"Since Romania's accession to the European Union, IRIDEX, a group of companies celebrating 25 years of activity, has been familiarizing itself with environmental legislation and has been interested in new equipment and materials, as well as in best practices, in accordance with the new regulations in the field. The rapid evolution of legislation after Romania's accession to the European Union forced us to take on board the principles that were developing in this field, namely waste recovery and the reintroduction of waste or the results of waste disposal activities into the economic circuit", said Florin Pascu, Managing Director of the IRIDEX Group Company, at the "Waste Management in the Circular Economy" Forum held yesterday at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest.
A platform for dialogue between authorities, business representatives and beneficiaries, the forum was held in the presence of top representatives of the authorities, including Grațiela Gavrilescu - Deputy Prime Minister of Romania, Minister of Environment, Water and Forests - or Gabriela Firea - Mayor of Bucharest. Representatives of the authorities, of the waste management business environment, of the sanitation, recycling and collection services, as well as companies concerned with environmental protection were present at the debates. Among them, the President of the Industry and Services Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Iulian Iancu, or the President of the National Regulatory Authority for Community Services of Public Utilities - Petru Bogdan Alexa.
IRIDEX Group currently operates five landfills, two mechanical waste treatment plants, three sorting plants and carries out waste collection activities in several counties in the south of the country, including Constanța, Ialomița, Călărași and Ilfov. IRIDEX also operates the only landfill in Bucharest that has so far obtained the Integrated Environmental Authorisation, a certification that is issued following one of the most demanding and rigorous tests on the activity of the landfill and related facilities. Without any direct contractual obligation, but only out of a desire to comply with legislative requirements, in particular Order 757/2005 of the Ministry of the Environment, IRIDEX has carried out the first investment in the Chiajna landfill site to introduce into the economy the result of waste disposal activity, namely the production of energy from landfill gas. This investment, which is not included in the contractual obligations with the Municipality of Bucharest, was made precisely in order to comply strictly with the newly introduced legislation. Since the commissioning of this equipment, IRIDEX has delivered more than 120400 MW of electricity to the national energy system, while achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, by about 17700 tonnes of methane, about 40500 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 7300 tonnes of hydrogen sulphide. The plant is fully automated, monitored by a dedicated IT system, is resiliently integrated into the energy system and can be programmed to operate continuously or only during periods of energy demand.
"At the IRIDEX Chiajna depot we have carried out a complex action to isolate the depot and extract the gas from the depot, which thus no longer migrates outwards, a method that allows the production of electricity and the burning of a significant amount of pollutants. In 2013, IRIDEX set up the first mechanical-biological treatment and waste sorting plant to meet the need for waste recovery before the start of the selective collection we are now talking about. IRIDEX is therefore a pioneer in green waste management and the circular economy. The company has participated in the execution of many projects through the POS Environment, construction and integrated management programmes, we are promoters of the action of composting biodegradable waste and we have a special department dealing with this activity. Since 2006, we have also promoted the first leachate treatment plants by reverse osmosis, bringing the liquid part of the waste, called leachate, to the stage of clean water, and this activity is itself included in the circular economy process. We use this water in the technological process, and the surplus is discharged in kind", said Florin Pascu, Managing Director of IRIDEX Group.
About IRIDEX
Founded more than 25 years ago, IRIDEX Group employs more than 700 people and has a turnover of around €75 million. The group, which is wholly owned by Romanians, carries out integrated waste management, design and operation of municipal landfills for non-hazardous waste, civil and industrial construction, infrastructure works at the highest quality standard. IRIDEX implements pioneering projects in various fields: promotion of the use of renewable energy sources, biogas power generation plants, etc. Through its waste sorting and treatment facilities, the landfills it manages and the technologies it uses on a daily basis, IRIDEX Group serves a population of over 1,000,000 people in Romania.
Out of respect for the community, IRIDEX reaffirms its long-term commitment to environmentally responsible policies and aims to implement the principles of the Circular Economy, using clean facilities manufactured in the European Union, whose activity is continuously monitored and certified. More details can be found at: www.IRIDEX.ro