A Historical-Technical Analysis of Packaging Waste Flows in Vienna
18 Pages Posted: 30 Sep 2022
Abstract
Urban waste management is important to achieve a circular economy for packaging-waste. To assess the contribution of different measures to these targets, a time-series of packaging-waste flows is required. This study presents such a time-series for the time-span 2006-2020, using material flow analysis and Vienna as a case study. To assess the measures, separate-collection and sorting rate were calculated. Results showed increasing volumes of paper, glass, and aluminum, but decreasing volumes of ferrous metals and plastic generated. Increasing separate collection rates were achieved for aluminum and plastic packaging-waste by commingled collection and more drop-off points. No increase was found for glass and paper packaging. Since particularly for the latter the separate collection can hardly be extended, automatic waste sorting can be used in addition to separate collection to achieve higher sorting and recycling rates. Already successfully practiced for metals, it can be extended to glass, paper, and plastics as well.
Keywords: Circular economy, material flow analysis, glass, metal, paper, plastic
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation