Be EPR-compliant in Austria and avoid penalties

EPR-compliant in Austria – which EPR obligations apply in 2024?

General information on EPR obligations in Austria  

In Austria, the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) applies to all companies that place packaging and/or packaged products on the market. This means that the company must assume responsibility for packaging and/or packaged products before the legislator: the legal regulations according to the Waste Management Act (AWG), Packaging Ordinance (VVO), and Packaging Delimitation Ordinance must be complied with. Specifically, this means that companies, that have their own registered office in Austria, must license their packaging placed on the market and certain products made of disposable plastic with an approved Producer Responsibility Organization (take-back system).

If a company does not have its own registered office in Austria, it must appoint a so-called authorized representative, who instead assumes legal responsibility before the legislator and must ensure that the obligations are properly fulfiled.

The fee is used by the PRO to finance the waste management infrastructure and organize the nationwide collection, sorting, and recycling of recyclable materials.

If you are not sure what obligations you need to fulfil in Austria to be EPR compliant, you can get start our “Quick check” and create a free Circular Pro account.

Waste Management Act, Packaging Ordinance, Packaging Delimitation Ordinance, and Single-Use Plastics Directive in Austria

The Austrian Waste Management Act regulates the handling of all types of waste and stipulates that waste management must be based on the precautionary principle and sustainability. All harmful and detrimental effects on humans, animals and plants, their livelihoods, and the natural environment must be avoided or minimized as far as possible. Resources must be conserved, and the material utilization of waste must not present a higher hazard potential than comparable primary materials. The only waste that may remain is waste that does not pose a risk to future generations.

The Packaging Ordinance regulates the handling of packaging waste and certain product residues as well as the establishment of the necessary PROs. In line with the EPR, it stipulates the obligation to take back sales, secondary, and transport packaging. This is not done by the companies themselves but is organized by nationwide take-back systems. Companies can only take back packaging themselves if it is reusable packaging. Packaging that is taken back must either be reused or recycled. There are also exceptions for some transport packaging, but this cannot be generalized and must be clarified on a case-by-case basis.

The Packaging Ordinance also stipulates the separate collection of packaging and categorizes packaging (according to defined criteria) into “household” and “commercial packaging” and corresponding collection and tariff categories. “Household” packaging is defined as packaging that does not exceed certain size criteria (≤ 5 liters for space-forming packaging, ≤ 1.5m² for flat packaging, ≤ 150g/sales unit e.g., polystyrene or similar foamed packaging). Styrofoam or similar foamed packaging. Exception to the size criteria: packaging made of paper/cardboard. Here the criteria for classification as household or commercial is whether it is sales or transport packaging. Packaging that usually accumulates in private households or household-like locations is therefore mainly disposed of in private household collections. Further information on the size criteria can be found in a leaflet on the website of the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection (unfortunately, this information is currently only available in German).

The term “commercial” refers to packaging that exceeds the specified size criteria and is usually disposed of at all other collection points (e.g., pallet wrapping film, disposable pallets, transport cartons) (there are usually industrial collection containers that are emptied as part of a commercial collection).

In a second step, the Packaging Delimitation Ordinance regulates the redistribution of packaging waste between “household and commercial packaging”, after the classification according to the size criteria described above was carried out in the first step. This is necessary because there is a certain amount of household packaging that accumulates commercially and, conversely, commercial packaging that ends up in household collections. Packaging that is categorized as “household packaging” must be disposed of at different rates than “commercial packaging”. To clarify how the packaging is correctly categorized, the correct product group according to GVM must be determined in advance (more information about the product groups in Austria is provided by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, but currently only available in German). The quotas for splitting into “household and commercial packaging” can only be applied once this has been clarified. In the last step, a legally compliant allocation to the correct tariff categories can be ensured.

No company headquarters in Austria? The company probably needs an authorized representative to fulfil the EPR obligations!

Since 1 January 2023, certain persons who do not have a registered office in Austria must appoint an authorized representative to dispose of their packaging and/or certain single-use plastic products. These are:

  • Mail-order companies that place packaging on the Austrian market for private end consumers from abroad, i.e. with their registered office in EU countries or third countries, and
  • foreign distance sellers, i.e. companies based in EU countries or third countries of certain single-use plastic products.

If a company delivers to Austria, it must be checked on a case-by-case basis whether there is an obligation to appoint an authorized representative. Otherwise, the company is not acting in compliance with the EPR.

Are you unsure whether you also need to appoint an authorized representative for your company? The experts at our partner RecycleMe can help you with this. Click here to go directly to RecycleMe’s “Authorised Representative in Austria” service.

Additional reporting obligations for reusable packaging and single-use plastic products.

In addition to the “regular” packaging reports, information on reusable packaging and certain single-use plastic products must also be provided from calendar year 2022 onwards.

According to the Packaging Ordinance, manufacturers of certain single-use plastic products are obliged to bear certain costs for all products placed on the market from 1 January 2023 in addition to the notification. This applies, for example, to:

  • wet wipes,
  • balloons,
  • drinks cups,
  • bags and film packaging,
  • tobacco products and
  • fishing gear.

The fees collected by the PROs (take-back systems) are used to finance municipal clean-up campaigns (“anti-littering measures”) for waste from these products – including transport and treatment. In addition, the costs of awareness-raising campaigns and information for end consumers are also covered. If there is no infrastructure for collecting the waste in public areas yet (e.g. for tobacco products), the necessary infrastructure is also created with these fees.

Distributors based in Austria must also provide information on the reusable packaging used. On the one hand, the reusable packaging used for the first time (e.g. freshly purchased Euro pallets or beer bottles/crates) must be reported and, on the other hand, all reusable packaging used in a calendar year (= number of units multiplied by the number of cycles) as well. Likewise, in the case of the disposal of e.g. broken reusable containers on-site, comprehensive data on the recycling quantities and recycling companies must be provided. 

Accurate data collection is important to avoid penalties! 

The most important aspect of all obligations relating to EPR in Austria is correct and up-to-date packaging master data that is validated regularly. Those who are well-positioned here and take care of the issue at an early stage have already done a lot of things right.

Up-to-date packaging master data is, for example, the basis for correct quantity reports. These reports can help to keep the fees for the obligation to dispose of packaging manageable, help to fulfil any labelling obligations, or to comply with future regulations for the use of minimum quotas for recycled materials (recyclates). If, for example, an audit by the responsible inspection body (in Austria this would be the Verpackungskoordinierungsstelle – VKS (website is only available in German) for packaging and single-use plastic products) determines that the reported packaging quantities in a tariff category are 5 percent too low, penalties of 20 percent on the respective difference quantity of this tariff category are due.

Do you need support in determining and processing your packaging data? The consulting team of our partner RecycleMe will support you in precisely analyzing weights, material specifications, and other relevant data. Click here to learn more about our partner RecycleMe’s “Packaging Labelling Analysis” service.

Austria update 2025: AWG changes and deposit system  

The recent amendments to the Austrian Waste Management Act (AWG) and the introduction of a deposit system for single-use beverage containers have brought significant changes for companies. Since 18 July 2024, new rules have been in force for penalties, which particularly affect the basis for calculation and due dates. At the same time, a mandatory deposit system was introduced on 26 September 2023, which will become binding on 1 January 2025. It aims to sustainably increase the collection and recycling rate of single-used beverage containers. Companies that market packaging in Austria are directly affected by these changes and must fulfil new obligations in the context of extended producer responsibility, take-back and labelling. 
Read more about EPR updates in Austria here.