Eco-innovation in Austria

EIO Country Profile

2016-2017

Eco-Innovation Observatory

The Eco-Innovation Observatory functions as a platform for the structured collection and analysis

of an extensive range of eco-innovation information, gathered from across the European Union and key economic regions around the globe, providing a much-needed integrated information source on eco-innovation for companies and innovation service providers, as well as providing a solid decision-making basis for policy development.

The Observatory approaches eco-innovation as a persuasive phenomenon present in all economic sectors and therefore relevant for all types of innovation, defining eco-innovation as:

“Eco-innovation is any innovation that reduces the use of natural resources and decreases the release of harmful substances across the whole life-cycle”.

To find out more, visit www.eco-innovation.eu and ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap

Any views or opinions expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Commission.

Eco-Innovation Observatory

Country Profile 2016-2017: Austria

Authors: Burcu Gözet, Stefan Giljum

Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)

Coordinator of the work package: Technopolis Group Belgium

Acknowledgments

The document has been prepared with the kind support of the following experts:

- Mrs. Karin Hiller, Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism

- Mr. Harald Grill, Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ)

A note to Readers

Any views or opinions expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not

necessarily reflect the position of the European Union. A number of companies are presented as

illustrative examples of eco-innovation in this report. The EIO does not endorse these companies.

The report is based on an updated methodology for calculating the Eco-Innovation Index, which

has also been applied retroactively to all previous years, hence the outcome in the Eco-Innovation

Scoreboard (Eco-IS) for 2017 presented in this report can be compared with the analysis in the

previous reports to a limited extent.

Comments and suggestions on this document can be sent to Asel Doranova

asel.doranova@technopolis-group.com

This brief is available for download from https://ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap/country_profiles_en

Table of contents

Summary ................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ............................................................................................................... 2

1 |Eco-innovation performance ..................................................................... 3

2 |Selected circular economy and eco-innovation areas and new trends ........ 6

3 |Barriers and drivers to circular economy and eco-innovation in Austria ..... 9

4 |Policy landscape in Austria ...................................................................... 11

References ............................................................................................................... 16

ANNEX: Policy measures addressing circular economy and eco-innovations in Austria 17

1

Summary

Austria is a strongly export-oriented and a highly developed country. Environmental sectors play a key role in the Austrian economy, in which environmental technology sectors are particularly relevant drivers for export-oriented growth. In many areas, Austria has a high environmental performance, covering waste management and recycling, water quality, organic farming and sustainable forestry. At the same time it faces environmental policy challenges, most importantly, regarding climate policy and air pollution.

In recent years, Austrian companies have established an internationally leading position in several green technology markets. The environmental technology sector is fast-growing and innovative. Austria also continues to be in a leading position in ecological construction regarding the technology of passive house building and the recycling of waste with respect to construction and demolition processes. In general, Austria has a well-established recycling industry reaching the highest recycling rates across Europe, which provides an important precondition for a future transformation of Austria towards a circular economy.

Apart from the flourishing environmental technology sector, main driving forces towards eco-innovation are high environmental standards, well-functioning environmental protection laws, and various environment-related financial incentives offered by the state, as well as increasing funds for enterprises conducting research in the area of eco-innovation.

In recent years, some policy initiatives have also been started particularly focusing on circular economy aspects. Examples are the Austrian Recycled Construction Materials Regulation and the new waste prevention program (‘Bundes-Abfallwirtschaftsplan’).

The small-scale, SME-dominated supplier structure of the Austrian environmental technologies industry represents one of the main barriers to eco-innovation activities. Limited financial and human resources often prevent a strategic handling of the market, particularly regarding research and development (R&D) activities. A lack of interconnectedness among environment technology clusters and networks and the less considered domestic market for environmental technologies are further barriers.

With a total score of 113 in the overall Eco-Innovation Index 2017, Austria ranked eighth in the list of EU countries, located between Italy and Spain and slightly above the EU average. In two of the five components (eco-innovation inputs and socio-economic outcomes), Austria’s performance is below the EU average, while performance is above EU average regarding eco-innovation activities, eco-innovation outputs, and resource efficiency outcomes.

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Introduction

Austria has a highly developed country with a strong export orientation. The structure of its economy is characterised by a large service sector (consisting mainly of trade and transport services, healthcare, social services and tourism) that has a major impact on value generation. In 2016, it accounted for 71% of GDP. Austria also has a stable industrial sector, including machinery and vehicles, metals, chemicals, and wood and paper products as main industries, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. In general, exports of products and services contributed around 52% of Austria’s GDP in 2016, up from 33.5% in 1995 (Statistik Austria, 2017).

