Altstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) Brochure

PERFORMANCE REPORT 20112ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT 2011: KEY FACTS AT A GLANCE WASTE COLLECTED IN 2011 (tonnes)PAPER GLASS LIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGINGMETAL WOOD TOTALHouseholds 78,721 218,875 179,410 1 37,682 – 514,688Businesses and industry 257,084 – 40,726 2,119 19,687 319,616Total 335,805 218,875 220,136 39,801 19,687 834,3041 Including wood packaging. 2009 2010 2011Number of license partners 15,135 15,231 15,416License fee revenues in € million 161.2 179.8 158.8Waste collected, tonnes 824,259 835,146 834,304Waste recovered, tonnes 774,429 784,751 782,1962011: KEY FACTS ARA‘s packaging compliance service plays a proactive role in climate protection: The separate collection and recovery of packaging waste helps save around 615,000 tonnes CO2 equivalents per year, which is a substantial contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.ARA SYSTEM’S RECOVERY PERFORMANCE IN 2011335,805 tPaper19,845 tWood32,335 tMetal211,848 tGlass182,363 tLight-weight packaging Total: 782,196 tonnes32011: KEY FACTS AT A GLANCE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTCOLLECTION CONTAINERS AND BAG COLLECTION FROM HOUSEHOLDS IN 2011Paper 1,123,382Glass 80,386Light-weight packaging (yellow bin) 238,797Metal 51,073Number of collection containers 1,493,638Number of households covered by the bag scheme for light-weight packaging (yellow bag) 1,459,900PER-CAPITA AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS IN 2011, BY PROVINCES (kg per annum)1 Print materials and paper packaging are collected together. PAPER1 GLASS LIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGING METAL TOTALBurgenland 78.8 31.3 25.5 5.3 140.9Carinthia 72.7 25.8 12.4 3.4 114.3Lower Austria 71.6 23.6 15.8 3.6 114.6Upper Austria 71.1 26.3 17.7 3.4 118.5Salzburg 58.2 29.0 18.7 2.6 108.5Styria 79.1 31.5 22.4 4.4 137.4Tyrol 56.9 39.3 31.4 5.0 132.6Vorarlberg 82.5 33.0 26.8 6.4 148.7Vienna 73.0 15.6 3.7 1.9 94.2Austria 71.6 26.0 16.7 3.6 117.9ARA LICENSING COSTS (average costs in € per tonne of packaging material)2001200019991998199719961995 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 201250150100250300350200283240268287291310208 198170 165 156141 132 134 164 146 133151AT A GLANCE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT CONTENTSCONTENTS2011: KEY FACTS AT A GLANCE 2PREFACE 6COMPANY PROFILE 10Legal framework 11Ownership structure 13Organisation chart 13Management structure 14Stakeholders and their requirements 14Mission statement 14Company values 15Sustainability as a business principle 16Risk management 17Subsidiaries 17Memberships 17BUSINESS PERFORMANCE 20License partners 21License partner forum 22License tariffs 22License partner audits 23WASTE PREVENTION 24Resource management research 25ARA Lectures 25ARA Best Study Award 25“Minimise waste” initiative 26Waste prevention awards 26Waste prevention service for events 27AGR fund for waste prevention 27COLLECTION AND RECOVERY 30Nationwide collection system 31Recovery of packaging waste 35Paper packaging 37Light-weight packaging 41Metal packaging 45Wood packaging 48Glass packaging 49Recovery partners in Austria 52Business process diagram 545CONTENTS ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 56External environmental impact 57Internal environmental impact 57Sustainability agenda of the beverage industry 57COMMUNICATIONS 62Waste consultants: Direct contact with consumers 63TRENNT – ARA AG’s magazine 63Campaigns 63Social media 64Events and support for social projects 65SURVEYS AND STUDIES 66Views on waste sorting 67Waste sorting among old and new inhabitants of Vienna 67Views on gift packaging 67EMPLOYEES 68Remuneration 70Further training 70Internal communications 70Idea management 70Health and safety 70Anti-corruption policy 71Job creation 71OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES 72Objectives achieved in 2011 73Objectives and challenges in 2012 75CONTACTS AND ADDRESSES 76Validation and certification 78GRI application levels 78GRI content index 796ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT PREFACE2011 was a successful business year for ARA AG: We were able to pass on cost advantages to our customers by lowering ARA‘s license tariffs on 1 January and 1 July 2011, and again on 1 January 2012. As a result of the latest price cut to € 133 per tonne, ARA tariffs are at the lowest level in company history and have been reduced by an average of 57 % since 1995. These price cuts were made possible on account of comprehensive efficiency measures and the recovery in secondary commodity markets, which allowed us to realise higher recovery revenues. By tendering and awarding new contracts for the collection, sorting and recovery of packaging waste, we have taken important steps to ensure cost coverage in the coming years. In line with our non-profit status, any financial surplus generated is used to lower our license tariffs.International comparisons confirm that packaging waste management is working very well in Austria. In 2011, ARA System managed 834,304 tonnes of packaging waste; 782,196 tonnes of this were recycled or incinerated. 94 % were recovered in Austria, providing the domestic industry with valuable raw materials. ARA‘s compliance service is not only about saving re-sources, though: Our 15,000+ license partners also help protect the climate. ARA System‘s separate collection and recovery schemes for packaging waste are climate-neutral and help save around 615,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year, which is a substantial contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Both the Environment Agency Austria and the Vienna University of Technology confirm this result. Sustainable waste disposal habits also play an important role for Austrian households. A recent survey by IMAS confirms that consumers are convinced of the benefits of separate collection schemes for packaging waste: 96 % of respondents stated that they separate paper, glass, plastics and metal waste from residual waste. The adoption of the much-discussed amendment to the Austrian Waste Management Act and the Packaging Or-dinance was postponed yet again in 2011 but is expected for 2012. The amendment aims at ensuring a level playing field in the collection of packaging waste from households. ARA AG has been lobbying for this amendment, as we are currently operating in an unsatisfactory legal environment that does not offer sufficient protection against unfair business practices.PREFACE7PREFACE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTWe will continue to work for the interest of Austrian busi-nesses and consumers by ensuring the efficient implemen-tation of the Austrian Packaging Ordinance. This means maximising ecological benefit while minimising economic expenditure. In doing so, we remain true to the sustaina-bility principle to which ARA‘s owners, management and staff have been committed since the company‘s founda-tion in 1993. ARA‘s success has been built on the trust our customers place in us and on the commitment of Austrian consumers and businesses to sorting waste. Thanks are also in order to all ARA System partners for the good cooperation and to all employees for their excellent performance: The outstanding results of 2011 would not have been possible without them. Leo SchreiberChairman of the Supervisory BoardChristoph ScharffCEOWerner KnauszCEOPackaging as a raw material for new packaging, and the natural resources saved, are at the core of the photo concept of ARA‘s 2011 Performance Report. Photographer Lukas Maximilian Hüller relies on projections of the dot symbol – which is a symbol of recycling – and packaging against the background of the natural raw materials they are made of. 32,000 TONNES OF METAL PACKAGING RECOVERED.10COMPANY PROFILE11COMPANY PROFILE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTAltstoff Recycling Austria AG (ARA) is Austria‘s leading col-lection and recovery system for packaging. We offer a full compliance service to all domestic and foreign manufac-turers, importers, packers, fillers, wholesalers and retailers of packaging who are subject to the Austrian Packaging Ordinance. By entering a compliance and license agree-ment with ARA AG and paying the license fees due, these companies can transfer to us the obligations they have under the ordinance. The revenues from license fees are used to organise and finance the collection, sorting and recovery of packaging waste in Austria. Our modern and comprehensive recycling system for all types of packaging is available to consumers and businesses all across the country. The compliance service for glass packaging is co-organised by ARA AG and AGR, the collection and recovery system for glass packaging. LEGAL FRAMEWORKThe Austrian Waste Management Act is the legal basis for regulating waste management in Austria. It covers meas- ures for avoiding, minimising, recovering and disposing of waste, and it regulates the licensing of collection and recovery systems by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agri-culture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management. Based on the Waste Management Act, the Packaging Ordinance aims at protecting the environment by sending packaging waste for recycling to avoid landfilling. The Packaging Ordinance specifies the responsibilities of manufacturers, importers, packers, fillers, wholesalers and retailers of packaging, as well as the responsibilities of collection and recovery systems, e.g. by defining collection and recycling ratios. ARA SYSTEMPACKAGING MANUFACTURERSPACKERSFILLERSIMPORTERSWHOLESALERSRETAILERSMUNICIPALITIESWASTE DISPOSAL COMPANIESWASTE RECOVERY COMPANIESARA AG*- Paper- Plastics- Metal- Wood- Composite materials- Textile fibres- Ceramics- Packaging made of biodegradable materialsAGR* - GlassMore than 15,000 license partners transfer to ARA AG their obligation to take back used packaging.ARA System runs a nationwide collection and recovery system for packaging from households and businesses in line with the target ratios specified by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Environment.Cities, municipalities, waste associations and more than 200 disposal and recovery companies are the backbone of the collection system.ARA AG Altstoff Recycling AustriaAGR Austria Glasrecycling GmbH* System operator in line with Art. 29 Waste Management Act for the respective packaging material.12ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COMPANY PROFILEIn 2011, no agreement was reached regarding an amend-ment to Austria‘s waste legislation that would ensure a level playing field in the collection of packaging waste from households. This amendment has been discussed for quite some time now – the details were specified by Austria‘s governing parties in a motion for a parliamentary resolu- tion as early as December 2010 – and its implementation is expected for 2012. The reform aims at preventing considerable setbacks for environmental goals and avoiding disadvantages for businesses, municipalities and consumers as observed in Germany owing to a lack of market transparency and the large number of system operators. These drawbacks in- clude a dramatically lower quality of collection results, a rapid increase in the number of freeloaders, unequal treat-ment of customers, and legal uncertainty. In addition, Germany no longer has a member-owned collection system for packaging waste. ARA AG is currently operating in an unsatisfactory legal en-vironment that does not offer sufficient protection against unfair business practices. We have long been pressing for fair regulations in line with competition rules as well as effective legal compliance checks, which would ultimately benefit our customers. Improving the effective separation of household and commercial systems is the first essential step to achieve this goal. We hold a continuing dialogue with all stakeholders to prevent regulations that could have a negative impact on businesses and consumers and to maintain the high level of quality and efficiency.OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE OF ARA AG1/3 1/3 1/3ARA AGALTSTOFF RECYCLING AUSTRIA ASSOCIATIONARO HOLDING GMBHVEREIN ÖKK VEREIN FÜR METALL-RECYCLING FERROPACKVEREIN ZUR FÖRDERUNG VON ALUMI-NIUM-VERPA-CKUNGENVEREIN FÜR HOLZPACK-MITTEL85.20 % 3.70 % 3.70 % 1.85 % 1.85 % 3.70 %WHOLESALERSRETAILERSPACKERSFILLERSIMPORTERSPACKAGING MANU-FACTURERSPAPER PLASTICSFERROUS METAL ALUMINIUM WOODMETAL13COMPANY PROFILE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTOWNERSHIP STRUCTUREARA AG is a stock corporation under Austrian law, with the non-profit ARA association being the majority shareholder. Any enterprise that manufactures or imports packaging, or trades in packaged goods, can become a member (and thus co-owner) of the association. Only waste disposal compa-nies are excluded from joining the association.To ensure that the three main interest groups are equally represented, the ARA association is divided into three sections: manufacturers, packers/fillers/importers, and wholesaler/retailers.ARA AG‘s ownership structure also reflects this division into three groups, and all nine packaging materials are equally represented within the group of packaging manufacturers in line with the provisions of the Packaging Ordinance. The companies representing individual packaging materials hold a share either indirectly as members of the ARA association or through a separate body.While the manufacturers of packaging made of paper, plas-tics, metal (ferrous metal and aluminium) and wood chose to set up separate entities, the manufacturers of all other packaging are represented by the ARA association.ORGANISATION CHARTFinance Christoph ZwickControlling Erwin GschmeidlerIT Martin WieserEnvironmental officerEvelyne AntreichInternal AuditReinhard PinterMANAGEMENT BOARDWERNER KNAUSZ CHRISTOPH SCHARFFSALES PRODUCTIONSales and Customer Service Hermann FaschingHousehold System Erwin JandaAccounting and Sales Support Reinhard