Industrial producer prices (domestic and foreign market) were 0.7 percent down in August 2023 compared to the previous month, and 3.3 percent lower year-over-year, shows data released on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

According to the cited source, the industrial price index for the domestic market dropped 1.3 percent in August compared to July 2023, and was up by 4.13 percent compared to August last year, Agerpres reports.

The industrial producer price index for the foreign market was 0.82 percent higher compared to July 2023, and 1.38 lower year-over-year.
By major industrial groups, the most important year-over-year increases were recorded this August in the consumer goods industry (+11.68 percent), the durables industry (+4.79 percent), and the capital goods industry (+4.73 percent), while in the intermediate goods industry prices went down by 3.91 percent, and by 11.6 percent in the energy industry.

By activity sections, the annual price increase in August was 19.15 percent for water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, and 0.59 percent in the manufacturing industry, while for the production and supply of electricity and heat, gas, hot water and air conditioning, prices dropped 8.95 percent, and in the mining industry 3.33 percent.

The Guarantee – Return System (SGR) will be well enough established from the third year of operation, and the separate collection targets for SGR packaging will exceed 90pct – 95pct, comparable to those we meet in any other country in Western Europe, declared on Tuesday, the minister of Environment, Waters and Forests, Mircea Fechet, at a specialized event.

„The RetuRO company is compelled not only to ensure the collection of those containers at a sufficient time interval so as not to disturb the economic activity, but also to pay that merchant a management fee, respectively the merchant will be paid for the expense he had with each package which involves handling, requires an additional effort of the employees, storage, security, etc,” said Fechet, Agerpres reports.

According to the minister, all merchants in Romania know that the Guarantee-Return System will be implemented from November 30.
„The Guarantee-Return System is happening, it’s very true, with a lot of money, which comes from the private sector, it’s an effort of the industry, whether we’re talking about manufacturers or whether we’re talking about traders. It’s an effort of citizens who will bring back every container out of the seven, maybe several billion containers that are put on the market in Romania every year,” emphasized Mircea Fechet.

The minister of Environment, Waters and Forests participated, on Tuesday, at a hypermarket in Bucharest, in an event during which he tested the solution for collecting and recycling beverage packaging, in anticipation of the Warranty – Return System.

RetuRO Sistem Garantie Returnare S.A. is the administrator of SGR and operates on the „not for profit” principle, which means that any profit made by the company following the collection of beverage packaging will be reinvested, exclusively, in the development of SGR.

The company was created by a consortium of three private shareholders: the Association of Romanian Brewers for the Environment (30pct), the Association of Soft Drink Producers for Sustainability (30pct) and the Association of Retailers for the Environment (20pct), and a public shareholder, the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests (20pct).