Environmental goods and services represent a dynamic area of the Austrian economy. Between 2008 and 2015, turnover generated by the environmental sector increased in total by 3.4%, reaching 32.1 billion Euro in 2015. In the same year, around 181,845 people were employed in the environmental sector, covering 4.4% of the overall employment in Austria. This employment rate increased by 8.5% between 2008 and 2015 (Statistik Austria, 2018). The environmental technology sector, in particular, implies more knowledge and innovation intensity in comparison to average Austrian industries (IWI, 2017). Due to its high orientation towards international markets, exports cover 73% of the total turnover in the Austrian environmental technology sector.

In many areas, Austria has a high environmental performance, covering waste management and recycling, water quality, organic farming and sustainable forestry. In the “Sustainability Contest 2017”, performed by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) in which 56 environmental indicators (mainly from EUROSTAT) were considered, Austria ranked 1st among all EU countries (WKÖ, 2017). Thus, with its environmental performance, Austria passed Sweden and Denmark, which were ranked higher than Austria in the pervious “Sustainability Contest 2015”.

However, Austria also faces important environmental challenges. With regard to air pollution, for example, emissions of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (particularly through transport) are in many areas above the levels allowed by EU regulations. Emissions in 2015 (79 mill. tonnes CO2-equivalents) were above 1990 levels by 0.1% (UBA, 2017). Thus, in order to achieve the 2020 targets, the implementation of further energy efficiency measures and further promotion of the use of renewable energy sources are key requirements. In addition, many species and several habitats are in a precarious situation, as urban areas continue to expand (UBA, 2016).

Austria faces further challenges in terms of high engagement in eco-innovation and circular economy activities due to the structure of the Austrian business sector: 99.7% of all Austrian companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This implies a lack of financial and personnel resources to invest in eco-innovation-related research and development (R&D) as a key driving force for eco-innovation acceleration.

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1 |Eco-innovation performance

In the Eco-Innovation Index for the year 2017, published by the Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO), Austria ranked eighth among all EU-28 countries, with a score of 113, and was located between Italy and Spain (see Figure 2.1). Compared with previous indices, Austria remained on the same rank compared to the index 2016 but climbed one place up from the index 2015.

Figure 2.1: EU28 Eco-Innovation Index 2017, composite index

Source: EIO, 2018

Figure 2.2 below zooms into the aggregated index and illustrates Austria’s performance in the five

index components compared to the EU average. A similar performance pattern, as observed in

previous versions of the index, can be seen. In two of the five components (eco-innovation inputs

and socio-economic outcomes), Austria’s performance is below the EU average, while

performance is above EU average regarding eco-innovation activities, eco-innovation outputs,

and resource efficiency outcomes.

The component of eco-innovation inputs in Austria (total score of 91) consists of three indicators.

Despite the implementation of various research programmes (see Section 4 below), with 0.02%

of GDP, Austria´s overall government R&D outlays in the area of environment and energy was

below the EU average (0.04%) in 2016 and less than half compared to the leading countries

Germany, Finland and Portugal with 0.07% each. However, Austria´s total R&D personnel and

4

researchers is above the EU average, comprising 1.78% of Austrian employees in 2016. Total value

of green early-stage investments was around €17 per capita in the period of 2014-2017, resulting

in an aggregated eco-innovation input score of 91.

With a score of 142, Austria’s aggregated performance in the component of eco-innovation

activities was above the EU average, yielding the highest overall score for Austria. The two

indicators with regard to enterprises introducing an innovation with environmental benefits

obtained within the enterprise or obtained by the end user, Austria´s performance (32% and 25%,

respectively, of all Austrian companies) was significantly above the EU average (22% and 14%).

As in previous indices, Austria’s performance was comparatively low regarding ISO 14001

certifications (Austria 1,190 certifications; EU average 3,982), mainly because Austrian

organisations more often implement the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) system

rather than ISO.

