Since the beginning of 2023, the collection of lightweight packaging has been standardized. In addition, metal packaging began to be collected in the yellow bag or yellow garbage can as standard. Lower Austria, Carinthia, Salzburg and partly Upper Austria have practically completed the changeover. The remaining associations and federal states have until the end of 2024 to adapt. From 2025, joint collection of all lightweight and metal packaging will be mandatory.

This change means that everywhere, in addition to plastic bottles, cups, trays, film and other plastic packaging as well as metal packaging can and should be collected in the yellow bag and yellow garbage can. The aim is to help consumers to collect more plastic packaging in particular and thus to achieve the EU recycling quota for plastics in the future, which is an important milestone for climate and environmental protection.

Interzero is responsible for more than 10 regions in Austria, and thus also for the design of the collection in some conversion regions. Previous data from 2023 already show positive effects. In Carinthia and Lower Austria in particular, where previously only plastic bottles were collected in some cases with the LVP collection, there has been a significant increase. A pattern can be discerned here. In the regions that have already collected all lightweight and metal packaging separately, the change (all LVP and metals together) generally has only a slight positive effect. Very positive stands out such interzero regions Horn with an increase of about 20%. In collection regions where only plastic bottles were previously collected separately or also together with metals, a significant increase can generally be seen in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022. In the Interzero regions of Klagenfurt City, an increase of 16% was achieved, and in St. Pölten City, an increase of 53% in the amount collected was even achieved.

In the future, the focus in optimizing the collection of lightweight and metal packaging will therefore be on further measures for simple and easy access to collection, as well as on measures that help to collect primarily well-recyclable packaging with the yellow garbage can or the yellow bag. Interzero is convinced that it will also be able to master this sensible and necessary task together with the very committed employees of the waste associations.

Sometimes you have to put all your eggs in one basket. That’s exactly what we do at Interzero, because our vision is a world without waste.

Zero Waste is our vision – we go ALL IN for it!

We show exactly how this works in our new sustainability magazine and the latest sustainability report – both of which are available for download as of today.

In the magazine, we provide inspiration and concrete examples of how companies have taken major steps toward the circular economy and with which services we actively support such processes.
A pioneering example is the recycled Tandil 3-in-1 box from ALDI North and ALDI South, which saves 60 tons of new plastic per year. REWE has also successfully implemented the all-in-one solution with Sykell’s EINFACH MEHRWEG solution. This means that REWE customers can take drinks and food home in reusable containers and return them to the deposit machine – without any waste. You can find these exciting customer cases and much more in our sustainability magazine as a free download or on our Interzero sustainability page.

And what do we do at Interzero? Internally, too, sustainability is naturally a top priority for us. Anyone who would like to know exactly what measures we are taking to achieve this and how many resources were saved last year as a result of our work in 2022 can read about this in our latest sustainability report – including all the facts relating to social and economic issues.

We are going ALL IN – are you with us?

We are proud to have received the approval of packaging licensing in Serbia as well! This is an essential step for Interzero Ciruclar Solutions Europe to strengthen our international positioning and to further drive the expansion plans of our integrated environmental solutions.

At the same time, this strategic milestone provides a solid foundation for further local services in Serbia and enables the sustainable development of our competencies throughout the region. This will enable us to implement our growth strategy well: Expanding our expertise in fast-growing countries like Serbia. The goal is to exceed customer expectations by providing more and more international services with our highest quality standards.

Interzero Circular Solutions Europe has expanded its operations in Serbia as of the end of 2022. Now, we have recently received approval for packaging waste disposal and packaging licensing. This is an important step we can take together to achieve goals.

“We thank Country Manager Vojislav Stanković and the team for their excellent work and now look forward to introducing innovative sustainability solutions in Serbia in line with our international best practices,” said Martin Ulke, Head of Interzero Circular Solutions Europe.

The recycling destinations in Serbia and Europe

Serbia’s national targets prescribe the amount of packaging waste to be returned to the recycling system (59%) and/or reused (64%). In the next few years, European targets call for 70% of municipal waste and 80% of packaging waste to be recycled by 2023. However, a landfill ban on recyclable waste will be introduced from 2025. These goals and constraints can create challenges for companies.

How can we achieve the goals together?

It’s simple: we develop environmental solutions that help companies develop sustainable businesses. From environmental protection consulting to integrated waste management, we now offer you a comprehensive portfolio of services and technical solutions in Serbia as well, enabling us to achieve a world without waste together.

Provision of recyclable materials

Throughout Europe, we supply all types of recyclable waste, primarily all types of plastics, but also cardboard, metal, wood and glass, as well as raw materials and regranulates produced in the recycling process.

Sustainable technical solutions

By using first-class technical equipment, your employees optimize their workplace, simplify and accelerate production processes, reduce the amount of waste, cut costs and help the company achieve certain sustainable as well as economic goals

International solutions

Based on more than 30 years of experience in European countries, Interzero offers consulting and solutions in the field of waste management.

