More than a quarter of respondents, however, believe that it is a false phenomenon.

Participants in the survey were also asked about the Deposit-Return System, with more than half saying they always return packaging to stores or collection centers to get their deposit back.

When asked, "Do you believe that climate change (global warming) is a real phenomenon already visible across the planet, or a false one invented for the commercial promotion of certain technologies?", 68.9% of Romanians believe that climate change is real and produces visible effects, while 26.1% hold the opposite view. 5% don’t know or didn't answer.

Those who believe that climate change is real and produces visible effects are mostly USR voters, young people under 30, people with higher education, white-collar workers, residents of Bucharest or large urban areas, and those with higher incomes. Those who believe that climate change is not real are mostly AUR voters, people over 60, those with primary education, residents of small urban areas or rural areas, and those with lower incomes.

Asked if they usually return packaging to stores or collection centers to get their paid deposit back, 53.6% of survey participants said they always do this, 11.4% answered they did this often, 13.2% do it rarely, 21.5% never and 0.3% didn’t answer.

Those who say they never return packaging to stores or collection centers are mostly AUR voters, people over 60, those with primary education, passive inactives, residents of rural areas, and those with lower incomes. Those who always return packaging to stores or collection centers are mostly people aged 30-44, those with higher education, blue- or grey-collar workers, residents of the central region, those with higher incomes, and private sector employees.

32.1% of respondents are very satisfied with the way the authorities have implemented the Deposit-Return System (SGR), 43.7% are quite satisfied (75.8% very satisfied or quite satisfied), 13.7% are quite dissatisfied, and 8.6% are very dissatisfied (22.3% very dissatisfied or quite dissatisfied), 1.8% don’t know or didn’t answer.

Those who are quite satisfied and very satisfied with the way the authorities have implemented the Deposit-Return System (SGR) are mostly PSD voters, women, young people under 30 and people over 60, inactive people, and public sector employees. Those who are quite dissatisfied and very dissatisfied with the way the authorities have implemented the Deposit-Return System (SGR) are mostly USR voters, people aged 45-59, those with higher education, grey- or white-collar workers, residents of Bucharest, and private sector employees.

"Two-thirds of Romanians believe that climate change is a real phenomenon producing visible effects. Environmental awareness is increasingly consistent in Romania, as evidenced by the evaluation of concrete behaviors such as participation in the Deposit-Return System. Over 50% of Romanians say they return packaging to stores or collection centers, and three-quarters are satisfied or very satisfied with the way the system has been implemented," said Remus Ştefureac, director of INSCOP Research.

The opinion poll was conducted by INSCOP Research at the request of the News.ro press agency. Data were collected from June 19 to 27, 2024, using the CATI method (telephone interviews), with a sample size of 1100 people, representative of the socio-demographic categories significant (sex, age, occupation) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania aged 18 and over.

The research method was a questionnaire-based interview. The maximum allowed data error is ± 2.95%, with a confidence level of 95%.