🚨 “Plastic Tax” in Austria: Much Ado About Nothing—and That’s a Good Thing.
In recent weeks, there has been intense debate over a national tax on single-use plastic packaging.
The sole aim was to finance budgetary measures and allegedly promote the circular economy.
👉 Now it’s clear:
The “plastic tax” will not be pursued further.
And in our view, that is the right decision.
💡 Why we viewed the planned tax critically:
In our statement, we highlighted three key points in particular:
1. No real incentive effect
The proposed structure would have imposed a flat-rate charge on all packaging—regardless of whether it is already recyclable or contains recycled materials.
👉 Result: a pure additional tax rather than an environmental policy tool.
👉 A link to the use of recycled materials, as well as an exemption or reduction for the use of recycled materials, would be necessary.
2. Incorrect attribution of responsibility
Manufacturers can design packaging—but cannot control whether it is actually recycled.
👉 A levy based on actual recycling would therefore attribute the behavior of others to the manufacturer.
👉 However, recyclability depends largely on external factors such as collection infrastructure and sorting capabilities.
👉 Whether actual recycling takes place also depends largely on consumer behavior and is therefore not subject to the manufacturer’s direct control.
3. Threat to existing circular systems
Even highly effective systems like the single-use deposit scheme would have been affected—despite recycling rates nearing 100%.
👉 This would have penalized rather than strengthened the functioning circular economy.
📄 Our position is clear
Meaningful regulation must focus on areas where companies actually have influence:
1. Use of recycled materials
2. Design for recycling
3. Clear, measurable criteria
👉 Only this way can a genuine incentive effect be created.
⚖️ Conclusion
The planned tax would have placed a massive burden on Austria as a business location—without any environmental benefit.
Especially in a phase of rising raw material prices and high costs, this would have been an additional burden for industry and consumers.
👉 The decision not to proceed down this path is therefore logical.
♻️ The way forward
Don’t tax across the board—instead, implement targeted measures.
Promote recycling instead of imposing blanket taxes.
📩 Our full statement (including legal analysis and specific recommendations for action) can be found here.
#CircularEconomy #PlasticTax #Recycling #Sustainability #IndustrialPolicy #Austria #Business #Waste #RecycledMaterials
#ElisabethMoserMarzi #LukasWeinhandl #MoserMarziRAe
♻️ Opinion on the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUP Directive): Regulations on single-use plastic products and fishing gear 🐟🚫
Moser-Marzi Attorneys at Law (Attorney Elisabeth Moser-Marzi, Attorney Lukas Weinhandl) have prepared a comprehensive legal opinion on behalf of the Österreichischer Carbon Cycle Circle (ÖCC²) as part of the public EU consultation on the Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUP Directive).
The upcoming evaluation by the European Commission offers a key opportunity to critically assess the effectiveness of existing measures as well as their economic and regulatory impacts. 🔍🇪🇺
Our analysis shows: The directive provides impetus for reducing littering and promoting the circular economy—but at the same time reveals structural weaknesses and implementation shortcomings. 📉💡
Key points of our statement:
🚫 Limited regulatory impact of material-specific marketing bans, with environmentally harmful substitution effects
🏷️ Limited effectiveness of labeling requirements due to consumers’ failure to actually take notice
⚖️ Structural one-sidedness of extended producer responsibility (EPR) without corresponding obligations for consumers
📊 Efficiency deficits in collection and recycling systems (SuV) compared to international standards (e.g., Japan)
🍾 Practical doubts regarding the effectiveness of individual product requirements (e.g., tethered caps)
🧩 Fragmentation relevant to the single market due to differing national end-of-waste approaches
🇪🇺📉 Adverse economic conditions in Europe
Our conclusion: 🏁
Effectively reducing littering and certain types of plastic waste requires more than product-specific bans and producer responsibility.
What is needed is a coherent, systemic approach that ensures ecological effectiveness, legal clarity, and economic viability in equal measure. 🔄✅
In particular, the following are needed:
👤 Legal standardization of obligations—particularly collection obligations—for consumers,
📜 Clear and EU-wide harmonized legal requirements,
📈 As well as market-effective instruments to promote recycled plastics over virgin plastics.
We would like to thank the members of the ÖCC² association, as well as the Plastics Cluster, ecoplus. Lower Austria Economic Agency GmbH (Kunststoff-Cluster, ecoplus. Niederösterreichs Wirtschaftsagentur GmbH), and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich )for the intensive professional exchange! 🙌🤝
The full statement can be found here.
