World Environment Day: Romanians rank first globally in personal responsibility for recycling their drink packages, and they expect the same from producers

Romania reached 87% recycling rate for aluminium drink cans in early 2026, up from 35% in 2022. According to an Every Can Counts survey, 71% of Romanians feel personally responsible for recycling, the highest share globally, while 91% believe manufacturers should be required to use fully recyclable packaging.

Romanians feel more personally responsible for recycling than people in any other country studied, according to the Global Recycling Habits and Attitudes 2025 survey commissioned by Every Can Counts across 16 countries and more than 16,000 respondents, with 1013 respondents in Romania. 71% of Romanians place the responsibility for recycling drink cans on themselves, compared to a global average of 53%. At the same time, 91% believe manufacturers and brands should be required to use fully recyclable or recycled packaging, above the global average of 87%. Personal commitment and systemic expectation are moving together, and the behaviour follows their attitude. Official RetuRO data analysed by Every Can Counts shows that Romania reached an 87% recycling rate for aluminium drink cans in January-April 2026, up from 35% in 2022. In three years, the country has moved from the lower end of European rankings to one of the highest recycling rates in the world for this material. The aluminium drink can is one of the few packaging materials that already delivers on the promise of true circularity. A recycled can uses 95% less energy than producing a new one from raw materials and can be back on the shelf within 60 days. Aluminium can be recycled infinitely without any loss of quality, making every return of a drink can a genuinely closed-loop act. As recycling rates rise, more aluminium is fed back into the production of new cans, increasing their recycled content and lowering their overall carbon footprint. The higher the recycling rate, the smaller the environmental impact of every can on the shelf. There is, however, a gap worth addressing. Only 12% of Romanians identify the aluminium cans as the most recyclable beverage packaging, well below what Romania's own recycling performance would suggest people know. This is a signal that the behaviour is ahead of the awareness, and closing the distance is where the next gains will come from.

"Romanians have demonstrated something remarkable: a genuine, personal commitment to recycling that shows up not just in surveys but in real behaviour, combined with a clear expectation that producers carry their share of responsibility, too. The next step is making sure that commitment is matched by awareness, that every person who returns a can understands the full value of what they are doing and feels part of something that is genuinely designed for circularity," says David Van Heuverswyn, Global Director of Every Can Counts.

Every Can Counts Romania is working to close this awareness gap through public displays of the „I CAN" art installations, conceived by Romanian artist Sergiu Chihaia and built entirely from aluminium drink cans. The installations are part of a wider set of communication and education initiatives aimed at helping people understand the qualities of the aluminium drink can and what recycling it truly means. Present in 2025 at events in Bucharest, Cluj, Timișoara and Brașov and seen by tens of thousands of visitors, the installations bring the value of the aluminium can into public spaces in a way that is visible, memorable and easy to share. *