Transition Towards a Circular Economy: Austria's Position and Export Capability

2022-11-10 21:14:01 By : Ms. Vesna JING

Climate change is a defining challenge of the 21st century. The rise in global average temperature can lead to more frequent natural disasters that are harmful to humans and all other life on the planet.

Austria is one of the first EU member states to develop a strategy for climate change to prevent adverse impacts on the environment, society and economy. The Austrian government lists ‘transformation towards circular economy’ as one of the country’s key priorities. Furthermore, Austria has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 36% in 2030 compared to 2005, and aims to achieve net-zero by 2040, aligning with the Paris Climate Agreement which calls for a global response to achieve temperature and climate neutrality. Mesin Injection Moulding

Transition Towards a Circular Economy: Austria's Position and Export Capability

Positioning itself as a world leader in ecological construction and environmental technology, Austria is ranked third in Europe for its performance in eco-innovation in 2021, behind Luxembourg and Finland. This is a result of Austrian businesses actively attempting to engage in the circular economy and sustainability, including major sectors such as machinery, vehicles, wood and paper, healthcare, food, and luxury goods. Waste management and recycling are Austria's areas of expertise. The country's Circularity Gap Report 2019 noted that "an important step to increase the circularity of a national economy is to use waste as a resource and increase its recycling rate". Thus Austrian companies use recycling to move their businesses closer to the circular economy.

Greiner Bio-One Thailand Ltd. and ENGEL Machinery (Thailand) Ltd. are good examples of Austrian subsidiaries in Thailand that seek to make their products and services more sustainable. 

Greiner Bio-One sells plastic products for the biotechnology and pre-analytics fields. Currently, 34% of their products can be recycled. By 2025, the company hopes to have all of its plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable. 

Injection moulding machine manufacturer ENGEL Machinery (Thailand) Ltd. has worked with clients to figure out how to make their products more environmentally friendly, such as integrating recyclable plastic into the production process. The company is also researching technologies that would enable PET, a material with outstanding recycling characteristics, to be used for thin wall packaging solutions.

The establishment of ENVICCO Ltd., a joint venture between PTT Global Chemical PCL (PTTGC) and ALPLA PACKAGING (THAILAND) Co., Ltd. is another significant event that highlights Austria's recycling expertise supporting Thailand in pursuing the Bio-Circular-Green Economic Model promoted by the Thai government. On 13 September 2022, PTTGC, the world leader in sustainability the in chemicals sector according to Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), and ALPLA, the world's leading manufacturer of recycled plastic containers organised an opening ceremony for ENVICCO, the largest plastic resin plant in Southeast Asia manufacturing high-quality and food-grade recycled plastic resins.  The new plant has a maximum production capacity of 45,000 tons of recycled plastic resins each year, comprising 30,000 tons of rPET resin and 15,000 tons of rHDPE resin. ENVICCO operations will reduce Thailand’s plastic waste by 60,000 tons per year and reduce greenhouse gas by 75,000 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to reforestation of 78,000 rai (124.8 million sq.m.) or planting 8.32 million large trees.

As one of the countries with the highest recycling rates across Europe, Austria supports global efforts to achieve climate neutrality through collaboration and knowledge sharing, both domestically and internationally. Austria is proud to walk this path together with its Thai partners for the future.

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Transition Towards a Circular Economy: Austria's Position and Export Capability

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