Austria ARA packaging waste recycling system

Laws, standards and norms are the highest expression of the self-discipline and management level of each industry.
Environmental protection is the sword of Damocles hanging on the head of every packaging worker. Stones from other hills, can learn. We collect the essence and continue to discard. There is only one purpose: to promote healthy development and promote business conscience.

Legal basis
In October 1993, the Austrian packaging regulations entered the enforcement phase on the basis of the management of packaging waste. It requires Austria's industrial production to effectively manage packaging waste in order to reduce the impact on the environment and to incorporate these wastes into a closed-loop system. The last revised packaging regulations in 1996 required manufacturers, distributors, and importers to collect free-of-charge packaging products from their input into the market, including sales packaging and transportation packaging, and use the latest technology to integrate them into the ecological cycle or issue recycling permits nationwide. certificate. For the stated recycling goals, the packaging materials vary. In addition, the regulations stipulate effective standards and different recovery rates. Compared to other recycling systems in Europe, the ARA system recycles packages from homes and similar establishments and the business sector. According to the packaging regulations issued in 1996, the nationwide collection and recycling program has been approved by the environmental authorities and approved by various parties.

The organization guarantees that in order to comply with the relevant provisions of the packaging regulations for the recycling of different materials throughout the country, Austria established an ARA agency and eight branch recycling companies in 1993, responsible for the proper and optimal cost collection of all types of packaging materials. Classification and recycling.
The eight branch recycling companies are as follows:
1, ARO - paper recycling;
2, AGR - glass recycling;
3, ARGEV - plastics, metals, wood, textiles, ceramics and composite materials recycling classification;
4, OKK - plastics, textiles recycling classification;
5, ALUREC - aluminum packaging recycling;
6, FERRUPACK - tinplate, steel products recycling;
7, VHR - the recovery of wood products;
8, beverage composite cardboard recycling.
In order to ensure that all collection, classification, recycling and recycling are carried out nationwide, ARA agencies have signed cooperation agreements with all municipalities in China and hundreds of waste management companies and numerous recycling companies in urban and rural areas and in various industrial sectors. The organization consists of 230 member units from packaging products factories, packaging factories, distributors, and retailers. It has three committees and holds all the shares of the organization. In order to avoid conflicts of interests, the waste management company cannot become its member unit. ARA agencies require subordinate companies to implement the principle of non-profit, their surplus is not allocated, but can only be used to reduce the cost of related aspects in the coming year.

Source of Funding
The ARA agency's funding comes from licensing fees paid by companies that use packaging materials. Any company that is willing to entrust the ARA agency with the responsibility stipulated in the packaging regulations can become a license user of the ARA agency. The fees paid are based on the type and quantity of packaging entered into the market. In order to ensure that the charges are reasonable, the rates are based on the costs incurred in the collection, recycling, classification, and disposal of different packaging materials. The ARA will use all the charges for the work of the subordinate companies.
The license fee paid by the ARA agency is based on the number of packages (weight). In Austria, the packaging quantity is based on annual usage, registered once a month or quarterly, once a year if the package quantity is small, the license use unit is provided by an ARA agency with an easy-to-use registration software; for large companies with many different products A random sampling method has now been adopted. In this case, the weight of each packaging material is inferred from a representative product.
As a member of the ARA agency, the permit uses the unit’s power, not the obligation, to mark the packaging.

Collection, recycling and disposal In Austria, 90 to 1.5 million tons of packaging are used each year, and ARA recycles and processes 600,000 tons per year, of which 60% comes from households and 40% comes from industry and commerce.
Austrian consumers have a recycling network of 980,000 recycling containers. Plastics and composites were collected from yellow bags. By the end of 2000, 100 households had used this method. In addition, about 1,000 recycling sites are responsible for recycling large-scale production from households and marketing sites that produce less waste. Or bulky packaging; business sector choose their waste management company. With the support of 150 contract partners, ARA's packaging recycling facility in Austria is spread all over the country.

Outlook In the past few years, ARA has made itself an active partner in the business sector and plans to continue to expand its service capabilities in the future, especially to develop online services related to customers in order to simplify business operations. Together with its partners from local governments and industrial sectors, it supports legislation that meets economic and ecological requirements in the management of packaging waste.
Due to the optimization and effectiveness of the system, the chargeback rate for various packaging materials is continuously decreasing or has remained stable in recent years. For example, the plastics rate has decreased by 60% since 1995, which is beneficial to both license use units and consumers. The growing use of licenses from different EU countries proves that ARA institutions are as effective as transnational cooperation with other institutions. The challenge of e-commerce for licenses still needs to be resolved internationally. At the same time, in the future legislation, a form of cooperation will also be helpful. The work of ARA agencies in ensuring the separation, recycling and recycling of packaging waste has been accepted and implemented by the majority of people and has achieved great success. In order to promote consumers to collect and classify their waste at a high level in the future, it is also important to work with consumers to encourage them at any time.