#SUP #SingleUsePlasticsDirective #CircularEconomy #EULaw #WasteLaw
#CircularEconomy #Recycling #RecycledMaterials #InternalMarket #GreenDeal
#Business #Waste #Recycling #RecycledMaterials
#ÖCC2 #KC #ecoplus #WKO #MoserMarziRAe
♻️ Statement on the EU Winter Package 2025: Plastic waste
Moser-Marzi Rechtsanwälte has prepared a comprehensive legal opinion on the EU Winter Package of December 23, 2025, for the Austrian Carbon Cycle Circle (ÖCC²) association.
The European Commission’s pilot initiative provides important impetus for the transition to a functioning circular economy – but also highlights where legal clarifications and market-stabilizing measures are urgently needed.
Key points of our analysis:
• Harmonization of end-of-waste criteria as the key to investment security and the functioning of the internal market
• Clear distinction between producer responsibility, testing obligations, and in-house material flows
• Legally secure classification of chemical recycling while maintaining the waste hierarchy
• Critical assessment of the temporary “Made in Europe” credit
• Lack of demand instruments and untested/uncertified cheap imports of recycled materials as a central systemic deficit of the current approach
Our conclusion:
A functioning circular economy requires not only ambitious targets, but also coherent, proportionate, and market-effective framework conditions that secure European recycling capacities in the long term.
We would like to thank the members of the ÖCC² association and the KC for the expert exchange!
The full statement can be found here.
#EUWinterPackage #CircularEconomy #EULaw #WasteLaw #PlasticRecycling
#EndOfWaste #CircularEconomy #GreenDeal #SustainableMaterials
#Recyclates #ChemicalRecycling #InternalMarket
#ÖCC2 #KC #MoserMarziRAe
E. Moser-Marzi (2023)
Supply chains: Directive ante portas, MC-report, Issue 2 – November 2023
E. Moser-Marzi / L. Weinhandl (2023)
Legal Opinion – Unequal Treatment of Graduates of TherMilAk in the Military Service
especially in relation to the classification of young graduates as “A 1 Bachelor” in general administration
Rechtsgutachten – Ungleichbehandlung der Absolventen der TherMilAk im Militärischen DienstRechtsgutachten – Ungleichbehandlung der Absolventen der TherMilAk im Militärischen Dienst
Moser-Marzi, E. (2021)
Der Kampf um das Pfand, RECYCLINGmagazin – 28.07.2021
Kunststoffrecycling – Pfand – Artikel 07/2021 [PDF]
Moser-Marzi, E. (2021)
Kunststoffe – die Werkstoffe des 21. Jahrhunderts und ihre Herausforderungen, Eccos 22 – 04.03.2021
Kunststoffe – Artikel 03-2021 [PDF]
Moser-Marzi, E. / Jäger, J. (2018)
ACR-Forschungsinstitute verbessern Innovationsfähigkeit – der Beitrag der Austrian Cooperativ Research zur Forschung in Österreich, Invent 2008 / 4, S 20 ff.
Invent Austria − Artikel 04-2018 [PDF]
www.inventaustria.at
Moser-Marzi, E. / Schordan, C. / Baumann, H. (2007)
Verpackungsverordnung, Wien 2007, MANZ (September 2007)
Moser-Marzi, E. (2007)
Rechtsgutachten für den Verein EcoNet Austria über Kostentragung betreffend Wiederverwendung von Elektro- und Elektronik-Altgeräten
Moser-Marzi, E. / Schordan, C. (2005)
Die Elektroaltgeräteverordnung, ecolex 2005, 730
Moser-Marzi, E. / Schordan, C. (2005)
Checkliste: Die Pflichten aus der Elektroaltgeräteverordnung, RdU 2005, 118
Moser-Marzi, E. / Schordan, C. (2005)
Muster: Teilnahmevertrag mit einem Sammel- und Verwertungssystembetreiber für Elektro- und Elektronikaltgeräte”, RdU 2005, 120
Moser-Marzi, E. / Schordan, C. (2004)
Regulierungsbedarf für den Bereich der Sammlung und Verwertung von Verpackungen?, ecolex 2004, 902
Moser-Marzi, E. / Pommerening-Schober, R. / Schordan, C. (2004)
10 Jahre Verpackungsverordnung – Eine kritische Würdigung für den Bereich der Kunststoffverpackungen, RdU 2004, 44
E. Moser-Marzi (1987)
The world is becoming a greenhouse – Management Report (1987)
Sustainability and its improvement at a corporate level is of particular concern to us. The first article “The world is becoming a greenhouse” by Ms. Moser-Marzi on the topics of climate protection and climate change was written in 1987 and published in the Management Report. Our law firm was therefore already specialized in climate and environmental issues in its early years and can look back on many years of experience.