PinterIndustrial and Commercial System, Product Management Harald PichlerTechnical Services Dieter SchuchCommunications Christian MayerLegal Heribert LöckerPersonnel and Administration Susanne NeubauerQuality Management Reinhard Pinter14ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COMPANY PROFILEMANAGEMENT STRUCTUREMANAGEMENT BOARDWerner Knausz, CEOChristoph Scharff, CEOSUPERVISORY BOARDThomas Abel Alfred Berger Nicole Berkmann (from January 2012)Wolfgang Buchsbaum Thomas Eck Alfred Fogarassy, Vice Chairman Gerhard Haider Bernhard Karrer Phillip Markl (until October 2011)Alfred Matousek Leo Schreiber, Chairman Thomas Spannagl Alois Wichtl, Vice Chairman STAKEHOLDERS AND THEIR REQUIREMENTSAustrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management- Fulfil national targets in line with the EU Packaging Directive- Make economic sense Businesses- License partners: Provide compliance services at the lowest sustainable cost- Waste producers: Offer convenient and tailored disposal solutions Consumers - Provide convenient, simple and reliable collection schemes- Keep packaging tariffs and waste fees as low as possibleMunicipalities- Reduce waste quantities- Provide fair compensation for services rendered- Coordinate with municipal waste collectionWaste management companies- Maintain profitable business relations- Secondary raw materials Employees- Offer job security- Ensure good working conditionsMISSION STATEMENTProviding our license partners with a packaging compli-ance service at the lowest cost possibleGUIDING PRINCIPLES- Fulfil the requirements of the Austrian Waste Management Act and the Packaging Ordinance at the lowest possible economic cost while achieving the greatest possible benefit to the environment - Maintain non-profit orientation in our core business (i.e. providing packaging compliance services in Austria)- Equal treatment of all packaging materials - Strictly material-specific calculation of tariffs and, wherever possible, expense-based cost allocation; no cross-subsidies between packaging materials - Allow competition between packaging materials - Provide financial transparency - Promote political and social acceptance in line with market requirements - Ensure competition at every level of the value-added chain, particularly through competitive procedures in the contracting of public and private partners15COMPANY PROFILE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTCOMPANY VALUESServices Our core business is to offer packaging compliance services for all packaging materials that are disposed of by households and the commercial sector. ARA organises the collection, sorting and recovery of packaging waste throughout Austria. Together with our partners, we have established one of the leading collection and recovery sys-tems in Europe. We also offer innovative waste manage-ment solutions to customers in Austria and abroad. Customers and owners ARA was established and is ultimately owned by the com-panies and organisations to which the Austrian Packaging Ordinance pertains. The same terms and conditions apply to all customers, and ARA acts in the best interest of its owners and to the benefit of all license partners. The company goals are stated in ARA‘s mission statement and guiding principles. Our customer relations are based on transparency, accountability and trust. Efficiency principle By providing our customers with compliance services at the lowest sustainable cost, we aim for market and price leadership in a competitive environment. ARA operates on a non-profit basis in the core business, while at the same time observing the principles of sound business, maximum efficiency and cost transparency. Operational partners ARA works together with numerous partners and uses the advantages of competitive procurement in awarding con-tracts. The smooth cooperation with our partners – city and municipal governments, waste management associations and private-sector waste disposal and recovery companies – and our strong capacity for innovation form the basis for the success, efficiency and acceptance of our collection and recovery system. Employees ARA‘s employees represent the company and its values and goals in all contacts with customers and partners. Compe-tent, responsible, reliable and flexible, our staff help main-tain a company culture which is based on mutual respect, both in-house and in external relations. Company environment ARA‘s business activities help protect the environment and make an active contribution to climate protection, by providing secondary raw materials and energy sources as well as promoting the prevention of waste, among other things. We are continually working on minimising the en-vironmental impact of the collection, sorting and recovery of packaging waste. We are also working hard to achieve a high level of acceptance among consumers, businesses, administrators, decision-makers and politicians, above all by providing them with information. Corporate governance ARA is committed to open communications and mutual trust between management and employees. All goals are well defined; all tasks and responsibilities are clearly as- signed. In our dealings with each other – including dealing with criticism – we are open, constructive and solution-oriented. Independent action and cross-departmental thinking are encouraged and supported. Quality goals ARA has a strong commitment to the principles of legal and contractual compliance. As a quality-oriented com-pany, we always aim to improve our performance. This is why we also review the economic impact of our quality and environmental goals, which are set at regular intervals. 16ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COMPANY PROFILESUSTAINABILITY AS A BUSINESS PRINCIPLEThe success of packaging recycling in Austria would not have been possible without the integration of social and economic aspects, as both are essential to fulfilling the ecological targets: Businesses have to accept the producer responsibility principle, and consumers have to be willing to sort their packaging waste.ARA AG has been committed to the principle of sustain- ability since its foundation in 1993. We aim to achieve economic success based on a long-term strategy that also takes account of the company‘s social and environmental responsibility. This approach is enshrined in ARA‘s compa-ny values and its quality and environmental management systems, which cover all relevant sustainability issues. ARA publishes an annual Sustainability Report, which con-forms to GRI sustainability reporting guidelines. The 2010 issue received two awards: It was the winner of the catego-ry Sustainability Report/Design at the business magazine Trend‘s Austrian Annual Report Award, and it received the Austrian printing industry‘s Golden Pixel Award in the Green category.QUALITY AND ENVIRON-MENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSARA AG has had an ISO 9001-certified quality manage-ment system in place since 1997. Our environmental ma-nagement system in line with ISO 14001 was implemented in 2010. The two management systems are regularly updated and monitored in internal audit procedures, and are recertified by Quality Austria at regular intervals. Most of our partner companies in the waste collection, sorting and recovery industry have quality and/or envi-ronmental management systems in place, too, which are typically certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, EMAS or the Austrian EFB standard. This means that large parts of the performance chain – licensing, collection, sorting and re-covery – are subject to one and the same quality manage-ment system.MANAGEMENT SYSTEMCOMPANY VALUES AND MISSION STATEMENTManagement of day-to-day business, implementation of corrective measures on an ongoing basis, communications and informationCONTROLLINGMonitor- Customer satisfaction- Environmental impact - Workplace safetyInternal audits: Assess- Compliance with legislation- Compliance with defined processesMANAGEMENT REVIEWPLANNING BASED ON REVIEW RESULTS- Employee assignment and training- Goals to achieve sustainable improvements- Measures, responsibilities, and deadlines- Adapting the Management System and Company Values, if required- Adapting processes and workplace evaluations, if required17COMPANY PROFILE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTOur own quality management (QM) system is process-oriented and ensures that all sustainability issues are adequately covered. As an integral part of operational processes, the QM system includes defining and monito-ring company goals, establishing adequate organisational structures and providing the resources required. The QM system is documented in a QM manual, and the individual quality assurance processes are outlined in a QM map that is available to all ARA employees via the Intranet.ARA‘s Management Board is ultimately in charge of maintaining and constantly improving the QM system. The achievement of quality and environmental goals as well as the efficiency of the QM system are assessed in annual Ma-nagement Reviews. New objectives and tasks are specified on the basis of these findings.RISK MANAGEMENTThe Management Board is also responsible for risk ma-nagement. One essential aspect is to ensure the exchange of risk-related information within the company and bet-ween ARA AG and its owners and the Supervisory Board. In this context, risk means possible positive or negative devia-tions from the company goals and benchmarks. Our risk management activities focus on systematically identifying, avoiding and minimising risk, as well as on taking adequate precautionary measures. These goals are achieved by analysing, evaluating and minimising possible sources of risk. For instance, the volatility risk of revenues from selling secondary raw materials has increased sharply since the economic crisis of 2008/2009. SUBSIDIARIESERA (Elektro Recycling Austria GmbH) is the Austrian specialist for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). A non-profit enterprise operated by ARA AG and the ERA association, ERA offers a comprehensive com-pliance service by taking on all transferable obligations that manufacturers, wholesalers/retailers, importers and exporters of electrical equipment and batteries have under the Austrian WEEE Ordinance and the Batteries Ordinance. Thanks to its affiliation to ARA AG, ERA draws on a sub- stantial knowledge base in waste management. NetMan (Network Management und IT Service GmbH) is ARA‘s subsidiary for data communications and information management services. NetMan has many years of experi-ence in the development and implementation of complex software solutions with a focus on client-server database applications. NetMan offers several solutions tailored to the needs of waste management companies for meeting the industry‘s extensive data recording and reporting requirements. ARES (Advanced Recycling Solutions GmbH), a 100 % subsidiary of ARA AG, has provided tailor-made disposal solutions for businesses and industry since 2009. Its com-prehensive range of services helps companies implement professional waste management solutions. MEMBERSHIPSARA AG is a member of numerous interest groups and is represented in several expert forums and organisations in Austria and abroad. We use these platforms for exchanging information, discussing positions and transferring know-how.Most important memberships - Austrian Economic Chamber - Sustainability Agenda working group of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber- PRO EUROPE (Packaging Recovery Organisation Europe)- ISWA (International Solid Waste Association)- Austrian Water and Waste Management Association (Österreichischer Wasser- und Abfallwirtschaftsverband – ÖWAV)- Association of Austrian Disposal Companies (Verband Österreichischer Entsorgungsbetriebe – VÖEB) - Environmental Technology Cluster (Umwelttechnik-Cluster)- Christian Doppler Research Association- respACT – Austrian Business Council for Sustainable Development- PSR – Institute for Public Social Responsibility336,000 TONNES OF PAPER PACKAGING RECOVERED.20BUSINESS PERFOR-MANCE21BUSINESS PERFORMANCE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTARA AG relies on license fee revenues and recovery re-venues to finance the collection, acquisition, sorting and recovery of packaging waste as well as the completion of its mandated tasks (e.g. waste prevention measures). It adheres to the non-profit principle; surpluses or deficits arising in one calculation period are considered in the calculation of tariffs for the subsequent period.LICENSE PARTNERS To date, ARA AG has provided its services to more than 15,400 customers. While we are required by law to ensure a high level of market development, it also helps protect our customers from distortion of competition through freeriders. Our top quality services and a strong customer focus have allowed us to secure our role as Austria‘s go-to provider of packaging compliance services. Thanks to the expansion of ARA‘s online services, customer communication has become simpler and faster. For instance, most customers use the Internet to request compliance contract and license agreement forms, and many use our convenient and safe online reporting tool for submitting packaging waste data, thus reducing their administrative burden. ARA‘s key account managers understand the importance of building strong customer relationships. Our hotline, which is staffed by experienced professionals, and customer ser-vice centres in Carinthia, Salzburg and the Tyrol ensure that problems are solved and queries are handled promptly. The services provided by ARA‘s subsidiary ARES round out our portfolio.We offer in-house training courses for the employees of our customers who are in charge of waste licensing and disposal. The courses focus on the Packaging Ordinance and on packaging compliance and disposal.KEY DATA FROM OUR FINANCIAL STATEMENT(€ million)2009 2010 20111Equity 2.155 2.155 2.155Revenues License fee revenues 160.848 179.808 158.780Revenues from secondary raw material sales 17.956 27.914 39.436Expenses for waste collection, sorting and recovery –147.555 –145.189 –148.5461 As of 18 April 2012, before approval by the relevant bodies.22ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT BUSINESS PERFORMANCEOf course, we make sure that the information provided always reflects the latest developments: updates to the Ministry‘s licensing criteria, amendments to the relevant legislation, or measures to simplify the process, such as the launch of the online reporting tool. We also host and organise numerous events – e.g. excursions to disposal and recovery companies, guided tours of recycling plants, and industry get-togethers – which are an excellent oppor-tunity to learn more about ARA AG, its activities and the services it provides. LICENSE PARTNER FORUMThe license partner forum hosted by the ARA association is a platform where our customers can obtain up-to-date information about ARA AG and address requests and re-commendations to the association and ARA AG. The forum was frequently used in 2011. The most important topics in the reporting year were amendments to waste legislation, projects implemented by ARA waste consultants, and legal issues regarding cross-border licensing.LICENSE TARIFFSARA‘s license tariffs are calculated separately for the household and commercial systems and for each waste category. The tariffs reflect the expenses the various packaging materials cause in the collection and recovery cycle. Before implementation, tariffs are subject to an external audit procedure and submitted to the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management. In 2011, ARA‘s license tariffs were lowered twice, by a total of 13 %. Thanks to rigorous cost-saving measures and the recovery in secondary commodity markets, we were able to reduce most tariffs by around 10 % in early 2012. At € 133 per tonne on average, ARA‘s 2012 tariffs are at the lowest level in company history. This policy of passing on cost savings and unscheduled surpluses to our customers shows our continued commitment to ARA‘s non-profit status. 