Recycling and Waste Management
The Austrian Waste Management Act (Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz) sets out the main principles of Austrian waste management, which include sustainability, the protection of human beings and the environment, and the conservation of natural resources.
Overview
Waste prevention is the top priority of waste management.
Prevention slows down the accumulation of our waste or reduces its harmfulness – this preserves our groundwater, saves energy and raw materials, and makes an active contribution to climate protection.
Waste prevention measures include the use of reusable packaging instead of single-use packaging, repair or rental instead of new purchases, and passing on goods which you no longer use. Most glass, plastics, metals, waste paper and organic waste can be recycled or processed.
In a nutshell, Austrians are big on recycling. Large cities such as Vienna have a well-organized color-coded recycling bin system that applies to both street bins and households. In fact, this is a high priority in Austria and includes bins for paper, plastic, and organic waste for each residence. Meanwhile, glass and metal waste containers are usually within close walking distance.
Further Information
Here are some useful information on waste separation in several languages.
Further information on recycling in Austria.
Further information on the Vienna Waste Management.
Papierrecycling
Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) is Austria’s leading collection and recovery system for packaging.
Astoundingly, the company collects 600,000 tons of paper from packaging every year. Interestingly, households account for a third of this with industry and business making up the other two-thirds. They collect this together with newspapers and other print products from the 1.4 million red containers around Austria. These red bins are located either directly at households or placed in designated public areas around cities. On average, there is one paper wheelie bin for every six Austrian residents.
Paper packaging collected by ARA is recycled into new raw materials. These can be used in almost all types of paper products. However, the paper quality does deteriorate each time it is recycled. Amazingly though, paper fibers can be recycled around six times. Additionally, some types of packaging in Austria are made almost entirely of waste paper.
In Austria, you can pop the following waste items in these red bins:
- egg cartons
- notebooks and exercise books (without the plastic cover)
- magazines/newspapers
- cardboard/corrugated cardboard/cardboard boxes
- catalogs (without the plastic envelope)
- copying paper
- paper towels (clean)
- paper carrier bags and packaging
Notably, there are a few things that you shouldn’t place in the red paper bins. These include handkerchiefs, kitchen towels, contaminated or greasy paper, and any coated cardboard packaging such as milk cartons.
Recycling plastic
In Vienna, Lower Austria, Salzburg, and Carinthia, bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are collected for direct bottle-to-bottle recycling.
Before you put your plastic bottles in the bin, you should squeeze and flatten them first; this saves space in the collection trucks.
Meanwhile, small plastic packaging is collected together with general waste and incinerated at waste incineration plants. The energy produced is used in public buildings and district heating networks. One kilogram of plastic packaging has approximately the same calorific fuel value as one liter of oil.
In Austria, 75% of PET bottles end up in the designated yellow recycling bins. You can also place the following items in these bins:
- styrofoam
- cellophane wrappers
- disposable cutlery
- plastic cups
- empty toner cartridges
- any plastic carrier bags you can’t reuse
Recycling glass
Did you know? Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a laptop for 25 minutes! Now there’s a reason to recycle!
Clear and colored glass is collected separately in one container with two compartments. The recycling truck picks up the bin which automatically separates the two sides into the truck. In street bins, the white bin holds Weissglas (clear bottles and jars), while the green bin collects Buntglas (stained glass); for instance, colored glass bottles, glass flasks, storage jars, cosmetic packaging, and medicine bottles.
The separation is very important as just one green bottle put in the clear bin is enough to contaminate 500kg of clear glass recycling!
It is also important to know that you shouldn’t put any of the following items in the glass bins:
- crockery
- vases
- glass plates/drinking glasses
- mirrors
- light bulbs
- glass containers with toxic contents
The AFA melts recycled glass and turns it into new glass products. Remarkably, up to 100% of green glass and 60% of clear glass is recycled in Austria.
Recycling metal in Austria
These go in the yellow bins to sort later. You can throw out the following items in the blue metal recycling bins:
- tin cans
- aluminum foil
- metal screw tops
- empty aerosol cans
- yogurt tub lids
- coffee packaging
However, you shouldn’t use these to throw out oil or varnish cans, gas cartridges, household appliances, or bicycle parts.
Recycling clothes and clothing material in Austria
There are several major clothing charities that accept donations in Vienna, as follows:
- Kolping Österreich – you will see Kolping clothes donation bins around Vienna. This organization supports young people having a tough time. If they can’t pass your clothes on to someone who needs them, they recycle them with other textiles.
- Flüchtlingsprojekt Ute Bock – a charity for refugees and asylum seekers in Vienna, which provides clothing to those in need
- Tageszentrum am Hauptbahnhof – part of Caritas International, this charity accepts clothes donations for homeless people
- VinziRast-Notschlafstelle – donations go to homeless people staying at their night shelter
- VinziShop Wien – they sell clothes and the money goes to help the needy
- Verein Hilfe und Hoffnung – they have a clothing collection in Vienna and donate clothes to people in need in Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine
Waste App
Uniquely, Austria has a free mobile app called Müllapp (TrashApp) which helps with garbage collection. The app covers several Austrian cities with its useful services. For example, users can organize their own garbage collection and the app will remind them to put their bins outside on the chosen day. It also provides updates from the city council as well as information about where to find nearby containers. The app also tells you where to dispose of old clothes and provides details of other specific waste management sites.
