A

Aluminium

designates metal packaging or packaging components that mainly consist of aluminum, e.g. aluminium beverage cans, trays, sheets, cups, tubes, lids.

B

Bags

to which the industrial and commercial packaging (ICP) fee applies are packaging plastics, such as fertilizer bags and large-sized bags (e.g. for raw materials, soil, furniture and mattress bags).

Material: LDPE,PE/PP

Size: > 25 liters

Biological packaging materials

Packaging materials on a biological basis (also “biogenic packaging materials”, “biogenic packaging”, “bio plastics”, “biodegradable materials”) within the meaning of the Packaging Ordinance are materials made of renewable raw materials, which are used for packaging purposes and which are biodegradable. Furthermore they can not be assigned to the tariff categories 1.1. to 9.2. listed on the previous page.

Packaging materials on a biological basis are for example: Starch, starch blend, and biotechnologically produced polymers such as poly lactic acid (PLA).

Branch recycling companies

The branch recycling companies are eight economically independent companies that are in charge of organizing the collection, sorting, and recovery of licensed packaging from households as well as from commercial and industrial enterprises. Their operations are financed by the ARA AG. The branch recycling companies, in turn, put local waste disposal and recycling companies in charge of carrying out the collection, sorting, and/or recovery on their behalf; in this respect, they closely work together with waste management associations, local communities, and private companies.

The branch recycling organizations are legally approved, or acknowledged, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Environment and Water Management as the operators of collection and recycling systems in Austria.

They are all owned by private Austrian corporations, either directly or through specially founded associations. Although all of them are non-profit organizations, they strictly operate along economic principles to be as cost- effective as possible.

C

Composite materials

Composite materials are, in general, long-lasting combinations of two or more different packaging materials that are difficult to separate by the final consumer (e.g. glued, riveted, or welded together); these are packaging materials like paper, plastic, and aluminium. Combinations of packaging materials, such as paper-paper, paper-cardboard, or plastic-plastic combinations, are not regarded as composite materials.

D

Dot

ARA grants companies the exclusive right to use the "Dot" on packaging they put on the Austrian market. To communicate their license partnership, ARA entitles its license partners to attach the "Dot" to their packaging. By using the "Dot" on their packaging, the license partners acknowledge that they have fulfilled their duties with regard to the orderly disposal of their packaging in compliance with the Austrian Packaging Ordinance.

The "Dot" is the most frequently used trademark worldwide.

See also: PRO EUROPE

F

Ferrous metals

Designates metal packaging made of tinplate, such as beverage cans, food cans, hoops, ironwork, etc.

Fillers

Companies that fill their goods or products into packaging or wrap them with packaging for the purpose of storage or dispatch.

I

Importers

Companies that import packed goods and commodities.

L

License Agreement

Signing a license agreement with ARA exempts companies from their obligations under the Austrian Packaging Ordinance. Also, they enjoy the benefits of manifold services and the right to use the trademark the "Dot" in Austria.

Licensing

go to: License Agreement

License partner

License partners of ARA are Austrian packaging manufacturers and dealers, fillers and packers, importers, and producers or distributors of packed products. Also, companies in foreign countries that export packaging to Austria may sign license contracts with ARA. Companies that sign a license contract for their packaging with ARA, report their packaging volumes, and pay for them according to the respective license fees, fulfill their obligations for the amount of packaging that has been notified and paid for.

M

Manufacturers

Companies that produce packaging or packaging aids.

O

One-way glass packaging

Packaging such as bottles, jars, flasks, etc. that cannot be refilled after use.

P

Packaging

According to the Packaging Ordinance, packaging comprises packaging materials, packaging aids, pallets, or products out of which packaging materials or packaging aids are made. Packaging materials are products designed to cover or hold together goods or commodities for the purpose of transport, storage, dispatch, and sale.

Packaging aids are products which, in combination with packaging materials, are designed to pack, close, and designate a commodity and make it ready for dispatch.

Packaging comprises cups, cans, disposable cutlery, bottles, glasses, cartons, crates, pallets, bags, screw caps, shrink wraps, carrier bags, tubes, etc.

