ICLEI Member Alba Iulia (Romania), known as the birthplace of the modern Romanian state, is lauching a new initiative on 1 July focused on plastic packaging collection, waste transport with optical sorting technologies, and the production of added-value products made out of recycled polymers.

This initiative was originally scheduled to begin last April. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic forced the city to put its plans on hold. Although the pandemic has not disappeared from Romania, the pilot has been rethought to respect pandemic restrictions, and communication activities will be adapted to reflect the current situation.

Alba Iulia is conducting this work on plastic packaging as part of the PlastiCircle project, which rolls out innovations in waste collection, transport, sorting and recycling, and aims to transform plastic packaging waste into valuable products. The project's cities are testing innovations like: smart containers to increase collection of plastic waste; cost-effective "Smart" waste transport systems; innovative technologies to improve sorting; and new value-added recycled plastic products.

All PlastiCircle cities engage citizens and local authorities as much as possible in pilot activities. Alba Iulia also aims to integrate the lessons learnt from the project's previous two pilots, which were held in ICLEI Member Utrecht (the Netherlands), as well as in Valencia (Spain), while also keeping in mind that each of these three cities face different challenges and conditions on the ground.

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