Austria's new deposit system: expensive, bureaucratic and controversial!

Austria's new deposit system: expensive, bureaucratic and controversial!

Austria faces a challenge in the field of plastic recycling, since the EU prescribes a quota of 50% by the end of the year. At the moment, the recycling quota of Austria is only 27%, which is despite the EU requirement of 22% above the accepted standards. In response to these specifications, ÖVP Environment Minister Totschnig started the information campaign "Collection hero: inside" in order to sensitize the population to the topic. However, this initiative meets resistance from the ranks of the FPÖ, especially from environmental spokesman NABG. Thomas Spalt.

gap expresses concerns about the new deposit system, which is perceived as expensive and bureaucratic. Critics argue that the deposit system such as the yellow tons and the yellow sacks torpedo the deposit system, especially in rural areas where waste separation works well. It is feared that families could also pay up to 235 euros per year for the new regulations. In addition, the pledge system places requirements for return, storage, transport and harbors technical difficulties, which are particularly stressful for families with low income, single parents and pensioners.

EU recycling landscape and challenges

The most common method for the disposal of plastic waste in Europe is energy recovery, which includes conversion of these waste into heat, electricity or fuel. Recycling appears as the second most common method, but about half of the plastic collected for recycling is exported to countries outside the EU. The reasons for this are often missing capacities, technologies or financial resources for local waste treatment. In 2021, 33 million tons of the EU went into third countries, mainly to Turkey, India and Egypt. China's import restrictions have reduced the exports, which could possibly lead to an increase in combustion and deposit of plastic waste in Europe.

In 2019, around 22 million tons of plastic reaches flows, rivers and seas, and forecasts indicate that the entry of plastics in the environment will double by 2060. The associated greenhouse gas emissions were 1.8 billion tons in 2019, which corresponds to 3.4% of global emissions. The EU is therefore looking for better, circulatory and climate -friendly methods for the management of plastic waste.

innovations in plastic recycling

To improve the recycling quote, companies such as Creacycle GmbH, EPC Engineering & Technologies GmbH and Lömi GmbH work on a position paper on the circular economy for plastics. This document aims to promote the discussion about waste guidelines and technologies. The proposal includes an EU directive that is intended to enable an exploitation hierarchy based on physical and chemical processes. In particular, the need to use the potential of the solvent -based recycling and add it to the guidelines to enable the reuse of polymers.

An example of innovative recycling processes is the CREASOLV® process, which was designed as an alternative to the burning of pollutant -contaminated polystyrene (EPS). This process is developed by Creacycle and the Fraunhofer Institute and is part of a demonstration system that in collaboration with Polystyrene Loop B.V. is built.

While the current debate about the "collecting hero: inside" campaign by homicide and the reaction of the FPÖ shows how complex the topic of plastic recycling in Austria, the need for profound changes and a comprehensive discussion about the various approaches and solutions for waste management remains unchanged. These challenges make it clear that more than just superficial solutions are needed to achieve the recycling targets set and to counteract the growing environmental problems.