Beidh a airgeadra fíorúil féin ag sráidbhaile sa Rómáin. Cén úsáid a bhainfear as?

Ciugud, a village in central Romania well known national-wide for its push towards digitalization and for knowing how to use EU money to develop local infrastructure made quite an impression after announcing it will have its own virtual currency, scríobhann Cristian Gherasim, comhfhreagraí Búcairist.

The virtual coin, named Ciugudmoney will be the first such endeavor to have a locally devised virtual currency. The deft approach is meant to encourage recycling and reward citizens, particularly kids who collect and recycle reusable waste.

Back in 2018, the far away country of Philippines also tried to encourage recycling of plastic particularly in its Manila Bay by rewarding locals using a virtual currency. Over a short period of two days a pilot project paid a small network of people, mostly fishermen, for each cache of trash collected from the bay using a digital currency based on the Ethereum system. Unlike the Ciugud case, the authorities in the Pacific nation did not use a locally developed virtual currency, but the Ethereum system.

CiugudMoney will be given to locals recycling plastic, glass or aluminum packaging. The project involves setting up packaging pick-up and recycling stations, and in exchange for PET, bottles and aluminum cans, citizens receive virtual coins that they can use in the community, informs local authorities.

The first such  recycling station was installed in the schoolyard of the Ciugud Secondary School, the first  digital smart- school in rural Romania. Kids will have enough time over the summer vacation to gather and recycle. At the beginning of the new school year, the virtual coins collected will be converted into real money, which children will be able to use to fund small projects and educational or extracurricular activities.

There will also be a second phase of the project intended to expand the use of CiugudMoney.

In the second phase of the project, the local administration in Ciugud will set up such recycling stations in other areas of the village, and citizens could receive in exchange for virtual coins discounts at village shops, that will take part in the program. The mayor also analyzing the possibility that, in the future, citizens can use virtual currencies to receive certain tax discounts, an idea that would include promoting a legislative initiative in this regard.

Aiseolas

Romania is one of the European countries with the lowest degree of waste recycling and local authorities are required to pay significant amounts of money annually in fines for non-compliance with environmental regulations. Also, there is a legislative proposal that would mean that a certain tax for plastic, glass and aluminum packaging would be applied from next year.

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