Figure 2.2: Components of the eco-innovation index for Austria, 2017

Source: EIO, 2018

Referring to the component of eco-innovation outputs, Austria reaches a score of 115. This

performance is determined by a relatively high score of the eco-innovation-related patent

indicator, where 213 eco-innovation-related patents were registered in 2014. In addition, with

249 publications in 2016, the performance in publications on eco-innovation issues is slightly

5

higher than EU average). However, the number of electronic media related to eco-innovation (792

hits in 2017) represents one of the lowest performances among European countries.

With regard to the four resource efficiency indicators, Austria’s average performance is slightly

above EU average (score of 128 in 2017). With €1.79 per kilogramme of material consumption,

Austria´s material productivity is rather low compared to other EU countries. This is particularly

due to the high consumption of fossil fuels and construction minerals in Austria. However,

performances in terms of energy productivity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity are

above the EU average.

With an average score of 89, the Austrian performance shows its lowest score for the component

of socio-economic outcomes. Austria scores well with the indicator exports from eco-innovation

industries (more than €1 billion of eco-industry exports in 2016). This result supports the success

of the various export-related initiatives in environmental areas (see Section 4 below). However,

scores regarding the indicators on employment and turnover in eco-industries (2.09% of total

employment and 1.37% of total turnover) are below the EU average (2.69% of total employment

and 1.82% of total turnover). Although the score for turnover increased regarding the previous

index (1.11% of total turnover), compared to the overall economic structure of the Austrian

economy, eco-industries still play a relatively minor role.

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2 |Selected circular economy and eco-innovation areas and new trends

According to the Eurobarometer 2016, 84% of Austrian SMEs have undertaken circular economy

activities in the last three years. Around 51% of these companies have implemented activities to

re-plan energy usage in order to minimise energy consumption. Among the EU, Austrian

companies have largely undertaken activities to use renewable energy (38%). Regarding financing

activities related to circular economy, 46% of the companies self-financed their activities.

However, compared to the rest of the EU, for Austrian companies it is more likely to use a

government grant for circular economy activities (Eurobarometer, 2016).

Another survey among more than 100 Austrian enterprises active on eco-innovation activities

revealed that more than 85% of eco-innovations in Austria were realised in three thematic areas:

energy (42% of all eco-innovative products), construction (27%) and mobility (17%) (IHS, 2014).

However, in addition to these three thematic areas, the circular economy-related activities of

waste management and recycling are also important in the Austrian economy.

Regarding waste management and recycling, Austria is among those countries that reach the

highest recycling rates across Europe (EEA, 2016). Although the trend of the past few years reveals

decreasing recycling rates of municipal waste, Austria remains among the leading EU countries.

Thus, recycling innovations from Austria are very popular on international markets and often refer

to holistic systems solutions, for instance, systems developed for treating, collecting and recycling

waste, high-level logistics, or the development of regional waste management plans.

Furthermore, Austria continues to be in a worldwide leading position in ecological construction

in general, and particularly, in the technology of passive house building. The passive house

concept occurs for new construction work but also to refurbishments. Since the mid-1990s,

passive houses and buildings have attained a 25% market share in the construction of new

buildings in Austria (IG Passivhaus, 2011). In 2013, the Raiffeisen-Tower was constructed in

Vienna, representing the worldwide highest passive house back then. In 2015, the first “Austrian

Green Building Star” certificate for energy efficient construction has been awarded, representing

Austrian construction competencies on an international level (BMNT, 2015).

Austrian companies have a leading position regarding clean energy technologies. In comparison

to other EU countries, Austria reaches a high share of renewable energy (29.5% in 2016) in total

energy consumption (BMWFW, 2016). In comparison to the previous year (29.7%), the

consumption of renewable energy increased slightly and is expected to increase further to 34% in

order to follow the EU Renewable Energy Directive. Austria´s innovativeness towards green

technologies (e.g. renewable energy, waste management) is seen by the amount of green patents

that are above the OECD average; 12% of Austrian environmental technology firms belong to the

leaders of EU markets (ABA, 2015).

7

© issmich.at

ISS MICH! the good food company

ISS MICH! is a catering and delivery service for organic food. Any meal provided by ISS MICH! is

based on food that would have been thrown away. The food, mainly vegetarian, is delivered by

bike couriers to ensure low carbon emissions. Furthermore, the menus are provided in bottling

jars in order to avoid packaging. All menus can also be picked up in their grocery store in Vienna,

which is combined with a Bistro offering a weekly changing menu. The initiator of this project,

Tobias Judmaier, is also chef of the TV series wastecooking that has received various

international awards by showing menus prepared from food waste.

