Recovery and disposal
A number of facilities are available for the pre-treatment of specific hazardous waste.
Since the Landfill Ordinance already contains extensive provisions concerning the study of waste, synergies for the exemption for the purpose of landfilling are used. Such exemption must be based on an overall assessment in accordance with the Landfill Ordinance.
Pursuant to §16.1 of the Waste Management Act 2002, it has been prohibited since 16 July 2001 to deposit hazardous waste on above-ground landfills, i.e., such waste must either be exempted, treated or exported prior to above-ground depositing.
Analyses from the landfill database on deposited waste in 2004 (data as of 19 September 2005) show that approx. 1.5 million tonnes of exempted waste was deposited.
About 0.8 million tonnes of hazardous waste are treated in a variety of plants with the objective of converting it into a form compatible with landfilling. When this proves unsuccessful, the waste, which is usually highly contaminated, is exported to underground landfills abroad (see Table).
Table: Exported hazardous waste - greatest amounts for 2004 in tonnes
| Code numbers | Designations according to ÖNORM S 2100 (2005) | Exported hazardous waste |
| 31223 | Dust, ash and dross from other smelting processes | 64.700 |
| 31211 | Salt slag, containing aluminium | 45.200 |
| 31309 | Flue ash and dust from waste incineration plants | 28.800 |
| 17213 | Wood packaging, waste wood and wood wool, contaminated by organic chemicals (e.g., mineral oils, solvents, non-hardened varnish) | 19.100 |
| 35205 | Cooling and air-conditioning devices with CFC-, fluorocarbon- and hydrocarbon-containing coolants (e.g., propane, butane) | 14.800 |
| 31217 | Filter dust, containing non-ferrous-metal | 13.500 |
| 51530 | Copper chloride | 11.400 |
| 52717 | Waste bleaching lye, chlorine free | 9.700 |
| 54102 | Waste oil | 4.800 |
| 94801 | Sludge from sewage treatment, with hazardous contents | 3.200 |
| 31312 | Solid residue containing salt from flue gas cleaning of waste incineration plants and waste pyrolysis facilities | 2.700 |
| 52103 | Acids, acid mixtures with application-specific additives (e.g., etching, ion exchanging eluates) | 1.800 |
| 55370 | Solvent mixtures without halogenated organic components, paint and varnish thinners (e.g., "diluents for cellulose lacquers"), including antifreeze | 1.700 |
| 31317 | Flue ash and dust from oil burning plants | 1.620 |
| 31633 | Glass grinding waste with production-specific harmful additives | 1.600 |
| 54701 | Sand-catcher contents containing oil or cleaning solvent | 1.100 |
| 52725 | Other watery concentrates | 1.000 |
| 31424 | Other contaminated soils | 900 |
| 54703 | Sludge from oil-separating plants | 900 |
| 54926 | Used oil absorbent materials | 900 |
| 54930 | Solid fat and oil-contaminated equipment (waste from workshops, industry and filling stations) | 700 |
| Other exports of approx. 40 hazardous waste types | 5.700 | |
| Total exports of hazardous waste (rounded) | 236.000 |
18.10.2006, Lebensministerium VI/3