Green Tech Magazine December 2017 en
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10<br />
Waste managem<strong>en</strong>t<br />
is where it’s at<br />
Committed companies and consci<strong>en</strong>tious pre-sorting by customers are required<br />
to turn waste into many valuable raw materials. The campaign ‘Rund geht‘s’<br />
initiated by the Austrian waste managem<strong>en</strong>t industry with the support of the<br />
Province of Styria shows how awar<strong>en</strong>ess for recycling is created professionally.<br />
From cable clutter to the new computer<br />
and from copper scrap to coins. The ‘Rund<br />
geht’s’ initiative uses creative case studies<br />
to show how new products are created<br />
from supposed waste. The campaign was<br />
initiated by the Austrian waste managem<strong>en</strong>t<br />
industry – supported among others<br />
by the Province of Styria – and is an ideal<br />
platform for companies to pres<strong>en</strong>t their<br />
best practice examples.<br />
From residual waste to bicycles<br />
Waste is a valuable raw material. The Styrian<br />
‘Rund geht’s’ partners’ examples and<br />
exciting ReUse projects prove this. Wornout<br />
tyres collected by Tyrec Wertstoffservice<br />
are – among other purposes – used as<br />
compon<strong>en</strong>ts for fall protection mats on childr<strong>en</strong>’s<br />
playgrounds.<br />
Mayer Recycling filters metal composites<br />
from municipal waste. They are professionally<br />
separated, prepared and processed into<br />
compon<strong>en</strong>ts for the manufacture of bicycles.<br />
Th<strong>en</strong>, there is Müllex-Umwelt-Säuberung<br />
that receives about 20,000 tonnes of waste<br />
wood per year and produces versatile chipboards<br />
for the construction and furniture<br />
industry.<br />
Top collectors<br />
Separation and recycling is g<strong>en</strong>erally of particular<br />
importance in Austria. The Austrians<br />
collect around 482 kilograms of waste per<br />
person. This is divided into 40 % residual<br />
and bulky waste and 60 % separate collection.<br />
This pres<strong>en</strong>ts <strong>en</strong>ormous pot<strong>en</strong>tial<br />
to extract the raw materials for tomorrow<br />
from yesterday’s waste. In a European comparison<br />
of 32 countries, Austria occupies an<br />
absolute top position with a material recycling<br />
rate of 66 %.<br />
Good for the <strong>en</strong>vironm<strong>en</strong>t, but not just! Municipal<br />
waste managem<strong>en</strong>t secures roughly<br />
14,800 jobs per year to which private sector<br />
adds another 25,000 jobs.<br />
www.rundgehts.at<br />
www.steiermark.at<br />
Credits: Shutterstock
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