Waste Management Segment

Economic framework conditions for the waste management sector

The Circular Economy Package authored at EU level aims to establish sustainable products as the norm in the EU, making these products more durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable throughout their entire life cycle. The Circular Economy Package amendment under the Waste Management Act (AWG) at national level is intended to ensure waste avoidance, recycling, reuse, and beyond this to achieve a product design geared towards sustainability – based on EU eco-design specifications. Targets in line with this, such as those for recycling, quotas for reusable and disposable packaging and for the reduction of certain plastic products as well as on the focus topics of producer responsibility, incineration bans and landfill restrictions have been formulated and pose major challenges for the entire industry. In addition, the Waste Management Act (AWG) amendment on digitalisation came into force on 18 July 2024; it will drive further efficiency increases in waste management and therefore help to more quickly achieve sustainability objectives defined at a national level. The amendment focuses on measures designed to achieve a higher degree of digitalisation in waste management. Digitalised system approval procedures, fully electronic consignment notes and central processing of deposits on non-returnable packaging are examples of this.

To drive decarbonisation in the circular economy, the AWG amendments have, among other things, led to mandatory requirement for the staggered introduction of reusable quotas in the food trade starting on 1 January 2024. In addition, a one-way deposit of 25 cents will be levied on PET and aluminium packaging with a volume of between 0.1 litres (l) and 3.0 l starting on 1 January 2025; this means that the mandatory plastic recycled material content of at least 25.0% in PET bottles can be achieved through single-variety collection in Austria from 1 January 2025 without having to import additional recycled materials from abroad.

The amendment to the Packaging Regulation (VVO) requires commercial packaging placed on the market exclusively to be returned via a collection and recovery system. As a waste management company, Energie AG Oberösterreich Umwelt Service GmbH (Umwelt Service GmbH) is therefore – according to the VVO – essentially limited to logistics and handling services for only a fraction of the paper and cardboard volumes, the remuneration for these activities being one of the topics in a widespread debate in the entire industry, and – unlike before – is no longer permitted to market these volumes itself.

The conversion of the heavy goods vehicle fleet at Umwelt Service GmbH to sustainable HVO100 fuel (100% Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils), a biogenic fuel made from renewable raw materials, in the past fiscal year was a major step towards decarbonisation. This means that the mandatory requirement under the AWG to transport quantities of waste above 10 t by rail or similar climate-friendly means of transport over distances of 200 kilometres or more, which has been in place since 1 January 2024, can also be met using our own vehicles; it must also be noted that the kilometre limit will drop to 100 kilometres starting on 1 January 2026.

In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the framework conditions for the recycling materials paper/cardboard and metals improved compared with the previous year. In the metals sector, the higher average prices for various types of steel scrap were the main reason for the more favourable results. From May 2024 in particular, prices for recovered paper/cardboard rose significantly compared with the previous year.

Business development in the Waste Management Segment

In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, sales revenues in the Waste Management Segment amounted to EUR 298.0 million (previous year 274.7 million), representing an increase of 8.5%. Sales growth was primarily attributable to higher electricity and district heating sales as well as to recyclable materials such as paper/cardboard and scrap metal. Turnover from other waste disposal services also increased compared to the previous year.

EBIT increased by EUR 2.9 million to EUR 33.3 million compared with the previous year (EUR 30.4 million). The increase in earnings was primarily attributable to higher earnings contributions from generated electricity volumes. The year-on-year improvement in framework conditions for recyclable materials such as paper/cardboard and scrap metal, which resulted in higher prices, also had a positive impact on earnings. This compensated for negative effects on earnings, such as the decline in throughput volumes at waste incineration plants, higher personnel costs and increases in other expenses.

Incinerated waste volume

in 1,000 t

Utilisation of the waste incineration plants

The waste incineration plants at Wels and Lenzing achieved a throughput of about 574,800 tonnes of incinerated waste volume. This is equivalent to a decrease of 4.5% compared with the previous year, which is mainly due to unplanned downtime in Lenzing. In Lenzing, the annual overhaul took place in the period 29 February 2024 to 18 March 2024. At the Wels waste incineration plant, line 2 was overhauled in June and July 2024, and line 1 in September and October 2024.

The supply of heat mainly from the waste incineration process to the eww ag district heating network, was sustained without interruption throughout the fiscal year. Heat from solar energy and biomass are also fed into the grid. In case of downtime at the waste incineration plant, a backup system of hot water boilers secures the supply of heat to the grid. These boilers were activated in January 2024 during an unplanned plant shutdown and during overhaul work on the waste incineration plant in June and July 2024 in order to be able to fully meet all heat requirements.

In the reporting period, the waste incineration plant in Wels distributed 285 GWh of heat (previous year: 283 GWh) to the district heating network and to one other key account customer. Electricity procurement totalled 181 GWh (previous year: 184 GWh).

Total waste volume handled

in 1,000 t

The treatment plants for hazardous waste in Steyr were again very well utilised in the year under review. In terms of maintenance, the focus was primarily on the renovation of the CPO plant (chemical/physical treatment plant for organic waste). In addition, the fire alarm and extinguishing systems were upgraded.

Compared with the 2022/2023 fiscal year, the volumes handled in the Waste Management Segment rose slightly by 0.3% in the reporting period to a total of some 1,533,000 t (previous year: 1,529,000 t). While volumes in Austria grew, above all in the area of hazardous waste, collection systems and construction waste, there was an overall decrease in volumes in South Tyrol.

Various investment projects were implemented at the sales locations in the reporting period. Among other things, building work began on a new office building at the Hörsching location in the scope of site reorientation. Land was acquired at the Wels and Mühldorf sites to secure the location.

In addition to the abovementioned conversion of the heavy goods vehicle fleet to the sustainable HVO100 fuel, Umwelt Service GmbH took part, in the scope of the group-wide “LOOP” strategy project, in the tender for several grants for zero-emission commercial vehicles and infrastructure (ENIN) and was awarded funding for the purchase of several electric heavy goods vehicles and the associated charging infrastructure at the Redlham and Hörsching locations. The electric heavy goods vehicles for the Redlham location were delivered and commissioned in the second half of the 2023/2024 fiscal year. The required charging infrastructure was also commissioned. For the Hörsching location, delivery of the electric heavy goods vehicles and the installation of the matching charging infrastructure is scheduled for the 2024/2025 fiscal year. Beyond this, PV systems were set up and commissioned at the Timelkam and Redlham locations.

The investigations throughout Austria into the area of collection and transport in the waste management industry initiated by the Federal Competition Authority (BWB) in 2021 are still in progress. Umwelt Service GmbH is actively assisting the investigation.

The economic framework conditions at the Neumarkt location was difficult due to the depression in the construction industry and the lower demand for substitute fuels this caused. It proved possible to compensate for the downturn in paper sales by acquiring new customers for paper rejects. While lower prices in commercial and industrial waste disposal were achieved year-on-year, glass sorting remained stable.

WDL-Wasserdienstleistungs GmbH (WDL GmbH) experienced largely stable framework conditions for drinking water supply and waste water management in Austria during the reporting period. At WDL GmbH, the main focus was on maintaining the secure supply of drinking water and further developing the services offered. It proved possible to increase drinking water delivery volumes by a small amount.