♦ Recycled materials will mainly come from the group's current activity, but the factory will also serve other contracts and partnerships concluded with construction companies from the Bucharest-Ilfov region. Erbasu Constructions, a company owned by the Erbasu family and one of the largest local builders, is carrying out an investment of about 86 million lei in a station for recycling construction waste and construction glass waste, which will be completed in the summer of this year. Of the 86 million lei, 39 million lei represent non-refundable funds attracted through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of Romania (PNRR). «Being a large construction group, we inevitably generate significant volumes of waste, and the recycling plant allows us to make the transition from the status of waste generator to that of recycler and valorizer», Cristian Erbasu, CEO of the company with a turnover of 2.2 billion lei (over 440 million euros) in 2024, told ZF. This is one of the largest investments made in the recycling area in Romania and comes as a positive signal for an area that can be said to be one of the weak links of the circular economy in Romania, considering that our country is notorious for reusing and recycling this type of waste. The latest data shows that most construction waste ends up in municipal landfills, but there are areas across the country where construction waste is illegally dumped on fields to avoid paying costs and fees for its storage. Romania produces, on average, more than 3 million tons of construction waste annually, according to the latest data, and several recycling factories, including construction materials, have submitted projects for funds through the PNRR. According to the data analyzed by ZF, the factory developed by Erbaşu Constructions is the most important of these projects. «The estimated capacity of the factory is approximately 450,000 tons of construction waste recycled and recovered annually, which significantly contributes to reducing the impact on the environment, to the circular economy and to increasing the operational autonomy of the group», stated Cristian Erbasu, who adds that the completion of the recycling factory is scheduled for June 30, 2026, the deadline set according to the project implementation schedule. 
«Until then, we are focusing on meeting the execution stages and integrating the necessary equipment, so that the unit can operate at optimal parameters right from the start.» According to the project, the investment will generate approximately 69 jobs, of which 16 will be newly created positions. The rest will be roles that will support the operation, maintenance and management of recycling flows, according to the contractor. Where do the materials that are recycled in this station come from? «The recycled materials will mainly come from the current activity of the group, respectively from the projects under execution. In parallel, the factory will serve other contracts and partnerships concluded with construction companies from the Bucharest-Ilfov region, thus contributing to the responsible management of waste generated at the regional level», pointed out Cristian Erbasu. 
The recycling process is structured in four main functional areas, each adapted to the type of material processed, explains the entrepreneur. Thus, two areas are dedicated to concrete and asphalt waste, originating from demolitions and excavations, respectively the heavy fraction. The third area is intended for sorting, recycling and valorization of waste from civil constructions – tires, interior design, rehabilitation. And the fourth area is dedicated to the sorting and recycling of glass waste from construction. Following the sorting and recycling processes, there will be crushed sort, reused in the construction of technological roads and other applications, crushed glass, directed to glass manufacturers for recovery, but also sorted and chopped waste with caloric power, delivered to cement factories, for co-processing. 
«Currently, this is the first investment of this type developed by the group. The recycling factory represents a strategic pilot project, which will allow us to accumulate experience and evaluate future expansion opportunities in the field of recycling and the circular economy», said Cristian Erbasu, who is also the main shareholder of the group, which has activities in several sectors, from construction to tourism and including dairy production. However, constructions weigh the most in the entire business activity of the Erbasu family. The group, together with Erbaşu Constructions, today includes several companies, including Erbaşu Edil Construct, Erbaşu Total Construct, Erbaşu General Construct, Erbaşu Industrial Construct, Creado Concept, according to the latest data.