Potent with a patent

New hotspot in the eternal battle against plastic waste

A new patented technology will be used in Pöchlarn to improve the recycling of collected plastic.

(Bild: Amago)

300,000 tons of plastic end up on the Austrian market every year. A modern plant in Pöchlarn (Lower Austria) is now significantly increasing the recycling rate - with new technology, more can be recycled and the separation rate prescribed by the EU is at least partially achieved.

With a newly patented process and partner companies, Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) has now opened Austria's first "polyolefin" processing plant in Pöchlarn in the district of Melk. It took two years to develop the new technology, which is used to improve the recycling of plastic waste.

Only 25 percent is recycled
The milestone in the circular economy is quickly illustrated by the figures: 300,000 tons of plastic packaging are put on the market nationwide every year. Only 25 percent of this, i.e. 75,000 tons, has so far been used for the production of new plastic products. However, the EU stipulates that at least half of plastic waste must be recycled.

"In the past, a lot of collected plastic packaging was incinerated because it was too dirty or too small or consisted of different chemical substances or coatings," says ARA, explaining that the "Upcycle" process in Pöchlarn can now return 10,000 tons more of sorted waste to the raw material cycle.

It is of central importance to achieve the ambitious EU recycling targets for plastic packaging. This technology makes an important contribution to this.

Thomas Eck, Vorstand der Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA).

Bild: ARA/Daniel Willinger

Further processing in the industry
How does it work? First of all, four fifths are sorted out in the high-tech plastics sorting plant with a capacity of 100,000 tons in Ennshafen, Upper Austria. The last fifth - 20,000 tons - then ends up in Pöchlarn, where another half is recycled using a new process. "The result is high-quality, high-purity polyolefin recyclates that can be further processed by industry," emphasizes one.

State Premier Johanna Mikl-Leitner and Vice-President Stephan Pernkopf also emphasized Lower Austria's pioneering role for a sustainable future with the new plant.