Austrians separated slightly less packaging waste in 2022 than in the previous year. The amount collected by Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) fell by 3.9 percent to just over one million tons. The decline is due to the Ukraine war and the associated wave of inflation.
The collection volumes for metal increased slightly to around 32,000 tons (plus 0.6 percent) and for glass to 259,000 tons (plus 1.8 percent). Waste separation for paper, on the other hand, declined to 574,000 tons (minus 6.7 percent) and for light packaging to 175,000 tons (minus three percent).
However, the collective conversion of lightweight packaging since January 2023 is showing the first positive effects: In the conversion regions, the quantities increased by 30 percent and nationwide by around eleven percent.
“The ARA has prepared business, society and politics for the circular economy over the last 30 years – now their time has come,” says ARA Supervisory Board Chairman Alfred Berger.
The recycling app Digi-Cycle, a joint venture with Saubermacher AG, the digital data platform DiGiDO and the construction of the most modern sorting facility in Europe paved the way “for a forward-looking, circular economic system”.
The measures laid down in the EU’s “Green Deal” would result in “profound changes in business and politics”. The ambitious targets for plastics recycling – at least 55 percent by 2030 in all EU member states – and 30 percent use of recyclates in 2030 in new production required new economic action. With more than two million public collection bins, the collection of packaging is being promoted. The new sorting facility in Upper Austria, a joint project by ARA, Bernegger and the Green Dot, plays a key role in sorting. While the current plant infrastructure guarantees a sorting depth of 58 percent, that of the ARA should achieve 80 percent. After an initial test from February 2024, it will start regular operations from the second quarter of next year and will be busy right from the start.
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