Eco-Innovation Analyses in the Management of Drinking Water Provided by the Main Suppliers in Romania

Oana-Adriana Crișan, Corina Bîrleanu, Horea-George Crișan, Marius Pustan, Violeta Merie and Florina Șerdean
Additional contact information
Oana-Adriana Crișan: Micro-Nano Systems Laboratory, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Corina Bîrleanu: Mechanical Systems Engineering Department, Machine Building Faculty, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Horea-George Crișan: Mechanical Systems Engineering Department, Machine Building Faculty, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Marius Pustan: Mechanical Systems Engineering Department, Machine Building Faculty, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Violeta Merie: Materials Science and Engineering Department, Materials and Environmental Engineering Faculty, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Florina Șerdean: Mechanical Systems Engineering Department, Machine Building Faculty, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 400641 Cluj-Napoca, Romania

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: The transition to a circular economy with an emphasis on eco-innovation is just beginning both in Europe and in Romania, as a member country of the European Union. The whole economic system in which people operate must be circular, which means that it must eliminate conflicting aspects related to regulation, collaboration, governance, supply chain dynamics, and data transparency. However, the barriers to the transition to a circular economy are substantial, and it is up to states to work together to find innovative solutions to society’s problems. This article focuses on aspects related to eco-innovation in the field of drinking water quality in all administrative regions of Romania. In this regard, a study was undertaken, and the main objective pursued in was to identify and highlight the degree of eco-innovation of drinking water suppliers in seven underdeveloped regions of Romania. Starting from an analysis of the water management framework through the OECD Principles on Water Governance, it was possible to develop a study on drinking water supply companies in Romania. This study was performed based on specific indicators grouped by categories, and it aimed in two directions: on the one hand, the identification of drinking water distributors with a high degree of eco-innovation, which leads to quality certification of the drinking water supplied and which has the impact of encouraging household consumers to mainly use this type of supplied water to the detriment of PET bottled water (which has well-known major disadvantages in relation to environmental pollution and user health); on the other hand, the identification of drinking water supply companies with a low degree of eco-innovation, which is proof of the need for mandatory measures to improve drinking water quality, measures that can be taken at the supplier level but especially with support from the administrative and political environment.

Keywords: eco-innovation; drinking water management; sustainable consumption; economic operators in water supply; development regions of Romania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6232/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6232/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6232-:d:571596

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().