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“It is a problem that affects people throughout Austria, so politicians must offer a solution,” Gewessler said, adding that Germany would achieve a plastic collection rate of 98, Croatia 96 and the Netherlands 95 percent. In addition to the “deposit” item, the quota for returnable bottles in retail trade and a fee for the creation and import of plastics complement the “3-point plan”.
Gewessler says plastic waste is fighting the battle
“The deposit is not a rocket science, but a lived practice,” reported Christian Abl of the ÖPG Pfandsystemgesellschaft mbH, which was founded in early 2020 to, according to its own statements, “incorporate international experience into the discussion of a future system. Austrian Depository “. Along with Austria there are currently ten countries such as France or Spain that are discussing such a solution, ten countries such as Germany or Sweden are already working with an active deposit system and in eight countries from Portugal to Slovakia the discussions have led to the deposit system in the to implement in the next one to two years, Abl.
In the case of depositors, it was recently stated that such a situation would endanger the difficult situation of local suppliers. “We do not see the problem of the disappearance of the merchants in an international comparison,” Abl said, and in his opinion it is not essential that the town grocer needs a machine to retrieve the merchandise.
Deposit system required for Austria
In Austria a deposit system is needed because, like all EU countries, a requirement must be met to avoid plastic waste. The EU directive on single-use plastic stipulates that plastic beverage bottles, of which 1.6 billion are currently on the market in Austria each year, will be separated by at least 77% by 2025 and at least 90% By 2029, they must be collected and also recycled. The collection rate in Austria is currently 70 percent. A depository system would close the gap in the most efficient and cost-effective way, according to a study published in early 2020, which was conducted by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Leoben and the Hauer Technical Office, among others.
34 percent collection rate in Vienna
Walter Hauer presented this study again at today’s press conference and addressed some of the deposit takers’ arguments from the previous week. “There is technical consensus that you cannot get to 90 percent. Even if it was recently reported that this would be achieved in some federal states, we cannot understand that,” he argued, noting that, according to the Sinus survey, about 20 percent of the population are using plastic separation and collection would not be achievable. The economic association argued last week, however, that Tirol, Vorarlberg and Burgenland would already meet the EU collection rate of 90 percent, only Vienna was far behind with a 34 percent collection rate.
Plastic flood tank in Austria
But a deposit alone is not a solution either, Abl said, because in Scandinavia, where such a system has existed since the 1980s, the new EU rate sometimes means that one faces difficult tasks, because there are a contrast to that. Austria does not yet have a collection system. In any case, the position of the climate protection minister is clear: “I am definitely not going to see the plastic flood in Austria anymore”, and neither does she want the EU plastic tax of up to 180 million euros to be paid. with the current budget, as did the Minister of Finance, Gernot Blümel. (ÖVP) means. The next round with all stakeholders will take place tomorrow Wednesday and “a result will be available by the end of the year,” Gewessler announced. The amendment to the Waste Management Law will also lay the foundations for the introduction of a deposit system.
(Those: APA)
