Collection and treatment of waste – Examination of the equivalence of a permit

General information

Anyone who collects or treats waste must apply for a permit for his or her activity. This does not apply to holders of an equivalent permit from an EU member state or another state that is a party to the EEA Agreement. However, anyone who already has such an equivalent licence must submit the licence to the competent authority before commencing their activities in Austria.

Enterprises affected

See "General information".

Competent authority

Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology
Division V/1 – Company Related Waste Regulations, Waste Shipment and Environmental Liability (→ BMK)
e-mail: v1@bmk.gv.at

Procedure

• A request for an equivalence assessment pursuant to section 24a paragraph 2 (3) of the Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz (Waste Management Act – AWG) must be sent by e-mail to the competent authority.
  The following documents/information must be attached:
  • all documents authorising the collection or treatment of waste in an EU or EEA member state (e.g. notification in accordance with section 53 of the German Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz (Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act – KrWG) including official confirmation, permit in accordance with section 54 KrWG, Efb certificate in accordance with section 56 KrWG including annexes)
  • a brief description of the activity to be carried out in Austria
  • the federal province in Austria in which waste is to be collected (or treated) for the first time
    (This information indicates the provincial governor responsible for receiving and checking the annual waste balances to be submitted in future.)
• In the event of a positive response from the competent authority, registration in the EDM master data register must be carried out at edm.gv.at (→ BMK). Please provide the GLN number (13-digit identification number) assigned through the competent authority by e-mail.

• In addition, the competent authority must be notified of those types of waste from the Austrian Waste Catalogue that are required for activities in Austria. For this purpose, the web application "Authorisation data" is available at edm.gv.at (→ BMK), with which you can download an Excel file (after registering in EDM) that contains a list of all types of waste based on the Austrian Waste Catalogue. You can edit the file according to your application and send it to the competent authority by e-mail.
• For hazardous waste, proof of the availability of a suitable authorised interim storage facility in Austria must be provided (e.g. agreement with an Austrian waste management company).

After a positive assessment of all documents/information, the competent authority enters the types of waste covered by the permit in the EDM master data register and sends an official letter confirming the equivalence of the permit and the types of waste covered by the permit.

Required documents

See "Procedure".

Costs and fees

There are no fees and charges.

Further information

• edm.gv.at (→ BMK)
• "Berechtigungsdaten" web application on edm.gv.at (→ BMK)^{German text}
• Annual waste management sheet − Records
• Notification of the annual waste balance (incl. blank report)

Legal bases

• section 24a paragraph 2 (3) of the Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz (Waste Management Act – AWG)
• Responsibility for receiving and checking the annual waste balances to be submitted in future:
  section 21 paragraph 3 in conjunction with section 24a paragraph 4 (2) of the AWG
• Registration in the EDM master data register:
  section 21 paragraph 1 AWG