The year 2020 represented, at the level of the whole society, a year of adaptations: we adapted to work from home, to social distance, to online school. At the same time, the activities of awareness and waste collection of electrical and electronic equipment of ECOTIC were also adapted to the new pandemic context: home collections predominated, educational projects moved to the online environment and were developed during this period. many awareness-raising activities aimed at capitalizing on citizens' openness to knowledge.
The year 2020 represented for ECOTIC the launch national information campaign Act in Romania like abroad (fiiintara.ecotic.ro), which brought good practices from European countries closer to Romanians. The campaign, which took place together with the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, focused on a multimedia campaign, which included a TV spot, an influencer campaign and a social media campaign, with the message reaching over 13 million citizens nationwide. .
April was the time when ecological education for adults and children alike entered the online environment. The online awareness campaign started by posting inspirational elements such as articles, videos or various study materials, such as Environmental protection manual, made by ECOTIC in partnership with Info Cons, meant to support all those who want a quality ecological education. We also mention ecological education vlogs, live storytelling sessions in which the little ones listened to stories on ecological topics and creative recycling vlogs through which parents and children have learned to make creative recycling projects thus giving a new life to the objects in the house.
In 2020, ECOTIC and the Coalition for the Circular Economy (CERC) took solid steps to promote the reuse of electrical and electronic equipment by supporting and technically supporting the Romanian National Standardization Body (ASRO) in order to transpose the international repair standard into Romanian. of waste electrical and electronic equipment - EN 50614: 2020. It applies to processes relating to preparation for reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment and provides a framework to guarantee consumers the quality and safety of reconditioned EEE.
Although the collections from home or from the headquarters of the companies predominated in 2020, ECOTIC extending this service through its partners in Neamț, Constanța, Cluj and Iași counties, the traditional collection and awareness campaigns in urban and rural areas did not lack this either. date. The 61 WEEE and DBA awareness and collection campaigns informed citizens from 12 counties on the importance of separate collection of WEEE by bringing collection points and collection services closer to home.
In October, ECOTIC scored International Electronic Waste Recycling Day with launch unique number 021 9641 addressed to all persons who want to know what methods of handing over WEEE are available. More than 1000 people called this number to find out how to properly hand over WEEE or which are the nearest collection points.
ECOTIC and GreenWEEE organized, again this year, the donation project, Enter the circle of solidarity, along with APDETIC, Informal IT School, Workshops without Borders and RFI. 14 educational institutions, the vast majority of them in rural areas, were equipped with 132 IT equipment. Of the more than 70 organizations that signed up to receive refurbished IT equipment, most were represented by rural schools. There is a growing need for IT equipment in schools.
In this context, ECOTIC decided to extend the possibility of donations of IT equipment by large and small companies throughout the year, by filling in the form on the website.
To support parents in preventing the ingestion of pill-type batteries, ECOTIC BAT has launched a educational video spot which highlights the danger to which children are exposed. It provides advice on their proper storage and the main steps parents should take in the event of unpleasant situations involving battery ingestion.
It is available on www.ecotic.ro/baterii as well as on the channel YouTube - ECOTIC Organization.
"2020 was a year of change and adaptation. The pandemic forced us to adapt our way of working to the new situation. However, it is a change that allows us to further expand our awareness activities, thus reaching a larger audience. We hope that 2021 will bring changes for the better in society as a whole. ” declares Valentin Negoiță, the president of ECOTIC.
In 2021, we will continue the awareness activities in the online environment, as well as the already established information and collection campaigns for the Clean Cities and Clean Communes brand. At the same time, we will continue to make efforts to come to the aid of citizens with collection points as close as possible to them.