In 2014, ISS MICH! received the VIKTUALIA award by the Austrian Federal Ministry of

Sustainability and Tourism. This award is handed out to projects that aim to reduce food waste

in an exemplary way.

Keywords: zero-waste food; organic and regional food;

Internet link: www.issmich.at

© tim-graz.at

tim

tim (täglich. intelligent. mobil) is an innovative mobility model in Graz, Austria. At central

locations around the city, tim provides car sharing, car rental or e-taxis. All locations can be

reached easily by bike or public transport in order to ensure environmental friendly mobility.

Once registered, provided vehicles can be used for an hourly price but also private e-cars can

be charged for free at tim locations. This mobility service can also be adopted in other regions

and cities.

In 2017, tim was awarded with the state prize for mobility, which was the ninth time that the

Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology awarded Austrian companies and institutions

regarding their innovativeness in the mobility sector.

Keywords: car sharing, mobility service; e-taxis

Internet link: www.tim-graz.at

8

© neuschnee.co.at

Neuschnee

Neuschnee is a green start-up founded by the Technical University of Vienna and the University

of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. The company produces snow by adapting the

process of nature, and thus, represents an environmental friendly alternative to artificial snow.

Instead of freezing water drops, as for artificial snow, Neuschnee technology generates “real”

snow by letting ice crystals grow slowly. In comparison to artificial snow, the process requires

half of the energy and 60% less water. Thus, the application of this snow producing technology

in ski areas is both economic profitable and environmental friendly.

This technique has been awarded with the State Prize Patent of the year in 2016. In 2018, the

first Neuschnee ski area has opened in Sellraintal (Tirol).

Keywords: snow; green-tech; start-up

Internet link: www.neuschnee.co.at

© Baukarussell.at

Baukarussell

Baukarussell is becoming the 1st Austrian provider for recycling oriented demolition. Building

on the new Austrian Recycled Construction Materials Regulation, Baukarussell aims at meeting

these new requirements with regard to demolition waste. Working together with Viennese

property developers, Baukarussell undertakes consulting activities, but also separates

recyclable materials manually.

This project, launched in 2017, is supported by several local initiatives and the Federal Ministry

for Digital and Economic Affairs.

Keywords: construction, re-use, recycling

Internet link: www.baukarussell.at

9

3 |Barriers and drivers to circular economy and eco-innovation in Austria

In Austria, a number of drivers for, and barriers to, achieving circular economy and eco-innovation

can be observed. A survey conducted among 200 Austrian eco-innovative entrepreneurs revealed

the most important driving forces and framework conditions for business actors regarding eco-

innovation activities. The results highlight the following very important drivers for an accelerated

uptake of eco-innovation activities in Austria:

• the availability of suitable business partners to develop eco-innovations,

• expected limitations regarding access to raw materials and their high prices,

• technological and management skills available within the companies,

• access to relevant knowledge, and

• high energy prices as well as expected increase in future energy prices are.

On the other hand, uncertainty in terms of market demand and return on investment for eco-

innovation or lack of funds within the enterprise emerged as key barriers for Austrian companies

for eco-efficient activities (Eurobarometer, 2011).

Regarding general driving forces in support of eco-innovation in Austria, several issues in

particular among the categories ‘market position’, ‘investment and funding’, and ‘policy

frameworks’ are identified:

• As stated in the introduction chapter above, Austria has a well-established, fast-growing and

innovative environmental technologies sector. High innovation activities are achieved based

on stable enterprise and branch structures. The market shares of Austrian environmental

technology companies have increased in the past few years (especially in Asian markets) and

are expected to increase further (IWI, 2017).

• For decades, Austria has had environmental protection laws and financial incentives offered

by the state for the development and application of innovative environmental technology.

Besides national legislations, European climate, energy and other environmental targets to be

implemented by all Member States are additional promoting factors for eco-innovation

activities in Austria.

• In recent years, traditional tools and subsidy channels have been supplemented by centres of

competence or excellence, as well as thematic programmes in the environmental technology

sector. A significant increase of funding for enterprises conducting research in the area of

eco-innovation represents a powerful support. Moreover, Austrian companies and research

institutions are well integrated in the European research and technology programmes.

Austria, so far, has not developed a coordinated plan to tackle challenges related to a circular

economy transition, in particular. However, the government programme 2017-2022 defined

circular economy as one of six goals within the environmental division (Bundeskanzleramt, 2017).

10

If pursued actively, this could represent a driving force towards coordinated plans regarding e.g.

innovative resource management, eco-technologies and recycling strategies.

However, several barriers can be defined in Austria, weakening the development towards eco-

innovation and circular economy. These barriers refer to the structure of the Austrian economy,

its business sectors, and its network capital:

• The small-scale supplier structure of the environmental technologies industry in Austria is

regarded as a key barrier, which often prevents a strategic handling of the market. In SMEs

financial and human resources are limited resulting in restrained alternative for research and

development activities. Difficult trade-offs are often being faced regarding the spending of

scarce resources either in R&D or in production and planning (IHS, 2014). This deficit also has

impacts on international networking, active involvement in joint tenders and large-scale

projects (WIFO, 2013).

• A further aspect related to the small-scale structure of the Austrian eco-innovation sector is

the fact that the institutions and instruments needed to create synergies between

enterprises, regions and clusters are often missing. Although there are several clusters with

particular focus on eco-innovation in Austria, communication among these existing networks

and clusters is low, hindering the creation of shared R&D infrastructures.

• As already mentioned, Austria´s environmental technology enterprises have developed a solid

share on international markets, which are expected to increase in the near future (IWI, 2017).

In comparison, the domestic market has developed relatively slowly, hindering domestic

growth of the Austrian eco-innovation sector.

In addition to these structural points, Austrian business representatives define risk for

investments into eco-innovative technologies, access to government aid and tax incentives,

missing financial and human capacities, and limited incentives provided by current regulatory

frameworks as main barriers of eco-innovation acceleration (IHS, 2014).

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4 |Policy landscape in Austria

In Austria, despite the lack of an overarching policy programme, increasing efforts towards eco-

innovation and circular economy can be observed. In recent years, a number of measures and

initiatives have been set up by different government bodies. Besides the elaboration of eco-

innovation activities, new approaches towards circular economy have been initiated. The main

institutions involved include the Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT, former

BMLFUW - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management), the Ministry

of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT), and the Ministry of Science, Research and

Economy (BMWFW). In addition, other organisations, such as the Austrian Federal Economic

Chamber (WKÖ), play an important role in (co-)financing eco-innovation and circular economy-

related initiatives.

While BMWFW is mainly responsible for basic research, BMVIT focuses on supporting applied

research and runs a number of dedicated programmes related to eco-innovation in support of the

sustainability-oriented transformation of the Austrian economy. Both ministries work on research

and innovation in the enterprise sector and supporting institutions, and BMNT hosts, among

others, the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund. Overall, Austria’s eco-innovation measures are

represented by a mix of first- and second-generation policies, i.e. policies with a strong focus on

traditional, end-of-pipe environmental technologies, such as pollution and waste management,

as well as on energy and resource efficiency.

An increasing number of initiatives, funding opportunities and think tanks can be observed in

Austria regarding the issue of circular economy. Recently, the ‘Plattform Kreislaufwirtschaft

Austria’ has been launched, a stakeholder platform bringing together relevant industries and civil

society. One of the main thematic areas until spring 2019 will be product policy

(www.circularfutures.at). Dealing with key issues for the transformation towards a circular

economy, a workshop particularly on product policies will be organised at the beginning of 2019.

Already in 2004, the initiative ‘RepaNet (Re-Use- und Reparaturnetzwerk Österreich)’ was

launched, defining their main goal as increasing the supply of repaired products and the demand

of repair and rental services (www.repanet.at). The initiative is regarded as the national umbrella

association of the European network RREUSE (Recycling and Reuse of European Social

Enterprises).

However, new sustainable product policies in order to support a circular economy have not yet

occurred. The only Austrian eco-label has been launched already back in 1990 and today licences

more than 3,400 products and services, 340 tourism businesses, 120 schools and educational

institutes, guaranteeing environmental sustainability and predominantly regional origin. The issue

of product sustainability in terms of public procurement has been considered since 2010. That

year, the Austrian Council of Ministers adopted the action plan for sustainable public procurement

(‘Österreichischer Aktionsplan zur nachhaltigen öffentlichen Beschaffung, NaBe-Aktionsplan’),

defining particular goals and measurements towards sustainable public procurements and

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specifying environmental criteria for products among 16 procurement groups, e.g. recyclability of

IT-products (www.nachhaltigebeschaffung.at). Annex 1 provides a detailed overview of the

Austrian eco-innovation and circular economy-related policy support measures.