1 January 2012TARIFFSAs of 1 January 2012 Tari?s (€/kg) excl. VATPackaging materials as of 1 July 2011 as of 1 January 20121.1. Sales packaging paper* 0.115 0.1001.2. Transport packaging paper 0.040 0.0372. One-way glass packaging 0.071 0.0713. Wood 0.013 0.0114. Ceramics 0.170 0.1405.1. Ferrous metal small < 3 l 0.260 0.2355.2. Ferrous metal large = 3 l (and metal strapping) 0.110 0.0905.3. Aluminium 0.420 0.3806. Textiles Plastics small* 0.265 0.2007.0. 0.620 0.5907.1. EPS (e.g. Styropor®) = 0.1 kg/SU** 0.190 0.1908. Composite materials (excluding beverage cartons) 0.600 0.5809.Industrial, commercial and large plastic packaging (ICP)9.1.Foils = 1.5 m²Tray foils = 0.25 m²(and either = 6 SUs** food or = 3 SUs** non-food)Strapping material; adhesive tape0.105 0.1009.2.Hollow bodies = 5 lPackaging made of biodegradable materials Bags > 10 l, net bags = 25 lCartridgesMoulded bodies = 0.15 kg (excluding EPS)0.105 0.10010. 0.450 0.450* Including shopping bags.** SU = sales unit.23BUSINESS PERFORMANCE ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTLICENSE PARTNER AUDITS ARA AG regularly hires auditing firms to conduct license partner audits, which examine the accuracy of the waste arisings reported. This service helps minimise distortion of competition, ensures a level playing field for all custo-mers and protects them against unfair cost allocation due to underreporting by competitors who fail to fulfil their obligations under the Packaging Ordinance. In 2011, Ernst & Young GmbH and Deloitte GmbH audited more than 900 license partners on behalf of ARA AG.RESULTS OF LICENSE PARTNER AUDITS1 Percentage figures may not add to 100 % due to rounding.2 These audits are continued at a later date.3 This type of audit focuses on qualitative criteria only.2009 2010 2011Audits conducted, of which 1 479 (100 %) 427 (100 %) 365 (100 %)100 % correct or marginal deviations (below 10 %) 298 (62 %) 249 (58 %) 208 (57 %)Suspended 2 25 (5 %) 28 (7 %) 25 (7 %)Significant deviations identified 70 (15 %) 60 (14 %) 67 (18 %)Refund required 86 (18 %) 90 (21 %) 65 (18 %)Additional plausibility checks 191 194 192Additional eco checks 3 88 76 7324WASTE PREVENTION25WASTE PREVENTION ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTSince 2004, ARA has invested around € 3.25 million in the promotion of waste prevention and, with the “Minimise waste” initiative, has supported investments in the amount of around € 9 million. This clearly proves our continued commitment to promoting waste prevention projects for businesses, research institutions, municipalities and con-sumers. In doing so, we are fulfilling our legal obligation to promote waste prevention measures that go beyond waste recovery and recycling. RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH In 2003, ARA initiated a professorship for resource ma-nagement at the Vienna University of Technology. Our close cooperation since then has allowed us to adjust our collection and recovery procedures in light of the latest sci-entific findings, while at the same time adding a practice-oriented perspective to teaching. These benefits endorse our decision to initiate the professorship and to promote excellence in resource management research. ARA LECTURES The ARA Lectures are a platform for sharing information and inspiration as well as for networking with eminent in-ternational experts who give presentations on material and immaterial resources. The lectures are organised by the Center for Sustainable Technology at the Vienna University of Technology and ARA AG. The two lectures held in 2011 were also streamed live online. On the occasion of the 7th ARA Lecture, Dieter Imboden talked about intellectual capital and the role of universi-ties. Mr. Imboden teaches at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He also serves as the president of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation and is president of the European Heads of Research Councils.The 8th ARA Lecture was given by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. 25 years ago, Brundtland, then chair of the World Commission on Envi-ronment and Development, helped establish sustainable development as a political concept. The final report of the commission (the “Brundtland Report”) was published in April 1987. It is to this day considered a milestone in environmental policy. Ms. Brundtland gave a presentation entitled “Our Common Future”, which addressed the evo-lution of the sustainability concept, the situation today and the next steps to be taken.ARA BEST STUDY AWARDThe postgraduate MSc Program on Environmental Tech-nology and International Affairs (ETIA) – a joint program of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the Vienna University of Technology – offers interdisciplinary training, which is a must in the field of environmental protection. The program offers an innovative combination of environ-mental technology with a sound knowledge of internatio-nal affairs and economics. In 2011, ARA AG presented the ARA Best Study Award for ETIA graduates for the second time. The award promotes teaching and research of modern waste management, which covers the entire life cycle of goods including manu-facturing, sales and consumption.With this award, ARA continues its long-standing cooper- ation with academia in the field of resource management and waste prevention. 26ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT WASTE PREVENTION“MINIMISE WASTE” INITIATIVE The “Minimise waste” initiative, which was launched by ARA in 2005, has become a well-established feature over the past few years and was continued in 2011. ARA AG supported numerous relevant projects in cooperation with the City of Vienna, the Province of Lower Austria and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. The projects aimed at implementing waste prevention measures in businesses, government units as well as education and health institu-tions. In 2011, waste-related investments worth € 2 million obtained funding of around € 204,000.WASTE PREVENTION AWARDS To recognise Austrian businesses that implement resource-saving measures, ARA continued to sponsor awards as part of well-established Austrian awards.We sponsored the Emballissimo jury award for innovative packaging solutions, which focuses on responsible resource management. The prize was awarded to Rondo Ganahl AG for producing the transport packaging of RIESS Aroma-pots. This packaging combines a number of functional requirements with cost efficiency and eco-friendliness.We also sponsored a special prize of the Green Packaging Star Award to acknowledge packaging solutions that con-tribute significantly to saving resources and avoiding waste. In 2011, the prize went to Pirlo Tubes GmbH for their Revolutionary Laminate Tube. The manufacturing process of this tube is eco-friendly above all in that it consumes less resources than others.In 2012, we will again sponsor special prizes of the waste industry‘s innovation prize, Phönix, and of the Award for Exemplary Packaging, which is granted by the Austrian Ministry of Environment and the Austrian Economy Ministry.27WASTE PREVENTION ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTWASTE PREVENTION SERVICE FOR EVENTSWe take action to prevent waste at festivals and big events, for instance by promoting the use of drinking glasses and reusable cups instead of one-way cups. To this aim, we provide consultancy services on waste prevention and disposal for event organisers and provide information to event visitors. In 2011, this service was used at the Vienna harvest festival, the Vienna rubbish festival, a spring cleaning festival in Styria, a disabled sports event in Lower Austria and a sustainable parties initiative in Lower Austria, among others.AGR FUND FOR WASTE PREVENTIONAustria Glas Recycling GmbH (AGR) has a dedicated fund for the prevention of waste, which is used to supports out-standing waste prevention initiatives. In the reporting year, AGR subsidised 10 projects and funded up to 100 % of the project investment. The large number of submissions and the diversity of projects show that environmental and cli-mate protection play an important role for both businesses and public authorities in Austria. The selected projects help prevent waste by raising awareness and providing training as well as through network-building.212,000 TONNES OF GLASS PACKAGING RECOVERED.30COLLECTION AND RECOVERY 31COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTNATIONWIDE COLLECTION SYSTEM Packaging comes in so many forms and materials that it places high demands on the flexibility of waste collec-tion systems. The different types of packaging all require convenient and economic solutions that facilitate efficient collection and eco-friendly recovery. ARA System meets these various demands, by offering tailored solutions for residential waste collection in Austrian urban and rural communities as well as for commercial and industrial waste collection. The basic system requirements regarding the design and size of domestic and commercial collection systems are specified by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management in its notifications. The Ministry also defines annual collection and recovery rates for the individual packaging materials; compliance with these targets is mandatory and must be documented. In 2011, ARA was responsible for collecting around 834,304 tonnes of packaging waste. This figure includes 37,960 tonnes of small and/or soiled light-weight pack- aging from Carinthia, Lower and Upper Austria, Salzburg, and Vienna, which were collected with residual waste and incinerated for energy recovery. Also included are 8,266 tonnes of beverage cartons that were collected with light-weight packaging on behalf of Öko-Box Sammelge-sellschaft m.b.H. While households and small businesses account for around 62 % (514,700 tonnes) of these waste arisings, commercial and industrial waste generators account for about 38 % (319,600 tonnes). ARA SYSTEM’S SERVICE PERFORMANCE IN 2011: WASTE COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS, BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRY (tonnes)PACKAGING MATERIALAMOUNT COLLECTED1ADDITIONAL AMOUNT ACQUIRED2 TOTAL Paper, board, cardboard, corrugated board335,805 – 335,805Glass 218,875 – 218,875Light-weight packaging (plastics, composite materials, textile fibres, ceramics, wood, packaging made of biodegradable material)180,940 39,196 220,136Metal 32,190 7,611 39,801Wood3 19,687 – 19,687Total 787,497 46,807 834,3041 Gross amount collected (including non-packaging waste of the same material and residual waste as well as 8,266 tonnes of beverage cartons for Öko-Box); data for paper, board, cardboard, corrugated board: net amount collected.2 Including 1,236 tonnes of light-weight packaging collected with other collection schemes, 37,960 tonnes of light-weight packaging collected with municipal solid waste, and 7,611 tonnes of metal packaging collected with other collection schemes.3 Excluding 158 tonnes of wood packaging collected together with light-weight packaging.32HOUSEHOLD COLLECTION Our convenient and flexible household collection service for ARA-licensed packaging is available throughout Austria. The adequate size and coverage of the separate collection systems is determined by ARA AG and AGR GmbH (for glass) in close cooperation with disposal companies, city and municipal governments, as well as waste associations. The respective decisions are taken on the basis of the Ministry‘s quantitative targets.Our main focus lies on collecting packaging waste as cost-efficiently as possible and on meeting local requirements regarding the number and size of containers as well as collection frequency. In total, 1,493,638 containers were provided for household packaging waste in the reporting year, up by around 2.0 % from one year earlier owing to an increase in the number of containers for paper, light-weight packaging and metal waste. At the same time, the number of households covered by the bag collection scheme for light-weight packaging was also increased again in the reporting year. At end-2011, more than 1.46 million Austrian households benefited from HOUSEHOLD COLLECTION IN 2011: NUMBER OF CONTAINERS AND HOUSEHOLDS COVERED BY THE BAG COLLECTION SCHEME (as at December 2011) PAPER GLASS LIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGING METAL TOTAL Collection containers Collection containers Collection containers Households, bag collection Collection containers Collection containers Burgenland 107,131 1,165 2,276 97,851 1,512 112,084Carinthia 83,871 3,013 11,238 115,382 2,377 100,499Lower Austria 468,777 25,472 106,090 443,009 13,354 613,693Upper Austria 119,866 7,146 37,414 190,807 3,070 167,496Salzburg 22,844 1,658 15,898 113,054 1,127 41,527Styria 204,530 30,384 51,531 283,560 19,728 306,173Tyrol 16,903 2,323 4,770 74,056 2,339 26,335Vorarlberg 5,752 1,975 376 139,380 1,428 9,531Vienna 93,708 7,250 9,204 2,801 6,138 116,300Austria 1,123,382 80,386 238,797 1,459,900 51,073 1,493,638ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERY33COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTthis highly convenient kerbside collection scheme (2010: 1.4 million households). The Austrians continued to put considerable effort into sorting waste in 2011. 