Waste Streams by Cinzia Bongino

For years, the Romanian press has decried the nation’s portrayal as ‘the dump of Europe’. All types of waste, both legal and illegal, find their way into Romania via boats and trucks, often facilitated by corruption, economic interests, and political connections. However, the fate of this waste within the country remains largely undisclosed.

‘Waste Streams — Tracing Romania’s Tangled Trash’ investigated the waste management system by analysing statistics, policies, and legislations within Romania and across Europe. Illustrated in the form of a waste sorting facility, one conveyor belt is a visual representation of Europe’s waste production, export strategies, and associated directives, shedding light on continental waste dynamics. Another conveyor belt focuses on Romania’s waste infrastructure, and its health and environmental impacts. Drawing on data, news reports, and local knowledge, the project converges diverse entry points into a single stream of information. When viewed as a continuous flow of data involving imports, exports, and materials, the waste system is acknowledged as a trade mechanism, wherein waste functions as a commodity.

- Part of the exhibition 'Turn Signals — Design is not a Dashboard' held at FABER, Timisoara, Romania (2023)

The installation greets the visitor with a large monitor positioned close to one of the two conveyor belts. This display showcases the intricate web of waste traded among EU and non-EU member states, featuring 18 years of data from over 200 nations. It highlights waste exchanges in terms of both volume (measured in tons) and value (in euros), revealing complex patterns and gaps in cross-border waste systems.

The visitor then approaches the conveyor belts, where information related to the waste management system in Romania and the European Union are showcased. The belts, long 3 metres each, carry statistics, policies, and legislations within Romania and across Europe up until 2020. The European belt features Eurostat data, while the Romanian belt transports the same type of data, with additional information obtained from local news media and open source governmental data. In terms of structure, each belt flow is divided in three chapters related to the waste management: generation, treatment and export. This parallel arrangement creates a symbolic comparison between the two geopolitical contexts.

Beneath the European conveyor, a screen presents a garbage segmentation dataset that categorizes waste into six types: cardboard, glass, metal, paper, plastic, and trash. It serves as a point of reference for visitors, providing clear context for the research project. In contrast, the monitor under the Romanian conveyor displays footage of illegal dumping activities captured in Timișoara and its surroundings. These videos and images were recorded by CCTV cameras positioned near trash containers and later published by local media outlets.

Between the two conveyor belts an additional monitor illustrates the recent evolution of 42 Romanian landfills. According to 2020 Eurostat data, Romania legally imported 319,608 tonnes of waste: 66% was designated for recovery processes, while the remaining 34% was processed for waste treatment. The data does not specify whether this waste was incinerated for energy production or disposed of in landfills.