The waste audit: the obligation that can bring you money back

In shortThe law requires every company with a commercial or industrial activity to carry out a waste audit and, on the basis of it, a prevention and reduction programme. Their absence: 40,000-60,000 lei (RON). Done well, the same audit usually finds disposal costs that can become recovery revenue.

What it actually is

The waste audit is the systematic, documented and periodic assessment of how the organisation manages its waste - in 5 stages: planning and scoping, information gathering, analysis of waste in its operational context, site assessment and data analysis. The mandatory result: the prevention and reduction programme, with targets, timeline and indicators.

It is not a bureaucratic exercise. It is the only moment when someone looks systematically at EVERYTHING that leaves the company - and usually finds things nobody had noticed before.

The money part

The typical case: cardboard and film waste paid for as "mixed municipal" at disposal, which sorted separately would sell as raw material. Or a "hazardous" waste stream that, with a correct classification analysis, turns out to be non-hazardous - with disposal costs cut in half. The audit that keeps you clear of the 60,000 lei fine is, very often, also the one that lowers your monthly waste bill.

Legal basis: Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO) 92/2021 on the waste regime, as subsequently amended and supplemented.