Provincial Waste Management Plan Styria - Abfallwirtschaft - Abfall ...

Provincial Waste Management Plan Styria - 2005
biogenic material (pre-treated organic waste, shredded and mixed with structure material) is frequently
passed on to agricultural companies for composting.
The subsequent agricultural application of the obtained quality compost guarantees the functioning of
a closed-loop system.
Due to the rural structure of Styria, agricultural composting has always played a vital role in the
compost strategy of the region. In order to support agricultural composting, ARGE Kompost
("Consortium for Adequate Composting in Agriculture") was founded in 1991. ARGE bäuerliche
Kreislaufwirtschaft Steiermark ("Consortium for agricultural closed-loop economy Styria") originated
from ARGE Kompost and now has more than 200 members, whereby approx. 90 agricultural
companies compost separately collected biogenic waste and recycle the obtained quality compost.
2.2.6 Partners for implementation on a regional level
In principle, public administration, waste management associations, and municipalities are responsible
for the implementation of sustainable strategies regarding waste and material flow management. The
private waste disposal industry and agriculture participate as actors in the collection and treatment of
municipal waste.
In order to reduce the waste volume generated within production and services in commercial and
industrial companies, the Province of Styria has run sector-specific pilot projects within the program
"Ökologische Betriebsberatung Steiermark - Ecological consulting Styria" since 1995.
In 2002, the Business Initiative Sustainability (WIN, www.oeko.at) originated from "Ecological
consulting" after a joint commitment within the "Styrian Sustainability Pact", supported by the
Environment Department and the Economic Department of the Province of Styria as well as the
regional Economic Chamber of Styria.
Apart from this cooperation, which is organized as a joint initiative, a large number of other initiatives
and voluntary associations (NGOs) are committed to work on the implementation of a sustainable
waste and material flow management in Styria, such as e.g. Ökoprofit®, a program of the City of Graz
for corporate environmental protection. In this context, ARGE Müllvermeidung ("Consortium Waste
Prevention"), organized as benevolent voluntary association, has to be explicitly mentioned since it
has accompanied Styrian waste management over many years.
Furthermore, the specialized departments of the Province aim to integrate university institutions,
universities of applied sciences, and civil engineers into the elaboration of innovative projects at an
early stage.
On a national level, ÖWAV is a neutral and independent platform of all highly qualified professional
bodies striving for a balance of interests in Austrian water, waste water, and waste management. In
specialized groups and consortia, numerous ÖWAV committees set up technical guidelines, provide
comments on bills, and enable an exchange of experiences of decision makers from the fields of
economy, administration, and science. (www.oewav.at).
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