the visible fee that we pay when we buy a new product.

The visible fee is always indicated on the price tag.