Packaging aids

These are labels, filling material (e.g. flakes), adhesive tapes, hoops, transport safety girdles, etc.

Packaging Ordinance

The Austrian Packaging Ordinance (VerpackVO, Federal Law Gazette No. 645/1992) was put in effect on the basis of the Austrian Waste Management Act. It has been in force since October 1,1993, and requires producers, distributors, and importers that put packaging or packed goods on the Austrian market to take back their packaging free of charge and recycle it. In 1996, the ordinance was revised for the second time (Federal Law Gazette No. 648/1996). The new Packaging Ordinance has been effective since December 1, 1996.

Original legal document of Packaging Ordinance (only available in German)

Packers

Packers are companies that pack their goods or products into packaging or wrap them with packaging for the purpose of storage or dispatch.

Pallet packaging

designates a special type of plastic packaging that mainly originates from industrial and commercial organizations (e.g. shrink wraps, stretch sheets, polyethylene films).

Plastics large

designates large plastic packaging that is mostly used and disposed of by households and similar establishments. These may be:

    - Sheets: large-sized wraps, tubular plastics used in dry

      cleaning

    - EPS: large-sized polystyrene packaging

    - Receptacles > 5 l: canisters, buckets, and barrels etc.

Plastics small

designates small plastic packaging that is mostly used and disposed of by households and similar establishments. These may be:

    - Sheets: plastic sheets, shrink wraps for packing  

      meat/fruits/vegetables, carrier bags

    - EPS: polystyrene packaging or components, flakes

    - Receptacles < 5 l: PET bottles, cups, cans, and receptacles

      for body care products, detergents, scouring agents, and

      washing powder.

Producers

Companies that produce packaging or packaging aids.

PRO EUROPE

"Packaging Recovery Organisation Europe s.p.r.l."

PRO EUROPE, an organization founded in 1995 and based in Brussels, is in charge of organizing the transboundary right to use the "(Green) Dot", thus granting the same conditions to international companies in all involved countries. The purpose is to abolish trade barriers imposed by the different national packaging labels and terms and conditions of licensing.

Every nationally acknowledged collection and recovery system can become a shareholder and thus an equally entitled licensee.

R

Receptacles

are stable containers such as cups, bottles, canisters, buckets, and barrels.

ARA provides three different license fees for receptacles made of plastics:

- Small plastics (mostly used by households and similar establishments)

- Large plastics (mostly used and disposed of by households and similar

  establishments)

- Receptacles which are mostly used by industrial and commercial

  organizations and where the license fee for industrial and commercial

  packaging (ICP) may apply.

S

Sales packaging

With regard to the fees for paper, paperboard, cardboard and corrugated board, we need to distinguish between transport and sales packaging:

Sales packaging comprises cups, bags, sacks, boxes, trays, carrier bags, or similar wrappings as well as sales packaging components; these are used by the final customer, or someone acting on his behalf, until the goods or commodities are consumed or expired and in particular serve as a carrier of user information or any other legally prescribed product information. If a packaging meets the requirements of both a sales and a transport packaging, it is considered as sales packaging.

Service packaging

comprises transport or sales packaging, such as carrier bags, packets, bottles, or similar wrappings, provided that this type of packaging is manufactured in a technically uniform manner and usually filled at or near the point of sale.

Supplemental agreement

This simplified variant implies once-a-year notification and payment up to an annual license fee of 3,000 Euro.

T

The Dot

go to: Dot

Transport packaging

With regard to the fees for paper, paperboard, cardboard and corrugated board, we distinguish between transport and sales packaging: Transport packaging is packaging, such as boxes or similar wrappings, as well as transport packaging components that serve to protect goods or commodities against damage, either on their way from the manufacturer to the distributor, or on their way via the distributor to the final point of sale; they are also used to ensure transport safety.

Tray wraps

in accordance with licensing requirements, plastic sheets made of LDPE; as transport packaging they serve to comprise a certain minimum amount of sales units.

W

Wood

Wooden packaging or packaging made of wood are:

    - all types of disposable pallets,

    - boxes and transport packaging,

    - crates and boxes for storing fruit etc.