Ordinance on the avoidance of packaging waste

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The Ordinance on Avoiding Packaging Waste (Packaging Ordinance) first came into force on October 1, 1993 in order to cope with the growing volume of waste in Austria. When the country joined the EU in 1995, a fundamental revision took place. The ordinance on the avoidance and recycling of packaging waste and certain leftover goods and the establishment of collection and recycling systems (VerpackVO 1996) was passed in 1996.

target

This ordinance, which is part of the Waste Management Act (AWG), regulates the avoidance and recycling of packaging waste and certain remnants of goods. At the same time, it defines the obligation to take back sales, outer and transport packaging for the commercial sector. The obligation exists for manufacturers, importers, packers and end users of packaging. The person placing it on the market is therefore obliged to ensure that the packaging is collected and recycled in a permissible manner.

Those who place household packaging on the market must participate in a collection and recycling system; for commercial packaging, there is the option of complying with the obligation to take it back and recycle it yourself.

Novellas

On October 1, 2006, the 2nd amendment to the Packaging Ordinance came into force. It supplements the ordinance of 1996 and adopts the mandatory amendments to Directive 2004/12 / EC of February 18, 2004.

In September 2013, the amendment to the Waste Management Act (AWG) was announced in 2002, overturning the existing monopoly for the licensing of household packaging in Austria. In the course of this, the packaging ordinance of 1996 will be repealed on December 31, 2014 and the new packaging ordinance will be issued on July 22, 2014. The main parts of the Packaging Ordinance 2014 will come into force on January 1, 2015. § 3 Z1 and Appendix 2 came into force on the day after the announcement.

From January 2015, in addition to the previous monopoly Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA), other providers will also be allowed to carry out household-related collection of sales packaging. A change between different collection and recycling systems is only possible at the end of a calendar quarter.

This complies with European competition law. With the establishment of an independent packaging coordination office, the control of the correct indication of the packaging quantity placed on the market by the obligated companies is to be ensured.

scope

The Packaging Ordinance applies to packaging and packaging waste that has been placed on the market in Austria. This applies regardless of the type of source , i.e. whether the packaging was generated in the household or, for example, in the commercial sector, and regardless of the type of material. Importers and own importers as well as mail order companies with and without a registered office in Austria are now also considered obliged entities. The regulation also applies to disposable cutlery and cutlery placed on the market in Austria.

Obligated

Anyone in the country is subject to the Austrian Packaging Ordinance

• Packaging or products from which packaging is made, produced (manufacturer), • Packaging or products from which packaging is made or other goods imported (importer), • Goods in packaging are filled, packaged, stored or similar. (Packers), • Packaging or products from which packaging is made directly, goods or goods in packaging, regardless of the respective sales level, on the market (distributor) or who • Packaging, goods or goods in packaging for their use or consumption acquired or imported (end consumer)

Definition of household and commercial packaging

The AWG amendment provides for a clear distinction between household packaging and commercial packaging. Household packaging is defined according to the following criteria, both of which must be met in order to be classified as household packaging:

Package size

  • Area up to and including 1.5m² or
  • Nominal filling volume up to and including 5 liters or
  • with expanded polystyrene (EPS) a mass of up to and including 0.15 kg per sales unit

Type of source

  • usually in private households or
  • waste sources comparable to households such as restaurants, hotels, canteens, hospitals, educational institutions, medical practices and other small businesses

Additionally: service packaging, carrier bags and knot bags; regardless of their size, these are considered household packaging.

The following are considered commercial packaging:

  • Packaging that does not fall under the definition of household packaging,
  • Paper packaging that corresponds to the definition of transport packaging within the meaning of the ordinance in accordance with Section 14 (1),
  • Pallets, strapping and adhesive tapes.

Recovery rates

The distributors of packaging or the commissioned collection and recycling systems are obliged to recycle at least the following portions of the packaging put on the market every year:

  • Paper, cardboard, cardboard and corrugated cardboard 60%
  • Glass 60%
  • Metals 50%
  • Plastics 22.5%
  • Wood 15%
  • Composite beverage carton 25%
  • Other material composites 15%

Collection and recycling systems

According to the Packaging Ordinance, a collection and recycling system for household packaging and commercial packaging must guarantee the collection and recycling of this packaging. The systems are legally obliged to conclude a contract with every person who puts packaging on the market if they so wish and if it is objectively justified.

There is free competition in Austria for commercial collections. Seven collection and recycling systems are currently registered and active on the market:

  • Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA)
  • Austria Glas Recycling GmbH (AGR)
  • Bonus Holsystem Gesellschaft mbH & Co KG
  • Interseroh Austria GmbH
  • GUT - Galle Umwelttechnik GmbH
  • Öko-Box Collection GmbH
  • Reclay UFH GmbH:

The Reclay UFH was created in 2010 as a result of a cooperation between the Reclay Group and the UFH Household Environment Forum , an Austrian provider for the collection, recycling and disposal of old electrical appliances, old lamps and old batteries. UFH holds 10 percent of Reclay UFH GmbH. Reclay UFH GmbH has been approved by the responsible Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management as a collection and recycling system for commercial packaging. Due to the factual monopoly in the household packaging sector, Reclay UFH is currently only allowed to be active in the commercial packaging sector. As an officially approved collection and recycling system for companies, it takes on the take-back and recycling obligation in accordance with the Packaging Ordinance. As of January 1, 2015, Reclay UFH GmbH will not only collect commercial packaging but also license household packaging.

financing

The system is financed by the person placing the packaging on the market and is regulated by a license fee. According to the Packaging Ordinance, he is obliged to regularly report the quantities of packaging put into circulation to the connected collection and recycling system and to pay accordingly for its return.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Legal background: Legal obligation at a glance. ( Memento from June 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Packaging regulations. (bmnt.gv.at)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Federal Law Gazette II No. 184/2014
  4. ↑ a b Liberalization: ARA loses monopoly on household waste. In: DiePresse.com. February 27, 2014, accessed January 26, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 193/2013
  6. ↑ ichwillwechseleln.at
  7. ↑ System operator. (bmlfuw.gv.at)
  8. ↑ List of collection and recycling systems for packaging. (bmnt.gv.at)