Overview
- Austria generates about 4.45 million tonnes of household waste a year, with a pronounced Christmas–New Year spike that drives tens of thousands of additional collections between December 24 and January 1.
- Food waste accounts for 16% of household trash, roughly 1.1 million tonnes or about 75 kilograms per person annually, with holiday gatherings adding around another 10%.
- Roughly 2.8 million real Christmas trees are put up and later discarded, and officials advise taking trees to collection points, placing wreaths and cones in biowaste, and disposing of candles and floral foam in residual waste.
- Disposal guidance stresses material-based sorting: simple printed wrapping goes to paper recycling, coated or metallic paper to residual waste, plastic ribbons and cushioning to the yellow bin, and fabric ribbons or foils to residual waste, with reuse encouraged where possible.
- E-commerce returns add to the load, with about 20% of ordered packages expected to be sent back and an estimated 1.4 million parcels reportedly destroyed when retailers do not take them back.