The Austrian Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) has taken a major step to strengthen the domestic circular economy: together with its partners, it will invest around 100 million euros in modern recycling solutions by the end of 2026. Despite regulatory uncertainties, the company has achieved a significant milestone, already reaching the EU recycling quota of 50% for household plastic packaging in 2025. The following analysis outlines ARA’s future waste management investments, achievements in the sector, and upcoming industry challenges, relying strictly on official quantitative data published by ARA.
The Price of Raw Material Independence: 100 Million Euros for the Plastics Sector
In a current economic environment characterized by stagnant growth and strict regulatory requirements, ARA emphasizes the strategic importance of the circular economy. Harald Hauke, Spokesperson of the ARA Board, pointed out during a press conference that the circular economy has long since become an essential pillar of industrial policy, strengthening competitiveness by securing raw materials. In an environment of uncertainty and high energy costs, resource efficiency decisively determines economic viability. As a full-service provider in the circular economy, ARA is positioning itself increasingly broadly and is investing precisely where national industrial capacity needs to be expanded in Austria.
To ensure the supply of high-quality secondary raw materials to the industry, the company has massively expanded its infrastructure. The figures speak for themselves: in the year 2025 alone, ARA was able to provide 607,000 tonnes of secondary raw materials. Out of this massive volume, lightweight packaging and metals accounted for 103,000 tonnes, paper for 320,000 tonnes, and glass for 184,000 tonnes.
The foundation of this infrastructure expansion rests on two large-scale projects in the plastics sector:
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TriPlast: A high-tech sorting plant in Upper Austria, representing an investment of more than 60 million euros, forms the centerpiece of sorting for plastic and metal packaging.
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Sort4cycle: A new facility in which ARA and its partners are investing an additional 40 million euros. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in April 2026. Scheduled to operate from 2027, the plant will utilize the patented UPCYCLE process developed by ARA on a large industrial scale to materially recycle sorting residues that were previously considered non-recyclable.
With these projects, ARA will have invested more than 100 million euros by the end of 2026 solely in the plastics sector to secure secondary raw materials for the industry and strengthen Austria as a business location.
Expectations Exceeded: Achieving the 50% EU Recycling Quota
Thomas Eck, member of the ARA Board, announced a major milestone for the sector: officially reaching the 50% recycling quota for plastic packaging from households. This figure is particularly remarkable given that despite the introduction of the single-use deposit return system (Einwegpfand), separate collection in 2025 recorded a 7% increase in packaging via the Yellow Bag (Gelber Sack) and Yellow Bin (Gelbe Tonne) systems, which are not affected by the deposit system.
Detailed regional data shows that Vienna performed exceptionally well, with a 14% increase in net collected quantity. This was followed by the federal states of Tyrol with a 10% increase and Vorarlberg with an 8% expansion. According to ARA’s management, the key to success lies in a simple, user-friendly collection concept. Thanks to the expansion of door-to-door collection, ARA now reaches approximately 2.2 million households directly at their doorsteps. The long-standing awareness of the Austrian population combined with the simple, joint collection of packaging in the Yellow Bin or Yellow Bag is the decisive lever for this success.
Criticism of Policy Makers: “Construction Flaw” in EU Legislation
Despite these successes, ARA’s management expressed sharp criticism regarding the chronological sequence of EU regulations, specifically the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The fundamental issue is that while collection and recycling quotas are already in effect, binding design guidelines and mandatory quotas for the use of recycled content will only follow years later.
Harald Hauke called it a “construction flaw” that manufacturers are forced to meet recycling quotas first, while years pass before they are legally required to use the recovered materials in production. Acting as an advocate for the domestic economy, ARA demands a tighter temporal coupling of targets as well as clarity regarding the planned legal acts from the European Commission. At the same time, the company has massively expanded its advisory services around the PPWR to support companies. Through 17 PPWR-related events and webinars held in 2025 and 2026, it has reached approximately 2,000 participants from industry and retail so far.
Future Challenges: Food-Grade Purity and the Question of Textile Waste
To further increase the quality of secondary raw materials, ARA focuses on targeted cooperations with research institutions and industry. The primary technological focus is currently on obtaining food-grade recyclates. As a successful example of innovation, a pilot project was highlighted for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC): 100,000 reusable cups were produced for the major event, made entirely from 100% recycled material collected from the Yellow Bin and Yellow Bag, thereby saving approximately 5 tonnes of raw materials.
Meeting the extremely strict safety requirements for food packaging currently can almost exclusively be guaranteed through expensive chemical recycling. Thomas Eck emphasized that achieving food-grade recyclates through the mechanical processing of polyolefins and polystyrene represents the “supreme discipline” of recycling and remains the company’s ultimate goal.
Another significant future challenge is mandatory textile recycling, which will become compulsory at the EU level from 2028. ARA warns against excessive bureaucratic hurdles and calls for pragmatic, implementable regulations. “We demand realism instead of ‘gold plating’ (over-regulation at the national level) and pragmatism instead of unnecessary diligence tasks,” explained Eck. The goal is to avoid repeating the mistakes made during the drafting of plastic recycling legislation. For the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for textiles, existing and efficient corporate structures should be utilized to keep costs minimal for taxpayers. Although initial textile sorting trials show promising results, the real economic challenge lies in recycling and creating viable, stable sales markets for the recovered fibers.
Viability as a Compass and the Role of Consumers
While ARA’s future strategy relies heavily on innovation, the executive management emphasized that solutions must remain economically viable. A reasonable and harmonized legal framework is indispensable for success. At the same time, Harald Hauke pointed out that despite all technological progress, the 100 million euro investments are ineffective without active consumer participation.
“We can only recycle valuable residual materials if they are separated correctly. If they end up in the residual waste, they are lost to the cycle forever,” concluded the spokesperson. The 100 million euro investment is therefore part of a multi-actor chain where modern technology, sensible legislation, and responsible consumer behavior must work together to guarantee Austria’s raw material sovereignty and the success of its circular economy.
References:
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Original official press release and data (ARA – Altstoff Recycling Austria AG official website): https://www.ara.at/news/ara-100-millionen-investition-kunststoffrecycling-oesterreich-50-prozent-quote