In Austria, 100% of the plastics packaging collected and sorted under the Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA; www.ara.at) “green dot” scheme is recycled – with almost half of it being incinerated in the country for energy purposes. This fulfils the guarantee given by Österreichische Kunststoff Kreislauf AG (ÖKK, A-1022 Wien; www.okk.co.at), the company responsible for collecting and recycling plastics packaging waste on behalf of the ARA.

In 2003, a total of 109,501 t of used plastics packaging was sent for recycling (101,700 t in 2002). The sorted plastics fraction, which is reground and used in new products, accounted for 51,339 t (47,100 t). Of the 58,162 t (54,600 t) mixed plastics around 5% was mechanically recycled, while 9% was used to produce methanol. Some 86% of the mixed fraction was incinerated for energy recovery. Recycling of PET bottles was especially dynamic in 2003, rising from 20,000 t in 2002 to 24,750 t, primarily due to record summer temperatures. The majority of used PET bottles are made into flakes or straight into new products in Austria, according to ÖKK.