“In an economic and social context in full change, characterized by an urgent global need to make all resources more efficient, but also to minimize the impact that each of us has on the environment, sustainability itself is no longer a novelty, but a necessity. Well-being and sustainability go hand in hand, they are interdependent,” Stefan Urziceanu, Head of CSR, Carrefour Romania said during Sustainability in Business Forum organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest and Sustainability-Today.

“All these things come with the need for change. Change at the company level has been happening for many years, but we are also talking about a change at the individual level.

If the correct motivation appears, then the change occurs naturally. Through the PET payment program – which already has a 5-year tradition – we are working to promote change through motivation. The currency of this program is very simple: a PET, an aluminium can or a bottle that customers bring to the specially arranged spaces and receive in exchange Romanian fruits and vegetables.

Together we save the planet by removing these harmful packaging from nature, but we also support the local economy because all the fruits and vegetables received in this program come from local farmers.

This PET payment program is a very good example of a circular economy project. So far, we have managed to collect over one million packages with the direct involvement of over 230,000 consumers, who in return received over 200 tons of Romanian fruits and vegetables.

In the case of the used oil project, in the last year and a half we have collected over one million liters of oil. A single liter of oil can contaminate up to 900 liters of groundwater.”

Full recording of the conference HERE