Study Tour, Vienna

In the approved Workplan of the Twinning Project, the activity ’Study Tour’ was scheduled for June 2023. The purpose of the study tour was, clearly, to focus on the main aspect of the Twinning Project, the EPR system and its operation, and for participants to gain understanding of related waste management technologies, and to lear about best practices.

As part of the Study Tour, an 8-member delegation from the beneficiary country, North Macedonia, participated in an intensive series of meetings on June 13-14, 2023, firstly visitig the Project’s junior partner, Umweltbundesamt GmbH, at the first destination of the study tour in Austria, Vienna.

The series began on the first day with presentations by the hosts at the official office of Umweltbundesamt: Johannes Mayer and Brigitte Karigl introduced the operation of the EPR system in Austria, while Dieter Schuch, representing ARA, provided information about the practical tasks of Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) and the operational functioning of the system. Following this, Andreas Pertl, the head of VKS GmbH, gave a presentation on Austrian legal regulations and the resulting operational system under the title „Experiences and Insights from Packaging Coordination Office (VKS).”

In the morning of the second day, Matthias Ottersböck, the staff member responsible for waste management in Vienna, delivered a presentation to delegation members on the issue of Separate Collection of Packaging Waste in Vienna. During the presentation, the entire urban waste management system was introduced, highlighting the role of EPR in sustainability.