514,688 tonnes of packaging were collected from households and small businesses, which are included wherever feasible. 462,580 tonnes were recovered after sorting out non-packaging of the same material, municipal solid waste, and beverage cartons col- lected on behalf of Öko-Box. This increase by 10,861 tonnes (+2.2 %) from 2010 can be attributed to a higher collection quantity for paper, glass and light-weight packaging. The amount of packaging recovered rose by 9,148 tonnes (+2.0 %) compared with 2010. The per-capita amount of packaging and waste paper collected was 117.9 kg in 2011, slightly above the 2010 value of 116.8 kg. Excluding print products, the per-capita amount of packaging collected was 55.7 kg in 2011, with Vorarlberg again ranking first (148.7 kg) among the Austri-an provinces. Including the packaging waste collected from businesses and industry, the total amount of packaging recovered per inhabitant came to 93.1 kg in the reporting year. AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS1 IN 2011, BY PROVINCES (tonnes) PAPER 2 GLASS LIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGING METAL WOOD TOTALBurgenland 22,441 8,923 7,258 1,506 40,128Carinthia 40,610 14,401 6,938 1,912 63,861Lower Austria 115,401 38,000 25,479 5,818 184,698Upper Austria 100,393 37,221 24,974 4,820 167,408Salzburg 30,968 15,420 9,935 1,373 57,696Styria 95,795 38,077 27,149 5,381 166,402Tyrol 40,399 27,921 22,284 3,561 94,165Vorarlberg 30,520 12,198 9,918 2,359 54,995Vienna 125,147 26,714 6,279 3,341 161,481Austria 601,674 218,875 140,214 30,071 6 990,834Additional amount acquired3 39,196 7,611 46,807Total gross amount4 78,721 218,875 179,410 37,682 6 514,688Total net amount5 78,721 211,848 141,637 30,216 158 462,5801 Including packaging waste collected from small businesses, which can use the household system wherever feasible.2 Print products and paper packaging taken together.3 1,236 tonnes of light-weight packaging collected with the paper collection scheme and 37,960 tonnes collected with the municipal scheme for residual waste; 7,611 tonnes of metal packaging collected by other collection schemes.4 Including non-packaging waste of the same material and residual waste as well as Öko-Box beverage cartons co-collected with light-weight packaging (8,266 tonnes).5 Net amount of recovered packaging waste excluding non-packaging waste of the same material and residual waste as well as Öko-Box beverage cartons co-collected with light-weight packaging (8,266 tonnes).6 Wood packaging from households (158 tonnes) was collected together with light-weight packaging.34EVENT SERVICE To promote the separate collection of single-serving drink bottles that are typical of on-the-go consumption, ARA AG offers a special service for venues where people can be expected to consume such drinks in large quantities: festi-vals, leisure facilities (such as swimming pools), motorway service areas, etc. This service, which targets disposal companies, event organisers, sponsors, and local authorities, includes the provision of a collection infrastructure and the organisation of collection and recovery activities. In 2011, our event service allowed around 702,200 visitors of 43 big events to separately collect one-way packaging on 133 event days.COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE SERVICES Providing solutions for commercial and industrial packaging waste has been a core feature of ARA AG‘s service range since the first days of its existence. Today, commercial and industrial waste makes up around 38 % of the packaging we collect. This percentage is above 50 % if we add the waste arisings of small businesses, which are usually col- lected through the household system. At 319,616 tonnes, the amount collected in 2011 was around 3.5 % lower than in 2010. By offering a growing range of services, we have been able to establish a competitive benchmark for the management of packaging waste in Austria. Innovative solutions for businesses and industry, our commitment to providing ex-cellent customer service for license partners and commer-cial waste producers, consistent single-supplier manage-ment, a low administrative burden, and a highly attractive price-performance ratio – all these have made ARA AG the go-to partner for packaging waste management in Austria. Registering with ARA AG‘s commercial waste producer service is the first step to participating in the system. With this step, we take on all obligations our license partners have under the Packaging Ordinance regarding documen-tation and proof of compliance. In addition, the waste producer service centre offers guidance on the disposal of commercial packaging waste and verifies the license status of the material collected. The main goal of such checks is to avoid additional costs that would arise if non-packaging waste and unlicensed packaging entered the system. Some 20,000 commercial waste producers are already using this service. ARA AG offers three commercial waste schemes depend- ing on the amount of packaging waste produced: Commercial bring system Customers who opt for this solution benefit from a maxi-mum degree of flexibility: - Free choice of disposal companies (i.e. competing service providers)- Tailor-made collection system - Compensation for pre-sorting waste ARA AG has around 130 bring sites throughout Austria where licensed packaging waste can be dropped off free of charge. The packaging waste must be sorted into fractions and emptied completely. Customers can also outsource the transporting of waste to a disposal company of their choice. Before the waste material is accepted, the bring site team checks the quality of the material and the license status. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERY35Small business scheme We offer a variety of disposal schemes for businesses that produce only small amounts of packaging waste. For instance, companies can dispose of a predefined maximum amount of specific packaging materials through the shop-ping area scheme or the household system. This regular waste collection service is free of charge and available for paper packaging, plastic foils and hollow bodies as well as EPS. In addition, ARA AG has contractual agreements with about 1,300 recycling centres – which are operated by the local authorities or by waste management associations (re-cycling sites, waste centres, rubbish dumps) – where small businesses can drop off sorted and licensed packaging waste. Commercial pick-up systemThis needs-based service for large-scale waste producers is the most cost-effective solution for many customers, as it allows them to combine in-house collection and recov- ery measures with our services: The commercial pick-up system facilitates the smooth integration of in-house logistics with ARA System solutions. It is only available to customers that generate certain minimum amounts of packaging waste. RECOVERY OF PACKAGING WASTE In 2011, around 834,300 tonnes of packaging waste were collected from households, businesses and industry, which represents a slight decline by around 0.1 % compared with 2010. AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRY IN 20111(net, tonnes)PACKAGING MATERIAL AMOUNT COLLECTEDPaper, board, cardboard, corrugated board 257,084Light-weight packaging (plastics, composite materials, textile fibres, ceramics) 40,726Metal 2,119Wood 19,687Total 319,6161 Commercial glass waste (9,507 tonnes) is included in the data on household glass waste.COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT36ARA SYSTEM’S RECOVERY PERFORMANCE IN 20111(tonnes)PACKAGING MATERIALRECYCLING THERMAL TREATMENT/ENERGY RECOVERYTOTALPaper, board, cardboard, corrugated board 335,805 – 335,805Glass 211,848 – 211,848Light-weight packaging (plastics, composite materials, textile fibres, ceramics, packaging made of biodegradable material)75,949 106,4142 182,363Metal 32,335 – 32,335Wood 13,864 5,981 19,845Total 669,801 112,395 782,1961 Net amount of packaging waste (i.e. excluding non-packaging waste of the same material and residual waste as well as 8,266 tonnes of beverage cartons collected for Öko-Box).2 Including 37,960 tonnes of light-weight packaging collected together with municipal solid waste and subjected to waste-to-energy treatment.782,196 tonnes of this waste were recycled and incinerated with energy recovery. The amount of waste recovered by more than 70 recovery partners thus remained un-changed from 2010. The difference between the amount recovered and the amount collected can be explained by non-packaging waste, municipal solid waste, and beverage cartons collected on the basis of contractual agreements. 86 % of the waste recovered was recycled, while the rest was incinerated for heat or energy recovery. A breakdown by packaging materials shows that paper, board, cardboard and corrugated board accounted for 43 %, glass for 27 %, light-weight packaging for 23 %, metal for 4 %, and wood for 3 % of the waste recovered. In 2011, we again managed to meet or exceed the collection and recovery ratios the Austrian Federal Ministry of Envi-ronment defined for all packaging materials. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYPAPER PACKAGINGCOLLECTION In 2011, ARA AG collected 335,805 tonnes of paper packaging, which represents a decline by 6,979 tonnes (or –2.0 %) from 2010. This decrease can be explained by a lower amount of waste collected with the commercial system. With around 1,100,000 collection bins throughout the country, ARA‘s paper collection scheme is highly conven- ient. The containers are placed in designated public areas (bring system) or directly at the doorstep (pick-up system). A combination of the two is common practice, especially in urban areas. Paper packaging from households and small businesses is collected together with other paper products (e.g. newspa-pers, journals, or other print products) in colour-coded (red) containers. This allows us to optimise the collection logistics of the waste paper scheme for the specific require-ments of each region. City and municipal governments as well as waste ma-nagement associations are our contractual partners in this field. ARA AG bears the share of the costs incurred by the infrastructure and collection of paper packaging. Our co-operation with municipalities in the tendering of collection services allows us to achieve cost savings while maintain- ing high quality standards. In 2011, 601.674 tonnes of paper waste were collected from Austrian households, which is more than one year earlier. Packaging made of paper and cardboard is typically collected at recycling centres. As a result, the average share of paper packaging in municipal collection systems dropped from 16.7 % in 1997 to 13.1 % in 2011. This development underlines the efficiency of the separate collection service for packaging made of paper, board, cardboard and corrugated board from shopping areas and recycling centres, which was established in this period and is financed by ARA AG. COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT382011335,805The per-capita amount of waste paper collected from Aus- trian households came to 71.6 kg on average. The collection results reported for the nine Austrian provinces do not reflect different degrees of environmen-tal awareness, though; they are above all ascribable to regional differences in household and collection structures. For instance, in Austria‘s capital, Vienna, the per-capita amount of waste paper is higher than in other provinces. This is because, in Vienna, paper waste generated by small businesses is often collected through the household sys-tem. By contrast, in Upper Austria, Salzburg, and the Tyrol, substantial amounts of waste paper go to recycling centres and bring sites. The bulk of paper packaging – around 206,000 tonnes or some 61 % of the amount collected by ARA AG in 2011 – is collected through the commercial system. In the reporting year, 166,661 tonnes of paper packaging were collected through the commercial bring system and the commercial pick-up system, which represents a decline of about 9,300 tonnes or –5.3 % compared with 2010. This decline can be ascribed to stringent measures to exclude non-licensed material, and probably also to waste collection being tendered to other commercial system operators.We provide other tailor-made solutions for small busines-ses that meet customers‘ needs and take account of regi-onal circumstances. Businesses with an average amount of waste paper of 15 to 100 kg per week can sign up for our shopping area scheme. Under this scheme, licensed paper packaging is collected at regular intervals and free of charge. Around 27,000 businesses all across the country used this service in the reporting year. We organised more than 300 collection tours, most of them on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYPAPER PACKAGING: TOTAL AMOUNT 2002-2011(tonnes)2002302,3642003302,9852004315,9672005324,3542006336,3262007344,1162008346,1332009340,6182010342,78450,000100,000200,000250,000350,000300,000150,00039In addition, around 1,300 recycling centres (which are operated by municipalities or waste management associ-ations) accept licensed and sorted paper packaging from households and small businesses. In the reporting year, 39,284 tonnes of paper packaging were collected through the shopping area scheme (–2.0 %) and another 51,139 tonnes through recycling centres (+1.9 %). RECOVERY The entire amount of paper packaging collected by ARA AG (335,805 tonnes) was recycled at seven recycling facilities. Recycling paper has become a valuable raw material for the paper industry, as technological advancements have paved the way for its use in numerous paper products. All paper waste collected in Austria is made into new paper products. This highlights another advantage of the sepa-rate collection of waste paper: When collected separately and in pure fractions, waste paper does not have to be landfilled or incinerated; this helps avoid costly measures for the treatment and disposal of residual waste, thus cutting the cost of residual waste management. Paper waste comes in different quality grades. Basically, we distinguish between a mixed paper fraction (packaging plus other paper waste) and pure fractions (e.g. corrugated board or newspapers and magazines). The pure fractions required for the production of certain types of paper products can be achieved through separation at source (above all commercial and industrial waste) or by sorting the material collected (above all household waste). While more than one half of the paper waste collected from households is sorted and recovered separately (paper packaging and other waste paper such as newspapers and magazines), the remaining paper packaging is recovered together with mixed paper waste. COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTWASTE PAPER (PAPER PRODUCTS AND PACKAGING): CONTAINERS AND AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS IN 2011, BY PROVINCES COLLECTION CONTAINERS AMOUNT COLLECTED (t) PER-CAPITA AMOUNT (kg)Burgenland 107,131 22,441 78.8Carinthia 83,871 40,610 72.7Lower Austria 468,777 115,401 71.6Upper Austria 119,866 100,393 71.1Salzburg 22,844 30,968 58.2Styria 204,530 95,795 79.1Tyrol 16,903 40,399 56.9Vorarlberg 5,752 30,520 82.5Vienna 93,708 125,147 73.0Austria 1,123,382 601,674 71.640Recyclable paper waste is used above all in the produc-tion of sanitary paper and newsprint as well as in primary products for the packaging industry. In Austria, packaging made of paper, board, cardboard and corrugated board is made mainly – and for some types of packaging even entirely – of waste paper. Paper can be recycled more than once, but its quality deteriorates each time. On average, paper fibres can be recycled six times before they are elimi-nated from the production process together with impuri- ties and ink and dye residue. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYPAPER PRODUCTS AND PACKAGING: NET AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS, SHOPPING AREAS, RECYCLING CENTRES AND BUSINESSES IN 2011 (net)WASTE COLLECTED FROM TONNESHouseholds 601,674of which packaging 78,721Shopping areas 39,284Recycling centres 51,139Businesses 166,661Total 858,758of which packaging 335,80541LIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGINGCOLLECTION In 2011, ARA AG collected 220,136 tonnes of light-weight packaging from households, businesses and industry. There are two household schemes: In around 60 % of Aus-tria, packaging made of plastic or composite materials are collected in yellow bags and bins together with packaging made of wood, textiles, ceramics and biodegradable material.In Vienna, Lower Austria, Salzburg, and Carinthia, more than 3 million Austrians can use a separate collection scheme for plastic bottles (which are, in some cases, co- collected with metal packaging). Following consultations with the respective cities, municipalities and waste associations, these separate collection schemes focus on recyclable plastic packaging. Other light-weight packaging materials can be disposed of through the municipal solid waste collection service and are used for energy recovery. The proportionate costs are covered by ARA AG‘s license fee revenues. COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT422011220,136Around 1.9 million Austrian households – i.e., significantly more than half of the country‘s households – benefit from a convenient pick-up system for light-weight packaging or plastic bottles. While yellow bags prevail in rural areas, yellow bins are used in urban areas. The scope of the collection scheme for light-weight pack- aging has been adapted over the past years, reflecting changes in the amounts collected. The per-capita volume collected in the reporting year (648 litres) translated into a per-capita amount of 16.7 kg. After sorting and removing other types of waste, a net total of 110,707 tonnes of light-weight packaging collected from households was sent for recovery. This figure includes 8,266 tonnes of beverage car-tons, which were collected with this scheme on the basis of contractual agreements. 37,960 tonnes were collected together with municipal solid waste and incinerated with energy recovery in waste incineration plants, while 1,236 tonnes of composite materials were collected with paper waste and recycled. Some 700 recycling bring sites also accept light-weight packaging from households and businesses. In 2011, an additional amount of about 8,400 tonnes of light-weight and metal packaging was collected at these sites and recovered.System optimisations and strategic PR activities by ARA AG, municipal governments and disposal companies have helped ensure a consistently high quality level of the col- lected materials. Between 1998 and 2011, the share of other types of waste in the light-weight packaging collection (i.e. people depositing waste in the wrong container) was cut from more than 31 % to 20 %. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYLIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGING: TOTAL AMOUNT 2002-2011(tonnes)50,000100,000200,000250,000150,0002002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010151,107 162,116 170,978 168,010 189,682 199,078 203,253 205,933 215,16543Since 2007, packaging made of biodegradable material has also been collected through the scheme for light-weight packaging. At present, it does not make sense to collect such materials in the organic waste bin, as people might mistake plastic packaging for biodegradable packaging and deposit it in the organic waste bin, which would lead to contamination and quality loss. This is why the representa-tives of Austria‘s provincial governments, waste management experts and composting facility operators have opposed the idea of co-collecting biodegradable packaging with organic waste. Depending on the region- al solution in place, packaging made of biodegradable materials is therefore collected in the yellow bin, yellow bag or together with municipal solid waste. The bulk of this packaging is disposed of by carbon-neutral incineration or used for energy recovery. Businesses and industry account for around 20 % of light-weight packaging collected in Austria. In 2011, it was 40,726 tonnes. RECOVERYARA AG organises and ensures the recovery of light-weight packaging in compliance with the Packaging Ordinance. Overall, 182,363 tonnes of light-weight packaging were recovered in 2011 (2010: 178,342 tonnes).RECYCLING In the reporting year, 70,012 tonnes of plastic packaging were sorted into different types of plastic and recycled (2010: 71,304 tonnes). The packaging waste is shredded, washed, dried, melted and processed into granules. Plastic manufacturers can use this granulate as a raw material in the manufacture of new products. Plastic packaging needs to be sorted thoroughly before it can be recycled, as the different types of plastic have different melting points and do not mix when melted. PET is a light and virtually unbreakable packaging material that is typically made into beverage bottles as well as non-food packaging, such as boxes, blister packs or transparent foils. Fibres are another important use of post-consumer PET flakes. New technology allows producing food-grade packaging from PET recyclate (even though hygiene standards for food packaging are high), and this packaging is indistinguishable from packaging made of virgin plastic. Today, a substantial share of the PET bottles collected by ARA AG is used to manufacture new PET beverage bottles (bottle-to-bottle recycling). Unsorted mixed plastic packaging can also be recycled under specific circumstances. Shredded packaging is agglomerated in large grains and turned into new products without the granulate stage. This procedure, however, allows manufacturing only massive products in simple shapes, such as panels, gutters or roofing sheets. In the re-porting year, 4,701 tonnes of mixed light-weight packaging were sent for recycling by ARA AG (2010: 4,009 tonnes). Another 1,236 tonnes of composite materials were coll-ected together with paper waste and also recycled (2010: 1,281 tonnes). HEAT/ENERGY RECOVERY In 2011, 68,454 tonnes of mixed light-weight packaging were incinerated to produce electricity and heat (2010: 68,948 tonnes). Plastic is made above all of crude oil, which means it is a valuable energy resource. Mixed and soiled packaging made of plastic and composite materials is cut up, pro-cessed and incinerated for energy recovery in industrial plants, where it replaces fossil fuels (such as coal, crude oil and natural gas). One kilogram of plastic packaging has roughly the same calorific value as one litre of fuel oil. Typical users are cement plants and the pulp industry. COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT44In Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, and Carinthia, small light-weight packaging is collected to-gether with municipal solid waste (2011: 37,960 tonnes; 2010: 32,800 tonnes) and incinerated at waste incineration plants. The energy produced is used in public buildings and district heating networks.ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYLIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGING: CONTAINERS AND BAG COLLECTION FROM HOUSEHOLDS IN 2011, BY PROVINCES COLLECTION CONTAINERSHOUSEHOLDS, BAG COLLECTION AMOUNT COLLECTED (t)1PER-CAPITA AMOUNT (kg)Burgenland 2,276 97,851 7,258 25.5Carinthia 11,238 115,382 6,938 12.4Lower Austria 106,090 443,009 25,479 15.8Upper Austria 37,414 190,807 24,974 17.7Salzburg 15,898 113,054 9,935 18.7Styria 51,531 283,560 27,149 22.4Tyrol 4,770 74,056 22,284 31.4Vorarlberg 376 139,380 9,918 26.8Vienna 9,204 2,801 6,279 3.7Austria 238,797 1,459,900 140,214 16.71 Including 158 tonnes of wood packaging and 8,266 tonnes of beverage cartons collected for Öko-Box.METAL PACKAGINGCOLLECTION All in all, 39,801 tonnes of metal packaging (ferrous metals and aluminium) were collected on behalf of ARA AG in 2011, with household waste accounting for the bulk (95 %) of this amount and commercial waste accounting for some 2,011 tonnes (or 5 %). The separate collection scheme for metal packaging from households relies above all on colour-coded (blue) contain- ers, which are located at central collection points; in some regions, metal packaging is collected together with light-weight packaging and sorted later. The per-capita volume collected came to 112 litres in 2011, which translates into 3.6 kg per capita and a total collection amount of 30,071 tonnes. An additional 7,600 tonnes of metal packaging were collected with other waste schemes and recycled.In some regions, metal packaging is collected together with other metal waste (scrap metal, ironmongery). Around 3,600 tonnes of non-packaging metal were recovered this way in 2011. The proportionate costs were covered by the municipalities. RECOVERYFERROUS METALSteel sheet and, more commonly, tinplate are used in the manufacture of cans, jerry cans, lids and caps, as well as other packaging for multiple purposes, including contain- ers for food, beverages, or chemicals. COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT46Metal packaging is collected separately, sorted mecha-nically and shredded to remove other types of metal, impurities and contaminants (e.g. with magnetic separa-tion). After the material has been compacted into bales or shredded scrap, it is ready for shipment to steelworks or other recovery companies, where – mixed with other scrap materials and pig iron – it is a valuable raw material for the steel industry. Used food and pet food cans, cooking oil containers, snuffboxes or paint containers: They all end up as high-grade construction steel, washing machine chassis, car and airplane parts, or steel rails. Packaging made of ferrous metal is fully recycled, which avoids landfilling and saves raw materials, energy, air and water in the manufacture of new products.ALUMINIUM The packaging industry mainly uses bare foil (chocolate wrappers, etc.) or lacquered and printed aluminium (bev- erage cans, yogurt cup tops, etc.). Aluminium is also used in composite materials in combination with, for instance, plastic or paper. Aluminium packaging is separated either manually on a picking line or using eddy current technique, in which conducting metal objects are separated from non-conducting ones. This method is applied at Austrian shredder facilities. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYMETAL PACKAGING: TOTAL AMOUNT 2002-2011(tonnes)10,00020,00040,00050,00030,000200241,464200342,072200441,812200540,821200641,813200741,129200841,101 200940,558201040,340201139,80147Re-melting aluminium requires only around 5 % of the energy necessary for the production of the same quantity of virgin aluminium. Besides, aluminium can be recycled infinitely without losing its specific properties, e.g. stabili-ty, plasticity, electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, or food and drink compatibility. Recycling both uncoated and varnished aluminium is highly efficient. Packaging that consists of more than 50 % aluminium can simply be melted and re-cast. COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTMETAL PACKAGING: CONTAINERS AND AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS IN 2011, BY PROVINCES COLLECTION CONTAINERS AMOUNT COLLECTED (t) PER-CAPITA AMOUNT (kg)Burgenland 1,512 1,506 5.3Carinthia 2,377 1,912 3.4Lower Austria 13,354 5,818 3.6Upper Austria 3,070 4,820 3.4Salzburg 1,127 1,373 2.6Styria 19,728 5,381 4.4Tyrol 2,339 3,561 5.0Vorarlberg 1,428 2,359 6.4Vienna 6,138 3,341 1.9Austria 51,073 30,071 3.648WOOD PACKAGINGCOLLECTION Wood packaging is primarily used in commercial and industrial packaging and collected through ARA AG‘s com-mercial scheme (2011: 19,687 tonnes); 158 tonnes were collected together with light-weight packaging in 2011. RECOVERYWood has a long tradition as a raw material of packaging, and few other raw materials can be recovered so easily, cheaply and in such an eco-friendly manner. After sorting, packaging wood is cut and sliced into wood chips, which are used in chipboard manufacture, as a re- newable fuel in thermal recovery plants, and as structural material in composting. Only preservative-free wood is made into packaging, so that chips made of wood packaging can be recycled, incinerated, or composted without any problem. 19,845 tonnes of wood packaging were sent for recovery in 2011. Of this, 12,980 tonnes were used as raw material in the chipboard industry, and 5,981 tonnes were incinerated for energy recovery, replacing around 1,200 tonnes of fuel oil. 884 tonnes were used as structural material in composting plants. ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYWOOD PACKAGING: TOTAL AMOUNT 2002-2011(tonnes)5,00010,00020,00025,00015,000200217,045200316,979200418,539200518,241200617,674200718,497200821,023200922,719201020,719201119,68749COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTGLASS PACKAGINGAustria Glas Recycling GmbH (AGR) organises the collec-tion and recovery of glass packaging throughout Austria and is ARA AG‘s partner in providing compliance services for glass packaging. AGR issues the collection and recovery guarantee for glass packaging and is formally recognised as a collection and recovery system for glass packaging by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Environment. AGR ensures that the glass waste collected is of optimum quality so that a large share of primary raw materials can be replaced by post-consumer glass. This helps protect the environment by saving resources and energy as well as reducing CO2 emissions: a valuable contribution to climate protection.AGR‘s environmental management system has received several national and international awards. It is certified to EMAS Regulation No. 1221/2009 and ISO 14001, which ensures continuous improvements in the environmental performance of the glass life cycle. AGR is a non-profit organisation – unscheduled surpluses are considered in the calculation of tariffs for the following period – that is co-owned by Stölzle Oberglas GmbH and Vetropack Austria GmbH (50 % each).COLLECTION In 2011, AGR collected 218,875 tonnes of glass packaging for ARA System and shipped it to glass plants for recycling. This figure includes around 9,500 tonnes of commercial and industrial glass packaging that were collected through the household system. Thanks to AGR and its partners, around 230,000 tonnes of waste glass were sent for recy- cling in the reporting year.50ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYAGR provides a nationwide, convenient and well-estab- lished waste glass collection service in Austria. Around 80,400 containers with a total volume of around 82,000 m³ are made available for the collection of clear and coloured glass. The bottle banks come in different modules and sizes. Collecting clear glass and coloured glass separately is essential, as one green bottle is enough to colour-con- taminate 500 kg of clear cullet, which makes it unusable for recycling. Both the collection frequency and the disposal volume are adjusted to regional needs. While bottle banks are emptied up to 53 times per year in urban areas, the frequency is usually once per month in rural areas, and 16 times per year on average in Austria. The disposal volume, which is calculated from the total container volume multiplied by the collection frequency, is around 1,300,000 m³ in Austria. How much glass can be recycled depends on the quality of the material collected. Only glass packaging – sorted into clear and coloured glass – should be disposed of in bottle banks. To further improve the quality of the glass collected, AGR runs information campaigns and offers incentives for different audiences, e.g. a live and virtual recycling-for-kids program featuring a genie in a bottle (www.bobbybottle.at), a mobile phone game called Recycling Heroes for the young and young at heart, or a screen reader for visually impaired visitors of AGR‘s website (www.agr.at). RECOVERY Glass can be recycled indefinitely. Glass packaging can be remelted many times and made into new products without any quality loss. Thanks to AGR and its partners, around 230,000 tonnes of glass waste were recycled and made into new top-quality glass packaging in 2011. More than 80 % of the collected glass packaging is recycled domestically by Vetropack Austria GmbH (in Pöchlarn, GLASS PACKAGING: TOTAL AMOUNT 2002-2011(tonnes)2002192,6522003194,5902004196,4622005195,5522006201,8512007205,0352008211,8872009214,4312010216,13850,000100,000200,000250,000150,0002011218,87551COLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTLower Austria, and Kremsmünster, Upper Austria) and Stölzle Oberglas GmbH (in Köflach, Styria); the remaining waste glass is exported to glass plants in Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic. In the first stage of the recovery process, the glass waste is sorted thoroughly in glass plants. Other types of waste and impurities are removed, as they would complicate the recycling process or even make it impossible. For instance, ceramics cause inclusions that make glass brittle. After manual sorting, waste glass is passed through a mag- netic separator, optical sensors and through sieves. Then the cullet is mixed with silica sand, limestone, dolomite, and soda, fed into a furnace where it is melted at 1,580 degrees Celsius, and moulded into new glass bottles and jars. The share of waste glass is up to 90 % for green glass and up to 60 % for clear glass. Recycled glass melts at lower temperatures than the virgin raw materials, which saves energy and helps reduce carbon emissions. The energy savings achieved per year are rough-ly equal to the energy consumption of 49,000 households, thus reducing the carbon footprint of Austria.GLASS WASTE: CONTAINERS AND AMOUNT COLLECTED FROM HOUSEHOLDS IN 2011, BY PROVINCES COLLECTION CONTAINERS AMOUNT COLLECTED (t)1 PER-CAPITA AMOUNT (kg)Burgenland 1,165 8,923 31.3Carinthia 3,013 14,401 25.8Lower Austria 25,472 38,000 23.6Upper Austria 7,146 37,221 26.3Salzburg 1,658 15,420 29.0Styria 30,384 38,077 31.5Tyrol 2,323 27,921 39.3Vorarlberg 1,975 12,198 33.0Vienna 7,250 26,714 15.6Austria 80,386 218,875 26.01 Including glass waste from small businesses (9,507 tonnes).52ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERYLauterachLustenauFrastanz RietzZirl Hall WattensFeistritz/Drau KlagenfurtLienzVölkermarktKühnsdorfHaimburgWietersdorfHaus/EnnstalNeumarkt/W.RanshofenKallham NettingsdorfHörschingGrieskirchenLinzWelsOffenhausen Behamberg AschbachSchwertbergKremsmünsterLenzingEbenseeSeekirchenSt. PantaleonLeoben-DonawitzGrazZettling St. StefanSeiersbergRetzneiWildonFrohnleitenKöflachSt. Martin/GrimmingLendPill SchwazGleisdorfReichenauPittenNeudörflLeopoldsdorfViennaHimbergSt. PöltenHerzogen- burgOberwölblingPöchlarnTullnSchwarzenauMüllendorfWulkaprodersdorfMannersdorfRECOVERY PARTNERS IN AUSTRIA IN 2011Plastics (27)Paper (7)Wood (25)Glass (3)Tinplate and steel (4)Aluminium (5)54 Quality Assurance (QA)Glass packaging218,875 tARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COLLECTION AND RECOVERY81 %recycled669,801 tPaper packaging335,805 tHouseholds Businesses and industryRecyclingQuality Assurance (QA)BUSINESS PROCESS DIAGRAMSchematic overview of ARA System’s collection and recovery performance in 2011 (834,304 tonnes)55ÖKO-BOX Composting5 %Waste treatment43,842 tQuality Assurance (QA) QAGlass packaging218,875 tLight-weight packaging220,136 tHouseholdsBusinesses and industryContract-based co-collectionMixed plastics fraction, recyclingNon-packaging wasteSorted plastics fraction (foils, PET, HDPE, PS/PP, EPS/XPS, etc.)Mixed plastics fraction, thermal recoveryBusinesses and industryHouseholdsRecyclingSorting QAWood19,687 tBusinesses and industryShredding/sortingMetal39,801 tNon-packaging waste (NPW), MSWThermal recoveryNon-packaging waste (NPW), MSWRecycling, AlRecycling, FeRecyclingComposite materials collected with paper, recyclingEnergy recovery, waste incineration plantsContract-based co-collectionBusinesses and industryHouseholdsBeverage cartons 8,266 tNPW, MSWBeverage cartonsNPW, MSWBeverage cartonsRecyclingBeverage cartonsThermal recoveryRecyclingNPW, MSWof which packaging, thermal recovery14 %Thermal treatment/energy recovery112,395 tWoodCOLLECTION AND RECOVERY ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT81 %recycled669,801 t56ENVIRON-MENTAL IMPACT 57ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTBoth ARA AG and AGR GmbH regard it as their duty to provide collection and recovery systems that achieve their business goal – providing compliance services for pack- aging waste at the lowest sustainable cost – while at the same time maximising environmental benefit (i.e. saving resources) and minimising economic expenditure. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTPackaging collection has a positive environmental impact above all because CO2 emissions are reduced when packaging made of paper, glass, light-weight materials (mainly plastics), metal, and wood is recycled, and because coal, fuel oil, coke, and natural gas are saved when pack- aging waste is used as secondary fuel. These beneficial effects are, to some extent, offset by the carbon emissions of waste collection vehicles, among other things. A detailed life cycle assessment model covering all packaging materials was used to calculate the external impact of our business activities in 2011. The results were evaluated and confirmed by the Environment Agency Aus-tria and the Vienna University of Technology. The model took into account the positive impact (CO2 savings) of the production of secondary raw materials and the substitution of fuels, as well as the negative impact (CO2 emissions) that can be attributed to the separate collection system and the direct carbon emissions of the recovery process. On balance, ARA helped save 615,000 tonnes of CO2 equiva-lents in 2011, which is slightly lower than the 2010 results (around 620,000 tonnes) owing to changes in the collection and recovery quantities. The CO2 savings are equivalent to 7 % of the annual emissions caused by all passenger cars registered in Austria. This means that ARA AG‘s packaging compliance service is not only climate-neutral but also contributes to protecting the environment. To raise awareness of this fact among our customers, we have awarded climate certificates since 2009 to recognise responsible companies that make an ac-tive contribution to climate protection by using ARA AG‘s packaging compliance service. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTTo determine the full environmental impact of our business activities, our environmental management system covers not only the external environmental impact, but also eva-luates the impact of ARA‘s office operations, even if these effects are comparatively negligible. The relevant figures – e.g. energy consumption (electricity and district heating) and paper consumption – are expressed in CO2 equivalents to make the data comparable. SUSTAINABILITY AGENDA OF THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRYThe sustainability agenda of the Austrian beverage indus- try is a voluntary commitment that has helped save around 100,000 tonnes of CO2 on average per year, which makes it an important tool for reducing the environmental impact of beverage packaging. In cooperation with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the Austrian Beverage Association, we were successful in further strengthening the significance of the sustainability agenda and in raising the number of members from 50 to more than 1,000. A monitoring report on the sustainability agenda was pub- lished in mid-2011. This report documents the measures taken since 2008 to reduce carbon emissions for the Austri-an Federal Ministry of Environment (baseline: 2007).58ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT The sustainability agenda was originally set to run until 2017. Even before that date, in summer 2011, a sup-plement to the agenda was adopted after negotiations between social partners. This supplement specifies stricter goals and even some new goals. One set of measures aims at making reusable packaging more attractive for consumers, for instance by ensuring good shelf space for reusable bottles, labelling and promo-ting reusable packaging, as well as providing more regional products in reusable packaging.To further improve the ecological performance of one-way packaging, the supplement provides for a voluntary in- crease of recycling rates for ferrous and non-ferrous metal packaging from 65 % to 70 % by 2013 and of bottle-to- bottle recycling from 6,000 tonnes to 9,000 tonnes by 2012. In addition, to prevent littering, a platform was created for financing and organising relevant PR campaigns. This plat-form, which is part of the Austrian Economic Chamber, was created after consultation with social partners, municipal- ities and the Austrian Ministry of Environment.INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT 2010 2011Power consumption at the office (life cycle CO2 equivalents) 54.2 t 51.4 tDistrict heating and hot water consumption (life cycle CO2 equivalents) 25.9 t 29.3 t1Staff transportation (CO2 equivalents) 94.0 t 68.9 t2Paper consumption (copy and printing paper, procurement data) 3.9 t 3.9 t1 This increase is due to additional office space we rented in 2011.2 The 2011 data are based on a new data collection method.182,000 TONNES OF LIGHT-WEIGHT PACKAGING RECOVERED.62COMMUNI-CATIONSCOMMUNICATIONS ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTThe implementation of the producer responsibility prin-ciple and the success of ARA AG‘s packaging collection and recovery systems would be unthinkable without a high degree of acceptance among businesses, politicians, and consumers. Establishing and maintaining excellent communications with all stakeholders has been a priority for ARA AG from day one of its existence. WASTE CONSULTANTS: DIRECT CONTACT WITH CONSUMERS For many years, we have successfully worked together with around 250 waste consultants, who ensure that counselling is available at a local level and that consumers are informed about local and regional specifics of the separate collec-tion system. ARA AG provides waste consultants with info material and giveaways for events in their regions to make sure that consumers receive comprehensive information. To honour the excellent work of waste consultants in Aus-tria, ARA AG and the magazine Umweltschutz established the “Waste Consultant of the Year” award, which was granted for the 14th time in 2011.Hassan Sadighi and Erich Prattes of Deutschlandsberg won the award with their project “Start-finish victory for reusa-ble cups”, which helps prevent waste and save resources by promoting the use of reusable cups at running events and by providing collection bags along the route to allow runners to dispose of these cups in mid-run. Erich Prattes was honoured twice by the jury: The waste consultant and chairman of the Styrian Association of Waste and Envi-ronmental Consultants received the lifetime achievement award for his outstanding commitment. TRENNT – ARA AG’S MAGAZINESince its relaunch, TRENNT has been published twice per year as a supplement to the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard. This way, the magazine reaches out to our customers, collection and recovery partners, political and administrative decision-makers, and, last but not least, the general public. The 2011 editions focused on resource management and sustainability.CAMPAIGNS In June 2011, ARA AG and the provincial government of the Tyrol implemented an advert campaign to promote sound waste collection and sorting habits in the Tyrol. In addition, we launched an awareness campaign on waste sorting in Vienna in cooperation with the City of Vienna‘s Municipal Depart-ment 48 (waste management). We were able to secure the support of Austrian top act Trackshittaz, who rewrote the lyrics of their chart hit “Oida Taunz” (“Dance, dude”) to match the campaign title, “Oida Trenn” (“Sort your waste, dude”). The campaign targeted above all young people. Its main message was that separating waste just makes sense. The ads appeared on backlit CityLight posters and RollingBoard billboards, in Austrian newspapers, as well as on underground trains and one tram line. We also ran a radio ad and, given that the campaign addressed above all young people, we chose to use Facebook, too: The code for a free download of the song “Oida Trenn” was made available on the Facebook pages of both ARA and Vienna‘s Municipal Department 48. In addition, people could play a game on Facebook and win CDs by Trackshittaz and meet-and-greet concert tickets.64ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT COMMUNICATIONSDuring the 2011 ball season, ARA ran a campaign that featured the Austrian etiquette teacher and dance instruc-tor Thomas Schäfer-Elmayer on backlit CityLight posters and in newsprint adverts. The message of the campaign was that packaging recycling is a matter of good taste. The highlight of the campaign was a recycling flash mob directed by Schäfer-Elmayer in Vienna. The 100 dancing couples caused quite a stir with their Polonaise dance through the city centre. At the final destination, Schäfer-Elmayer gave the magic command to the dancers – only this time, it was not the traditional ballroom phrase “Alles Walzer” (“Everyone waltz”) but “Alles trennt” (“Everyone sort your waste”). The flash mobbers performed a Viennese waltz holding bottles and cans in their hands. Then they gracefully disposed of the bottles and cans in the designa-ted recycling bins. The video of the flash mob was made available on YouTube.SOCIAL MEDIAOur website was restructured and redesigned to provide customers, partners and consumers with improved naviga-tion and more content.We also started to build a web 2.0 presence in 2011, using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, XING and YouTube. These new communication channels allow us to maintain a direct dia-logue with anyone who is interested in waste prevention, waste collection and recycling.In addition, ARA uses webinars as a means of communi-cation with stakeholders: Invited participants can attend presentations and training courses via the Internet without leaving their workplace. The webinars are interactive and allow two-way communication between the presenter and the audience. 65COMMUNICATIONS ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTEVENTS AND SUPPORT FOR SOCIAL PROJECTSARA AG‘s support for social projects goes beyond merely donating money. A case in point is our participation in the Kids‘ Rally, an initiative launched by former rally driver Helmut Schindelegger for children with special needs. For the fourth time in 2011, we organised edutainment games, which are an opportunity for the kids to learn how to sort waste correctly while having fun. We also supported the association Verein T.I.W., which helps disadvantaged young people find and keep employ-ment. The association assists its clients in searching for a job, starting their career and solving problems at the workplace.In 2011, ARA again purchased its Christmas card from BOJE, a centre offering crisis intervention, psychothera-peutic support, and counselling for traumatised children and adolescents. The net proceeds from the sale of these cards go directly to BOJE projects. In addition, we supported the following non-profits and charities: St. Anna Children‘s Hospital, SC Aktivity (a sports club for people with special needs), WienWork (a training and work placement provider for disadvantaged people), and Golfen mit Herz (which supports children with cancer).66SURVEYS AND STUDIESSURVEYS AND STUDIES ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTVIEWS ON WASTE SORTINGWe commissioned a representative survey by IMAS among 500 consumers to explore people‘s views about the sepa- rate collection of packaging waste. The results confirm that Austrian households are willing to make sustainable waste sorting practices part of their daily life. 96 % of respond- ents stated that they separate packaging made of paper, glass, plastics and metal from residual waste. 90 % think that the separate collection of packaging waste is a “very good” or “good” idea. 30 % of respondents agree that sorting packaging waste requires additional effort and time, but 67 % indicate that this is a matter of course for them. WASTE SORTING AMONG OLD AND NEW INHABITANTS OF VIENNAOn behalf of ARA AG, EthnOpinion conducted a study on waste sorting among 300 old and 300 new inhabitants of Vienna (new means they have a migration background, old means they do not). Seven out of ten old Viennese and six out of ten new Viennese assigned a very or rather high pri-ority to environmental protection in general. Waste sorting was accorded the same significance by the two groups (old Viennese: 80 %, new Viennese 81 %). Similarly, the share of respondents who think that waste sorting plays a very or rather important role in environmental protection was 86 % and 82 %, respectively. In both groups, it was young people below the age of 29 who said that environmental protection and waste sorting is not that important to them. A remarkable difference be- tween the two groups was observed regarding the gender gap: While the responses given by the old Viennese re-vealed hardly any gender-specific differences, women with a migration background had significantly higher awareness of environmental and waste issues than their male peers.VIEWS ON GIFT PACKAGINGThe Austrian Gallup Institute conducted a survey on behalf of ARA AG to assess the gift-wrapping habits of Austrians during Christmas time. 86 % of respondents use the separate waste collection system to dispose of gift packaging. The best results were reported for wrapping paper (98 %), followed by plastic packaging (nine out of ten respondents). More than one half of respondents said they remove wires and ribbons before disposing of packaging. The most popular wrapping is Christmas wrapping paper (71 %), followed by Christmas bags (12 %) and newspa-per (4 %). Another 4 % say they do not wrap Christmas presents at all.CONSUMER VIEWS ON THE SEPARATE COLLECTION OF PACKAGING WASTEA “very good” or “good” solutionHouseholds sorting waste Separate collection of packaging waste1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 201010 %20 %40 %50 %60 %70 %80 %90 %100 %30 %2011Source: IMAS (2011).68EMPLOYEES69EMPLOYEES ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTOur success is driven by the commitment of our highly qualified and motivated employees. As at 31 December 2011, ARA AG had 80 employees and 3 apprentices. 2009 2010 2011Number of employees (as at end-December) 82 81 80Women 39 41 40Men 43 40 40 Full-time 64 64 65Part-time 14 14 15On leave 4 3 0 Average (including staff on leave) 83.2 82.3 79.5Full-time equivalents (including staff on leave) 76.1 74.8 72.8 Apprentices 3 2 3Women 2 2 3Men 1 0 0 Management CEOs Men 2 2 2Women 0 0 0Heads of departments Men 10 10 10Women 1 1 1 Education and further training Average cost per capita (€) 625 691 717Work accidents 0 0 0EMPLOYEES70ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT EMPLOYEESREMUNERATIONIn line with its guiding principles, ARA AG has a strictly performance-based pay scheme, and it offers equal oppor-tunities for promotion to all employees. Bonus payments are designed to reward exceptional per-formance, and bonuses to heads of departments are paid out depending on whether performance targets (which are specified in annual target agreements) have been met.All employees receive a number of additional voluntary benefits, including pension contributions, accident insurance, or restaurant vouchers. FURTHER TRAININGTo maintain the high service level and increase job satis-faction, ARA AG actively promotes further training of its employees. In 2011, we invested on average € 717 per employee in training and education. Individual training needs are identified and discussed with each staff member; this is usually done in annual appraisal interviews, where we jointly agree on targets and objec-tives. These discussions help optimise quality of work and strengthen internal communications.INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONSThe management of ARA AG believes that keeping an open direct dialogue with employees is a cornerstone of effec- tive collaboration. ARA AG‘s employees are not organised in a union.We hold departmental and interdepartmental meetings on an ongoing basis, and we organise bi-annual workshops for all ARA employees and the staff of ERA, ARES, and NetMan. On the company‘s Intranet, our employees have access to comprehensive corporate information and, through the pARAdISO portal, information about ARA‘s management system. In the reporting year, we set up an in-house blog entitled HurrARA, which allows employees to communicate and share information. All employees are invited to create or comment on blog entries, which facilitates an open dia-logue and generates new ideas.IDEA MANAGEMENTARA‘s idea management taps into the creative thinking of employees by inviting them to express their views on busi-ness processes. All staff members can post suggestions on the Intranet. We also established an idea forum to consider the suggestions made, and we reward employees who put forward suggestions that are deemed useful by the forum and that improve the operating result. HEALTH AND SAFETYThere were no work-related sick days or occupational acci-dents in the reporting period. As required by law, ARA AG performs workplace risk assessments and workplace safety trainings at regular intervals. We have appointed in-house first aid helpers and fire prevention experts as well as company safety specialists who all receive further training on an ongoing basis. Fire safety measures and equipment (e.g. fire extinguishers) are sufficiently available. 