What to do with plastic waste?

This will change with the new deposit in the ASZ

There are around 130 waste collection centers in Upper Austria.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

From 2025, PET bottles for drinks and aluminum cans in Austria will no longer end up in collection centers, but will be worth cash thanks to the new deposit system. The "Krone" wanted to know how this will affect the ASZ (waste collection centers) and where consumers should dispose of plastic waste in the future.

There are just under 2.5 months to go before the deposit system for plastic and aluminum drinks bottles comes into force on 1 January. The federal government wants to increase the collection rate from the current 70 percent to at least 90 percent by 2027, as "fines" have been payable to the EU for every kilo of non-recycled plastic waste since 2021.

Deposit on PET bottles and cans
From the turn of the year, PET bottles and aluminum cans for drinks must be returned to collection points if you want the deposit of 0.25 cents per item back. This caused the waste collection centers to "tremble" in the summer - the continued existence of plastic collection in the ASZ seemed to be at risk. However, this now seems to be off the table, as the provincial waste association (LAVU) has reached an agreement with ARA.

This is no longer "allowed" in the ASZ
"PET bottles will no longer be allowed from 2025. However, large plastic packaging such as buckets, canisters or milk cartons can still be disposed of at the waste collection centers. Only small plastic packaging (such as for sausages), yogurt pots or meat cups will no longer be accepted," says Christian Ehrengruber, Managing Director of LAVU Upper Austria. In future, these will end up in the yellow bag or yellow garbage can.

Closures not planned
For the time being, there will be no changes to the metal collection, only the empty containers subject to a deposit will be removed. "We will look at how capacity utilization develops. There are currently no plans to close or reduce staff hours," says Ehrengruber. Albert Falch, deputy chairman of the works council for the approximately 870 employees at the 130 locations, echoes similar sentiments.

New life for old mattresses
The aim is to compensate for the fact that less plastic waste is being produced in future, for example by promoting the disposal of larger plastic packaging via the ASZ. Plasterboard is also to be collected and recycled separately in future - a plant is currently being built in Stockerau for this purpose. 

The recycling of old mattresses is also being considered - until now they have ended up in bulky waste. Greiner is already planning a recycling plant.