Address: Vojvode Micka Krstica 1M, Belgrade

Website: https://interzero.rs

E-mail: info@interzero.rs

(Updated version: May 2024) In the second half of last year, all systems in Austria were informed that from 2023, in addition to the already known and necessary quantity reports of packaging, batteries or waste electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market, companies will be subject to additional reporting obligations. These new notifications, as we have already informed, concern single-use plastic products as well as single-use and reusable packaging.

These new features should be available for reporting for the first time by March 15, and we at Interzero have taken advantage of this to not only incorporate the enhanced reporting queries, but to present the online reporting portal in a new look AND with new features. The clear goal here was to simplify the submission of reports and improve the user interface.

Whether you are an Interzero Circular Solutions Europe or Interzero Circular Consulting (formerly profitara) customer – there is now a contact point where you can submit all reports digitally and efficiently.

Convince yourself!

From now on, you can enter at the usual web address with your usual access data and familiarize yourself with the new portal.

What has changed and what are the benefits?

With a new design and easier handling we offer you the possibility to report your quantities including the new reporting obligations.

• Simply save your product groups to be reported as favorites!
• Automatic quota correction or independent calculation – you decide!
• Your quantities are not different from the previous message? You can now easily copy quantities from the previous period and save valuable time
• Messages can now be submitted in tons or kilograms
• You will find your system participation confirmation directly in the registration overview for download. Not only for the current, but also past are now stored in one place.
• Download your quantity reports as a report, whether PDF or Excel!
• and much more!

If you have any further questions, please contact us at kundenberatung@interzero.at. We will try to answer your request as soon as possible.

Find below the most important info sheets and FAQs on this topic!

Information sheet on the new obligations for single-use plastic products and fishing gear

Information sheet for the new Reporting obligations for single-use and reusable packaging

Information sheet for the
Delimitation criteria for food packaging

More information

Packaging Ordinance 2014, version of 01.03.2023

§18. Manufacturers and importers of disposable tableware and cutlery must comply with the regulations on household packaging for the same.
§21a. reporting obligations for single-use plastic products
§9 Abs. Household Packaging
§13 para. Commercial packaging

+++ ENGLISH VERSION +++

See for yourself!

What distinguishes a disposable from a reusable glass bottle? The personal attitude towards innovation and ecological sustainability – this is proven by entrepreneurs* from Lower Austria, who have implemented an impressive project on waste prevention, which has been co-financed retroactively with Interzero’s funding.

It was a conversation about “dry” topics, even though the business purpose of Flaschenservice Erwin Haimerl GmbH in Langenlois, at the gateway to the Wachau, is anything but dry. There, they take on noble drops from the surrounding area to bottle, package and deliver to businesses far beyond the region: Wines, sparkling wines, must and self-produced grape juices.

This time it was about licensing the packaging placed on the market – in other words, compliance with legal requirements. Then an almost casual remark by the entrepreneur siblings Erwin Haimerl Junior and Annemarie Michael-Haimerl caught the special attention of the Interzero consultant. The entrepreneur had upgraded his bottle washing plant to the latest state of the art with the aim of making even disposable glass bottles reusable as often as possible after thorough cleaning.

It was immediately clear to the Interzero expert that a project like this could meet the funding guidelines of the BMK (Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology). Since Interzero had its own funding within the legal framework, it was finally able to support its partner’s initiative with it quickly and unbureaucratically.

Hundreds of thousands of disposable bottles in a very short time

The result is impressive: In the first four months alone after the project was implemented, hundreds of thousands of glass bottles were washed, allowing them to be reused up to 40 times before being fed into the recycling process. This saves waste and transport distances every day – and not least climate-damaging CO2 emissions through less import of new disposable bottles from other EU countries.

Interzero actively promotes the prevention of waste

In line with the company’s mission statement, Interzero is actively engaged in the implementation of environmental sustainability projects. While it has been possible to autonomously provide a contingent of subsidies for projects (including those already implemented) that meet the legal requirements, Interzero will continue to provide its partners with the best possible support for subsidy submissions in the future in order to make investments in the protection of our environment even more attractive.

This is because Interzero consultants already have an insight into the areas of activity of the partner companies. This enables them to identify and assess optimization potential in discussions. The experts’ legal experience and long-standing contacts with the relevant authorities then help them to apply for funding for waste prevention projects of any size.

Our vision: Zero waste

As specialists in resource optimization, our goal is to work together to bring ecologically sustainable initiatives to successful – and maximally funded – implementation. In this way, we work together with our partners every day to realize our vision of a waste-free future.

