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Vienna Climate Guide - Monitoring
1. Climate protection

1.3 Waste management

Vienna’s waste management sector implements numerous measures that exert a positive effect on the carbon footprint of the city and beyond.

These measures include district heating and electricity generation above all on the basis of waste incineration plants, whose output was augmented in recent years by means of numerous photovoltaic systems and large-scale heat pumps at sites managed by Vienna’s waste disposal facilities.

Due to the E_OS project, Vienna’s sewage treatment plant – which requires over 1% of the electricity generated by Wien Energie for wastewater purification – has become a positive energy facility: Since 2021, the Simmering plant has been generating more renewable energy (electricity/district heat) from sewage gas than is needed for wastewater treatment. Today, Vienna’s sewage treatment plant is a climate-friendly co-generation facility with a current self-sufficiency rate of about 113% for electricity and approximately 170% for heat.

The recycling rate for plastic packaging of at least 55% by 2030 set by the EU as well as the nationwide introduction of a deposit system for plastic bottles and beverage cans as of 1 January 2025 support the goals pursued by Vienna in the fields of waste management and the circular economy.

Numerous further measures and programmes of the City of Vienna to avoid waste and strengthen the circular economy as well as separate waste collection followed by recycling contribute to reducing resource consumption and CO2 emissions.

To further the development towards climate neutrality and zero waste, a strategic environmental assessment served as the starting point for preparing the Vienna Waste Management Plan and the Vienna Waste Avoidance Concept for the period 2025-2030, followed by their adoption by the Vienna Provincial Government in December 2024. These documents embody the goals of doubling the capacity of the biogas plant and recovering phosphorus, a critical raw material, from sewage sludge.

Illustration that sketchily combines various elements related to waste management: the Viennese waste incineration plant with its characteristic tower designed by Friedrich Hundertwasser, a sewage treatment plant, a waste garbage can, a man holding a manure bag in one hand and recycling material in the other and standing in front of a deposit recycling plant. Empty plastic bottles and cans are being fed into the deposit system. A waste sorting plant can be seen in the background, where items are running along a conveyor belt under a gripper arm.

Highlights:

  • Generation of renewable electricity and district heat through waste and wastewater management

  • Vienna Waste Management Plan 2025-2030 for the further development of the Austrian capital’s waste management sector

  • The volume of residual waste per inhabitant has been reduced

  • E_OS: The energy-positive sewage treatment facility operated by ebswien produces around 8.5 GWh of electricity and 27.5 GWh of heat annually

  • Nationwide introduction of a deposit system for plastic bottles and beverage cans