Deposit Austria: New deposit regulation in Austria from 2025

Our service for deposit in Austria

Appointment of an authorised representative

Registration of the company and its products

Always well informed about the current legal situation

The Deposit Ordinance comes into force in Austria on 1 January 2025. RecycleMe supports you in fulfilling your obligations in connection with deposits in Austria.

Here you will find an overview of the most important contents of the regulation and our service.

Pfand Österreich 2025 - Neue Pfandverordnung in Österreich ab 2025

Our offer in detail

Do you have questions about the new deposit regulation in Austria? Simply contact our experts. Together we will find a solution for your individual challenge.

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Worum geht es

Why is a deposit system being introduced?

In Austria, the introduction of a deposit system is enshrined in law as part of the amendment to the Austrian Waste Management Act. The deposit ordinance for single-use beverage containers contains supplementary regulations for the planning and implementation of the Austrian deposit system. With the entry into force of the EU regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste, the introduction of a deposit system for single-use plastic beverag bottles and metal drinks containers will be mandatory for all EU member states in future.

The introduction of a deposit system is intended to achieve several objectives:
A collection rate of at least 80% is to be achieved in Austria from 2025 and a collection rate of at least 90% from 2027, which will strengthen the circular economy. Consumers will be motivated to return the deposit products to the collector.

This reduces environmental pollution (littering). The material cycle enables high-quality recycling of packaging waste and the reuse of recycled material in beverage containers. Overall, the deposit system makes a major contribution to environmental protection.

Today, there are already several established deposit systems in Europe. The Scandinavian countries Sweden (1984), Iceland (1989) and Norway (1999) are the pioneers of the deposit system. Germany also introduced a deposit system in 2003. Further deposit systems have been implemented in recent years, such as in Slovakia (2022), Romania (2023) and Hungary (2024). Many other countries are currently working on the introduction and implementation of a deposit system.

Deposit Austria: Which products are affected?

From 1 January 2025, all plastic beverage bottles and metal cans from 0.1 litres to 3 litres that are placed on the market in Austria will be charged a deposit of € 0.25.
The deposit products must be labelled with the deposit symbol and a new barcode so that the manual and automatic take-back machines can recognise the containers as deposit containers.
Milk and dairy products, syrups, beverage bottles for complementary foods, liquid foods for special medical purposes and daily rations for weight control nutrition are excluded from the deposit system. Glass or metal bottles with plastic closures and plastic lids as well as composite beverage cartons are also excluded.

There is a transitional period until the end of 2025. This means that products without a deposit symbol that were bottled before 1 April 2024 may continue to be sold until the end of 2025.

Pfand Österreich - Welche Produkte betroffen sind

What obligations do you have?

As a company, you can fulfil different roles. On the one hand, you can take on the role of the initial distributor and/or the role of the recipient.

First distributor

The first distributor can be an Austrian producer or an importer who places single-use deposit bottles and single-use deposit cans on the Austrian market for the first time. First-time distributors are faced with many new obligations, which can certainly present challenges:

Appointment of an authorised representative (mandatory for foreign companies not domiciled in Austria)
Registration of the company and its products including sample submission in the online portal of the Central Agency
Payment of the registration costs, producer fee and the deposit amount
Labelling of containers subject to mandatory deposit with the deposit symbol and a new GTIN (or an international GTIN)
Right of first refusal on 90 % of sorted disposable drinks packaging

Collectors

In principle, every final distributor of single-use beverages with a deposit is obliged to take back empty containers. New obligations also apply to those taking back single-use beverage containers that are subject to a deposit:

Registration of the company, the collection point and possibly the reverse vending machines
Redemption by means of manual redemption or automatic redemption machines
Possible payment of the equalisation contribution
Deposit refund to consumers

Do you have any questions so far? Contact our experts or take a closer look at our services!

Unser Angebot

Our services in relation to the Austrian deposit system in detail:

We will review your individual obligations if you manufacture or market packaging that is affected by Austria’s new deposit system.

RecycleMe Angebot zu Österreichs neuem Pfandsystem

We check your packaging

Does your packaging fall within the scope of application?
Does it meet the technical requirements?
What adjustments or changes need to be made?
Can you benefit from ecologically tiered manufacturer fees based on the recyclability of your packaging?

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We take over your obligations:

Services for producers/importers based in Austria:

Implementation of the obligations of the initial distributor and/or recipient

We register your packaging quantities with the Central Agency (incl. submission of samples). In this way, we fulfil your reporting obligations and also take care of the continuous data maintenance in the register of the Central Agency (incl. registration of new packaging subject to deposit).

Support in implementing the labelling requirements and in exercising the right of first refusal for sorted fractions
Legal Watch on potential changes and new obligations

Services for foreign companies not domiciled in Austria that supply to private final consumers or sell to resellers (= pre-licencing)

Position of the authorised representative (by AuthoriseMe): Assumption of the duties of the first inserter and/or reclaimer

We register your packaging quantities with the Central Agency (incl. submission of samples). In this way, we fulfil your reporting obligations and also take care of continuous data maintenance in the register of the Central Agency (incl. registration of new packaging subject to deposit).

We support you!

We support companies worldwide with our services related to the Austrian deposit. If you have a specific challenge, we will find the right solution together!

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Partner & Customers

Our international network is a key factor in our success. We see ourselves as a coordinator of the circular economy and work internationally with all players along the entire value chain.

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Would you like to know more about Deposit in Austria?

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