In an EU comparison, Austria is among the top countries that collect and recycle old electronic devices. But the potential is far from exhausted.
The supply chains are stagnating, the energy for transport is becoming expensive, and ever new political conflicts are contributing to the fact that numerous materials are becoming scarce. Waiting times for new washing machines, for example, have already been several months, and there is a lack of raw materials for electronics and batteries. There are actually enough in Europe: They are installed in products that are used for a few years and then thrown away. E-waste is the most valuable and fastest growing waste in Europe, but so far only 40 percent of it is recycled on average in the EU.
Austrians currently throw away 15.3 kilograms of old electronic devices per capita and year. After all, 56.5 percent of it is collected according to the electrical equipment coordination center Austria and sent for recycling. Although Austria does not meet the EU target of 65 percent, it is still one of the top countries among the member states. “The collection of e-waste is well organized in Austria. Municipalities and retailers also play their part,” says Hans Roth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Saubermacher Dienstleistungs AG. His company has years of experience with e-waste. In St. Michael in Styria, it operates a facility that, according to Roth, has already achieved a recycling rate of 90 percent.