Recovery of plastic packaging from mixed municipal solid waste. A case study from Austria

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Waste Management
• Materials Science

Background:

• Austria faces challenges in meeting EU plastic packaging recycling targets for 2025 and 2030.
• A significant portion of plastic packaging waste is currently mixed with municipal solid waste (MSW) and incinerated.
• Improving the recycling rate of plastic packaging is crucial for environmental sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the potential for recovering plastic packaging waste from mixed MSW using automated sorting technologies in Austria.
• To quantify the amount of plastic packaging that could be recycled from MSW streams.
• To assess the impact of enhanced recovery on Austria's overall plastic packaging recycling rate.

Main Methods:

• Investigation of two major Austrian waste sorting plants with a combined annual throughput of 280,000 tonnes.
• Regular sampling and sorting analysis of selected output streams from the plants.
• Extrapolation of plant-specific recovery data to a national level.

Main Results:

• The theoretical recovery potential of plastic packaging from the two investigated plants is estimated at 6,500 tonnes per year.
• Extrapolation to the national level suggests a potential recovery of approximately 83,000 tonnes of plastic packaging per year from MSW.
• After accounting for treatment and recycling losses, an estimated 30,000 tonnes of recyclate could be returned to plastic production annually.

Conclusions:

• Automated waste sorting offers a significant opportunity to increase plastic packaging recovery from mixed MSW in Austria.
• Implementing advanced sorting technologies can contribute substantially to achieving EU recycling targets.
• The study highlights the potential to increase Austria's plastic packaging recycling rate from 25% to 35% through improved MSW management.