Bottle service Erwin Haimerl GmbH
https://www.haimerl.cc/

More information:
https://www.interzero.at/nachhaltigkeit/
https://www.interzero.at/nachhaltigkeit/mitarbeitende-initiativen/

With amendments to the Waste Management Act and the Packaging Ordinance, which came into force on 01. When the new legislation comes into force on January 1, 2023, an important change in the licensing and exemption of packaging must be taken into account: From next year, both mail-order companies without a registered office in Austria that sell their goods to private end consumers in this country and companies in EU member states that (still) want to take over the pre-declaration of packaging for their business customers in Austria will have to appoint authorized representatives. This concerns – unchanged – the placing on the market of packaging (disposable plastic products) or the sale of goods and commodities in packaging on the Austrian end consumer:inside market.

The authorized representative to be appointed shall assume all packaging law obligations in Austria on behalf of the commissioning company. He/she represents the foreign company vis-à-vis Austrian authorities and is responsible for “fulfilling its obligations under an ordinance pursuant to § 14 [Waste Management Act, note]”(§ 12b Waste Management Act, ris.bka.gv.at). This may also include regular packaging volume reports (as a basis for royalties) to the relevant authorities.

The specialists of Interzero will be happy to inform and advise you

As specialists with many years of experience in the field of packaging licensing, we will be happy to advise you on the extent to which your company is affected by the changes in the law. Of course, we will be happy to take over all packaging law tasks for you as your authorized representative via our subsidiary Profitara – so that you can continue to concentrate fully on your core business.

With our know-how, we not only offer you packaging licensing, but are also your contact for old electrical devices for private or commercial purposes, as well as for old batteries. Find out more in our webshop!

How to get your authorized representative contract (Update 01.01.2024)

On our Interzero contract webshop you can get more information about the authorized representative and conclude your contract from 2023.

Click here to go to our webshop! Please note that you are already registered as an existing Interzero customer . You no longer need to register, but can go straight to your customer portal to order an authorized contract. To do so, please click here!

Find the most important FAQs on this topic below!

More information

Federal Act on Sustainable Waste Management (Waste Management Act 2002 – AWG 2002)
Packaging Ordinance 2014(§ 16a, § 16b, § 16c, § 16d, § 16e)

Information letter for our customers

Change of name from Interseroh to Interzero completed

“One World. Zero Waste. Let’s #MoveTheDate.” Under this motto, Interzero is spotlighting the conservation of natural resources by working together with its customers in a broad-based campaign. In cooperation with the Global Footprint Network, the service provider for recycling solutions was able to show the extent to which recycling initiated by it relieves the burden on the earth – and delays the so-called Earth Overshoot Day a little.

In purely mathematical terms, humanity has already used up all the natural resources that our planet can provide within a year by July 28. “We do not want to resign ourselves to the progressive exploitation of resources,” says Sebastiaan Krol, CEO of Interzero Circular Solutions. “On the contrary, we are working for a world without waste, in which we use what is available to us sustainably and responsibly. With our ‘zero waste solutions’ for our customers, we actively contribute to climate and resource protection every day and secure the supply of raw materials for present and future generations.”

Based on Interzero’s data, researchers from the Global Footprint Network have confirmed that for every euro of value the company generates with solutions in partnership with its customers, the global overshoot shrinks by more than 28 global square meters. In contrast, for every euro of output added to the global economy, the global overshoot increases by an average of 2.6 global square meters.

This means that Interzero gives back 10 times more to our planet per euro of economic output than the global economy, overusing it on average. Without Interzero, Earth Crossing Day would occur 4 minutes and 20 seconds earlier worldwide – so Interzero’s collaboration with its clients has an impact on a global scale that is quite measurable.

“We as the Interzero team are proud that through our ‘zero waste solutions’ with our customers and partners, we are proportionally giving back significantly more in resources than are used up. The 4 minutes 20 seconds overshoot saving is a starting point and incentive for us to further expand our activities,” Sebastiaan Krol underlines.

For the calculations, the Global Footprint Network uses resource accounting: the “ecological footprint.” Using this indicator, the non-profit organization compares the

current needs of the world’s population (or of countries) with the earth’s capacity to renew the natural resources it consumes. Valid basic data for the relief contribution of Interzero is provided by the study “Resources SAVED by Recycling” by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and

Energy Technology UMSICHT. On behalf of Interzero, the scientists determine annually how many greenhouse gases and resources are saved by recycling recyclable materials.

“Globally, people currently consume as many resources as if we lived on 1.75 Earths,” said Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, president of the Global Footprint Network. “We are therefore very pleased to cooperate with Interzero. Companies that pursue a ‘One Planet’ strategy and implement it in their day-to-day business improve the future prospects for everyone – and especially their own competitiveness.”

When it comes to preserving our natural livelihoods, every contribution counts. Interzero also wants to communicate this to its employees, customers and business partners as part of the new campaign – and thus set a sustainable movement in motion.

Motivation is also provided by the company’s own
campaign video
in which Interzero calls for a more conscious use of natural resources. “Let’s #MoveTheDate!”

The collection partners for the Interzero collection regions from 2023 have been determined

Bidding process completed – partners for the collection of light, metal and glass packaging for the period 2023 to 2027 identified