The management of plastic products has been a constant concern of European and national authorities in recent years. Recently published in the Official Gazette, Law no. 150/2025 imposes a series of new rules regarding the introduction and use of plastic products on the Romanian market.
The authorities adopted Law no. 150/2025 approving OG no. 6/2021 with a number of changes and additions. First of all, the notion of “introduction to the market”, defined in the past as the first making available of a product on the market in Romania or in the other EU member states, now represents “the action of making available, for the first time, a product on the market in Romania or in the other member states of the European Union”, specify the PwC specialists.
According to them, Law no. 150 expands the list of single-use plastic products that will also be subject to the marketing restriction with products that were previously exempt:
a) ear sticks, drink stirrers, plastic straws for medical use;
b) plastic sticks used by a provider of medico-legal services or for scientific purposes (diagnostic, educational or research);
c) plastic straws for medical use.
List of restricted products from 2030
On the other hand, experts say, Law no. 150 establishes that from 2030, plastic beverage bottles must contain at least 30% recycled plastic, calculated as an average for all such bottles introduced on the national market.
Another novelty is that, for a number of plastic products, manufacturers must cover the costs of applying the extended producer responsibility provisions and, to the extent not already covered, the costs of cleaning up the waste resulting from those products, as well as their transport and subsequent treatment.
The list of these products includes:
• containers for food, such as boxes with or without a lid, used to contain food products that – a) are intended for immediate consumption, either on the spot or as a package; b) are usually consumed from the container; c) are ready for consumption without requiring additional preparation such as cooking, boiling or heating, including containers for food used for fast food menus or other menus ready for immediate consumption, with the exception of beverage containers, plates, packages and foils of flexible material containing food products;
• packages and foils made of flexible material containing food products intended for consumption directly from the package or foil without further preparation;
• beverage containers with a capacity of up to 3 liters, namely containers used to contain liquids, such as beverage bottles, including their stoppers and lids, and composite beverage packaging, including their stoppers and lids, but not glass or metal containers with plastic stoppers and lids;
• drinking glasses, including their lids;
• thin plastic carrier bags.
In the case of products such as wet wipes, flasks or tobacco products with filters and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, manufacturers must also cover the costs of cleaning up the waste resulting from these products, as well as the transport and further treatment of said waste.
How it was until now
At the European level, as early as December 2015, the European Commission adopted an Action Plan for the circular economy and undertook to develop a strategy aimed at responding to the challenges generated by plastic materials. In the same direction of action, in 2019 Directive no. 904 on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment. Single-use plastic products include a diverse range of fast-moving, commonly used consumer products that are discarded after a single use, are rarely recycled and tend to become waste.
At the level of the national legislative framework, the authorities adopted Government Ordinance no. 6/2021 (OG no. 6/2021) through which the aforementioned Directive was transposed, with the aim of preventing the generation of certain plastic products and reducing the impact of these products in circulation on the environment and on human health by:
• Reducing the consumption of single-use plastic products
• Prohibition of placing on the market single-use plastic products and products made from oxo-degradable plastic materials (for example, beverage containers with a capacity of up to 3 liters, food containers, beverage glasses, etc.)
• Marking of certain single-use plastic products
• Imposition of requirements on the placing on the market of certain single-use plastic products
• Introducing additional extended producer liability requirements for single-use plastic products.
• Adoption of measures to encourage responsible consumer behavior, etc.
