“Turning Waste into Resources” - the new motto of the EU plastic strategy

Is Austria on its way to becoming a recycling society? How can we motivate people to recycle? Plus: How does Austria stack up against other European countries when it comes to waste?

Austria is considered one of the top performers when it comes to recycling municipal waste within the EU. With a recycling rate of 58 %, Austria takes 2nd place only to Germany’s 66%. This means Austria has already exceeded the EU’s 2025 recycling target of 55 % and is well on its way to reaching the 60 % target set for 2030.

But there’s still some catching up to do in the plastics department. Austria recycles just 34 % of its plastic waste. According to a new EU study, that figure might even be as low as 22 % ( European Enviroment Agency, 2019).

Austrians generate an annual total of 0.9 million tons of plastic waste. Sounds like a lot, right? Here’s what goes into these 916,360 tons: 21 % of the total volume is composed of “pure plastic waste” such as plastic wrap, packaging and containers. The rest of the plastic waste is found in mixed refuse, for example in municipal and commercial waste. About 28 % of plastic waste is processed and recycled.  So how does that compare to the rest of Europe? In Europe, 30 % of plastic waste is collected and recycled (Stoifl, Bernhardt, Karigl, & Neubauer, 2017).

How can we deal with plastic? How can we motivate individual consumers to live more sustainably? How can a community contribute? The EU Commission still sees a lot of room for improvement when it comes to recycling and is working on a new plastic recycling strategy with the goal of making all plastic waste in the EU recyclable by 2030.

Promoting a circular economy for plastic waste is a focal point of the EU Commission’s new plastics strategy from 2018. The primary goal of the strategy is to combat litter in our environment and oceans, because who doesn’t want a clean environment? The European Strategy for Plastics can be summed up as follows: Plastic is too valuable to throw away and is a suitable material for turning waste into a useful resource. Let’s make all plastic waste recyclable by 2030.

According to a survey, 65 % of Europeans collect their plastic waste separately from other trash. What's more, about 75 % say that they avoid using disposable plastic bags. So it seems that Europeans are very determined to reduce plastic waste. And yet each EU citizen uses an average of 198 plastic bags a year (Eurobarometer, 2014). To stem this massive flow of plastic, in 2015, a resolution was passed to ban disposable products like plastic cutlery and straws and to reduce light plastic bags. In addition, more and more supermarkets are offering biodegradable plastic bags for fruits and vegetables, and major chains like H&M no longer give out plastic bags for free.

However, more actions have been taken in conjunction with the new plastic strategy:

• plastic packaging designs improved
• quality standards for secondary plastics
• certification scheme to raise consumer confidence in the industry
• introduction of requirements for minimum amount of recycled content in certain products

Call on member states to consider reducing the VAT on recycled products (Europäisches Parlament, 2018)

The EU’s new plastics strategy promotes the idea of “Turning Waste into Resources” more than ever. As the waste disposal industry starts thinking about product life cycles, new jobs and spheres of activity are being created in the branch. New and innovative business concepts are needed in order to efficiently implement the goals of the EU. Our industry experts have many years of experience in the disposal and recycling industry. With our industry solution Enviromental services, COSMO CONSULT is ideally equipped to help you on your path to a digital circular economy.

Saving resources and using them wisely. Not only is this the goal for consumers, it’s also your goal as an entrepreneur or a decision-maker in the business world. What is the best way to map out, plan and manage your resources? How about as it pertains to your particular sector? Ask our experts in the environmental industry:

Sources:

European Enviroment Agency. (2019). European Enviroment Agency. Von www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/waste-recycling-1/assessment-1 [abgerufen am 24.11.2019]

Eurobarometer. (2014). Attitudes of Europens towards waste management and resorce efficiency . Europäische Kommission .

Europäisches Parlament. (2018). Von Europäisches Parlament: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/de/headlines/society/20181212STO21610/plastikmull-und-recycling-in-der-eu-zahlen-und-fakten [abgerufen am 24.11.2019]

Stoifl, B., Bernhardt, A., Karigl, B., & Neubauer, M. (2017). Kunsstoffabfälle in Österreich- Aufkommen und Behandlung. Wien: Umweltbundesamt.