71EMPLOYEES ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTIn 2011, ARA AG organised a vision test, a hearing test and a lung function test for employees. We also book two vacci-nation appointments per year and cover the doctor‘s fee. ANTI-CORRUPTION POLICYIn 2009, ARA AG implemented anti-corruption guidelines as part of its compliance measures. The guidelines were put in place to ensure integrity in ARA‘s business conduct and proper conduct of staff, as well as to effectively pre-vent compliance violations to protect all employees from possible consequences under labour law and criminal law. These measures also aim at preventing damage to ARA‘s reputation, image and property. JOB CREATIONA study conducted by the Institute of Advanced Studies Carinthia confirms that ARA System has had a positive economic effect, as it has led to the creation of more than 4,000 jobs and has contributed to sustaining the Austrian waste disposal industry, which is largely made up of small and medium-sized enterprises.72OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES73OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTOBJECTIVES ACHIEVED IN 2011ARA has implemented a comprehensive set of measures to attain its goals (see individual chapters for details).OBJECTIVES FOR 2011 STRATEGIES AND MEASURES RESULTSBusiness operations Ensure business profitability Secure revenues: increase the number of license partners and upgrade the service level provided through targe-ted customer acquisition, re-acquire former customers who switched to competitors816 new license contracts signedComply with Ministry requirements Provide a nationwide system for the collection and recovery of packaging wasteCoverage and recycling targets fulfilled, required capacities providedKeep tariffs constant Implement internal and external cost-saving measures Tariffs for most waste categories lowered twice in 2011, another price cut in 2012Secure a solid legal basis Amendment to the Austrian Waste Management Act and the Packaging Ordinance: continue dialogue with the various stakeholders to (i) maintain the system‘s high performance and environmental standards, (ii) create the conditions required for the effi- cient and cost-effective implementa-tion of the Packaging Ordinance, and (iii) ensure fair competitionAmendment to Packaging Ordinance expected for 2012Ensure service continuity Hold tenders and renegotiate con-tracts for the collection, sorting and recovery of packaging waste; renego- tiate contracts with municipalitiesContracts awarded to best bidders with high quality and environmental standards74ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGESOBJECTIVES FOR 2011 STRATEGIES AND MEASURES RESULTSCollection and recovery Increase the amount collected to meet target ratiosOptimise the system, increase the number of containers and households covered by the bag collection schemeCollection amount stabilisedRaise public awareness of ARA‘s services Use social media (web 2.0), campaigns “Sort your waste, dude” and “Everyone sort your waste”Successful use of Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, XING and YouTube; campaigns implementedMeet and exceed recycling ratios set in the Packaging OrdinanceMeet and exceed the required mini-mum degree of sorting and recyclingHousehold system: +3 %, commercial system: +22 % (excluding AGR)Improve user-friendliness of the collection systemIncrease the number of containers and households covered by the bag collection scheme; provide new stickers with a simple message for containers+30,000 containers, +16,000 households covered by the bag collection scheme;First stickers replaced by new ones, rest scheduled for 2012Environmental impact Improve ecological footprint Further cut carbon emissions (2010: 620,000 tonnes) by increasing the waste amount collected and recov- ered, raising the recycling ratio, improving collection efficiency, and reducing fuel consumption; cut energy consumption at ARA officesCO2 savings almost unchanged (2011: 615,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents); power consumption at the office down by 5 % Internal objectives Introduce eco-procurement Define standards for the procurement of office supplies and consumablesProcurement standard implementedReduce energy consumption at ARA officesProvide employees with information Power consumption at the office: –5 %75OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTOBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES IN 2012We are committed to constantly optimising the services we provide to businesses and consumers and to improving our environmental performance. In addition, we are willing to face challenges as they emerge to contribute to the sus- tainable development of our industry.OBJECTIVES AND CHALLENGES IN 2012 STRATEGIES AND MEASURESBusiness operations Keep tariffs stable Continue internal and external cost-saving measuresImplement amendment to Waste Management Act and Packaging OrdinanceImplement the amendments to the Waste Management Act and the Packaging Ordinance efficiently and cost-effectivelyComply with Ministry requirements Provide a nationwide system for the collection and recovery of packaging wasteImprove compliance services Extend the range of services provided to license partnersExpand business activities Implement business plan at ARA subsidiaries Collection and recoveryIncrease collection amount Optimise collection systems, replace container stickersReduce share of waste deposited in the wrong containerNew stickers, information campaignFine-tune commercial and industrial waste servicesOffer practical solutions, prevent freeloadingFurther lower CO2 emissions Increase collection and recovery amounts, raise recycling share, improve collection efficiency, and reduce fuel consumptionReduce littering Support anti-littering platform Internal measuresImprove internal communications Expand ARA Intranet pARAdISO functionality, continue in-house blog HurrARA76CONTACTS AND ADDRESSES77ARA ALTSTOFF RECYCLING AUSTRIA AGMANAGEMENT BOARDWerner KnauszChristoph ScharffMariahilfer Straße 123, 1062 ViennaTel.: +43-1/599 97-0Fax: +43-1/595 35 35E-mail: office@ara.atwww.ara.atAGR AUSTRIA GLAS RECYCLING GMBHMANAGING DIRECTORHarald HaukeObere Donaustraße 71, 1020 ViennaTel.: +43-1/214 49 00Fax: +43-1/214 49 08E-mail: agr@agr.atwww.agr.atARA SERVICE CENTRESSALZBURG & UPPER AUSTRIAErwin BernsteinerNeualmer Straße 37, 5400 HalleinMobile: +43-664/532 71 79Fax: +43-6245/834 82-4E-mail: erwin.bernsteiner@utanet.atCARINTHIA & STYRIAGerhard GenserRadetzkystraße 16/5, 9020 KlagenfurtMobile: +43-699/12 18 28 88Fax: +43-463/51 52 10E-mail: gerhard.genser@utanet.atTYROL & VORARLBERGJosef BaumannEduard-Bodem-Gasse 5, 6026 InnsbruckTel.: +43-512/21 44 00-20Mobile: +43-699/15 90 15 90Fax: +43-512/21 44 00-50E-mail: baumann@ara-west.atARA REGIONAL OFFICESREGIONAL OFFICE SOUTHERN AUSTRIAHans BaumgartnerBurgfried 104, 8342 GnasTel.: +43-3151/85 53Mobile: +43-664/142 04 60Fax: +43-3151/86 65E-mail: hans.baumgartner@ara.atREGIONAL OFFICE NORTHERN AUSTRIAKarl GrasfurtnerWilhelm-Thöny-Straße 6, 5020 SalzburgTel.: +43-662/62 70 19Mobile: +43-664/180 95 45Fax: +43-662/62 70 19-8E-mail: karl.grasfurtner@ara.atIMPRINTPUBLISHER:Altstoff Recycling Austria AGMariahilfer Straße 123, 1062 ViennaE-mail: araag@ara.atwww.ara.atEDITORIAL BOARD:Management Board of Altstoff Recycling Austria AGPHOTOGRAPHS:Lukas Maximilian HüllerAlexander SchleissingDESIGN AND LAYOUT:veni vidi confici® | Atelier für visuelle Kommunikation1070 ViennaTRANSLATION:Irene PopenbergerAll data and information provided herein reflect the status quo at the editorial close. This report may contain typogra-phical errors.Vienna, April 2012CONTACTS AND ADDRESSES ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT78VALIDATION AND CERTIFICATIONThis Sustainability Report has been verified by the inde-pendent certification companyQuality Austria Trainings-, Zertifizierungs- und Begutachtungs GmbHGonzagagasse 1/24, 1010 Vienna, Austria.The Lead Verifier hereby confirms that this Sustainability Report has been drafted in line with the international guidelines for sustainability reporting by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and that the content and data provided in this report correspond to the documentation reviewed at ARA AG, so that the Lead Verifier confirms the self-assessment of level A.Vienna, April 2012Konrad ScheiberChief Executive Officer Quality AustriaMartina GödLead Verifier and Product Manager for Sustainability ReportsARA PERFORMANCE REPORT VALIDATION AND CERTIFICATIONSTANDARD DISCLOSURESReport Application Level C B AReport on all criteria listed for Level C plus:1.23.9, 3.134.5–4.13, 4.16–4.17Report on:1.12.1–2.103.1–3.8, 3.10–3.124.1–4.4, 4.14–4.15Report on a minimum of 10 G3 Core Performance Indicators, including at least one from each of: Economic, Social and Environment.Report on a minimum of 20 G3 Core Performance Indicators, at least one from each of: Economic, Environment, Human Rights, Labor, Society, and Product ResponsibilityReport on each Core G3 and Sector Supplement* Indicator with due regard to the mate-riality principle by either: a) reporting on the indicator or b) explaining the reason for its omission.* Sector supplement in final version.Not Required Management Approach Disclosures for each Indicator CategoryManagement Approach Disclosures for each Indicator CategorySame as requirement for Level BOUTPUTProfile DisclosuresOUTPUTManagement Approach Disclosures OUTPUTPerformance Indicators & Sector Supplement Perfor-mance IndicatorsGRI DESCRIPTION PAGEPROFILE DISCLOSURE1. Strategy and Analysis1.1 Statement from the most senior decision-maker of the organization 6, 131.2 Description of key impacts, risks, and opportunities 6, 12, 722 Organizational Profile2.1 Name of the organization 1, 772.2 Primary brands, products, and/or services 10, 302.3 Operational structure of the organization 13, 172.4 Location of organization‘s headquarters 11, 772.5 Number of countries where the organization operates 112.6 Nature of ownership and legal form 12, 132.7 Markets served 112.8 Scale of the reporting organization 3, 21, 692.10 Awards received in the reporting period 163 Report Parameters3.1 Reporting period 13.2 Date of most recent previous report 163.3 Reporting cycle 163.4 Contact point for questions 773.5 Process for defining report content 14, 63, 643.6 Boundary of the report 103.9 Data measurement techniques and bases of calculations 3, 23, 303.12 Table identifying the location of the Standard Disclosures in the report 793.13 Policy and current practice with regard to seeking external assurance for the report 784 Governance, Commitments, and Engagement 4.1 Governance structure of the organization 144.2 Information whether the chair of the highest governance body is also an executive officer 144.3 Information about the members of the highest governance body 13, 144.4 Mechanisms for shareholders and employees to provide recommendations or direction to the highest governance body22, 704.5 Linkage between compensation for members of the highest governance body, senior managers, and executives, and the organization‘s performance 704.6 Processes in place for the highest governance body to ensure conflicts of interest are avoided 714.7 Qualifications and expertise of the members of the highest governance body for guiding the organization‘s strategy on economic, environmental, and social topics164.8 Statements of mission or values, codes of conduct, and principles relevant to economic, environmental, and social performance14, 15, 164.9 Procedures for overseeing the organization‘s sustainability performance 164.10 Processes for evaluating the highest governance body‘s own performance, particularly with respect to sustainability performance174.11 Explanation of whether and how the precautionary approach or principle is addressed by the organization164.12 Externally developed charters, principles, or other initiatives to which the organization subscribes or which it endorses14GRI CONTENT INDEX ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTGRI CONTENT INDEX80GRI DESCRIPTION PAGE4.13 Memberships in associations (such as industry associations) and/or advocacy organizations 174.14 List of stakeholder groups engaged by the organization 144.15 Basis for identification and selection of stakeholders with whom to engage 14, 214.16 Approaches to stakeholder engagement 624.17 Key topics and concerns that have been raised through stakeholder engagement 62PERFORMANCE INDICATORSEconomicEC1 Direct economic value generated and distributed 21EC3 Coverage of the organization‘s defined benefit plan obligations 70EC6 Policy, practices, and proportion of spending on locally-based suppliers 71EC8 Services provided primarily for public benefit 30EC9 Describing significant indirect economic impacts 67Environmental EN1 Materials used by weight or volume 30, 58EN2 Percentage of materials used that are recycled input materials 30EN3 Direct energy consumption by primary energy source 58EN4 Indirect energy consumption by primary source 58EN5 Energy saved 74EN6 Initiatives to reduce energy requirements 74EN7 Initiatives to reduce indirect energy consumption and reductions achieved 24, 74EN16 Total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by weight 57EN18 Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 74EN22 Total weight of waste by type and disposal method 30EN26 Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts of products and services 24, 30EN27 Percentage of packaging materials that are reclaimed by category 30EN29 Significant environmental impacts of transportation 58EN30 Total environmental protection expenditures and investments by type 21Social: Labor Practices and Decent WorkEmploymentLA1 Total workforce by employment type, employment contract, and region 69LA2 Employee turnover 69LA3 Benefits provided to full-time employees only 70LA4 Percentage of employees covered by collective bargaining agreements 70ARA PERFORMANCE REPORT GRI CONTENT INDEX81GRI DESCRIPTION PAGELA8 Measures to assist workforce members, their families, or community members regarding serious diseases70LA10 Average hours of training per year per employee 70LA12 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development reviews 70LA13 Diversity of employees and governance bodies 69LA14 Ratio of basic salary of men to women 70SocietySO1 Impacts of operations on communities 67SO2 Analysis for risks related to corruption 71SO3 Staff training in anti-corruption policies and procedures 71SO5 Public policy positions and participation in public policy development and lobbying 12Product responsibilityPR1 Life cycle stages in which health and safety impacts of products and services are assessed for improvement20, 57PR3 Product and service information required by law 62PR5 Customer satisfaction 66EC2, EC4, EC5, EC7, EN3, EN9-15, EN19, EN20, EN23, EN25,EN28,LA5-7, LA9, LA11, HR1-9, SO6-8, PR2, PR4, PR6-9These disclosures and indicators are not relevant given the specific business activity and the business location in Austria.GRI CONTENT INDEX ARA PERFORMANCE REPORTWe thank the following companies for their support with photographs:CEMEX Hollitzer Baustoffwerke Betriebs-GmbhMINERAL Baukontor Gaaden GmbH