Particularly for the years 2016 and 2017, the following initiatives and activities regarding circular

economy and eco-innovation can be highlighted:

• The Climate and Energy Strategy of the Austrian Federal Ministry. The Austrian strategy for

adaption to climate change, also known as #mission2030 (www.mission2030.bmnt.gv.at),

which was presented in April 2018, defines several tasks in fields such as infrastructure,

energy system, market, innovation, and R&D, in order to pave the way towards

decarbonisation by 2030 and 2050. Based on these strategies, Austria´s climate and energy

plan will be adapted every 10 years (BMNT and BMVIT, 2018).

• A new waste prevention program (Bundes-Abfallwirtschaftsplan BAWP) has been published

by the BMNT in 2017, supporting environmental goals by defining the targets of avoiding

waste, reducing pollutants and establishing a circular economy. The vision of this program is

to realize a circular economy through various measurements among the action areas ‘waste

prevention’ and ‘waste re-use’ (BMNT, 2017).

• Since 2016, a new Austrian Recycled Construction Materials Regulation is applied. This

regulation ensures high quality of waste that occurs among construction and demolition

processes in order to increase their recycling potential. Identification of hazardous substances

before building and demolition assures a high quality of waste.

• The initiative RESET2020 – Resources.Efficiency.Technologies developed in 2015, aims at

integrating resource efficiency in the areas of environmental technologies and sustainable

production and consumption. The thematic centre of this initiative is the optimization of the

non-energy use of natural resource in the context of a circular economy. This goal shall be

implemented among the five action areas of ‘sustainable consumption and procurement’,

‘sustainable resource management’, ‘renewable resource use’, ‘sustainable production’, and

‘innovative environmental technologies’ (e.g. recycling technologies).

• The Master Plan on Green Jobs, launched in 2010 by the BMNT aims to generate 100,000

green jobs by 2020. Intermediate achievements of the implementation of the master plan

were published in 2016 evaluating the year 2015, revealing a continued positive trend

regarding both turnover and employment in the environmental sector (BMLFUW, 2016).

• Research and development programme City of Tomorrow, financed by the BMVIT in the

context of its broader ‘Programme on Technologies for Sustainable Development’, launched

its first annual call at the end of 2013, and had its fifth call in 2017. The City of the Future

programme aims at developing new technologies, new technological systems and urban

services in the fields of energy-oriented city planning, modernisation and optimisation of

buildings in order to increase resource efficiency.

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• The “Climate Active (klimaaktiv)” programme of the BMNT aims at maximising energy and

resource efficiency and increasing use of ecological products in the construction of new

buildings and the renovation of existing structures. The focal area of the Climate Active

program is called ’eco-efficient construction and housing’. A large number of new or updated

criteria catalogues for different types of new buildings were presented in 2017 and are

available online (www.klimaaktiv.at/bauen-sanieren/gebaeudedeklaration/kriterien-

katalog.html).

• In 2017, the BMNT has developed a new set of measurements regarding market development,

financing, and legal frameworks in order to create a new path for the Masterplan

Environmental Technology (MUT). The idea behind this initiative is to strengthen the positive

development of Austria´s environmental technology industry by joined forces of politics,

administration, the industry and science. Strategic fields of actions therefore are promotion

of exports, research and qualification, financing, and making the domestic market more

dynamic.

• In May 2017, the BMNT launched an initiative to foster sustainability and circular

procurement through open innovation projects. This cooperative project called

“EcoInnovation” is managed in cooperation with the Austrian Service Center for Innovation

Procurement of the Austrian Federal Procurement Agency, facilitating the procurement of

innovative and ecological products and services.

© united-against-waste.at

United Against Waste

The initiative United Against Waste, launched in 2014, has been initiated by a cross-sectoral

platform including the Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, enterprises of the food service

market, the scientific sector and NGOs. The overall aim is to reduce food waste in Austrian

business canteens by half by 2030. In 2016 the initiative reached over 70 partners, applying

measures towards food waste reduction. The website www.united-against-waste.at presents

information on currently running projects, provides a waste monitoring tool, and an online-test

for companies calculating potential food waste savings and therewith, potential economic

profit.

Key words: sustainable consumption, food waste

Internet link: www.united-against-waste.at

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© greentech.at

Green Tech Cluster

The Green Tech Valley, located in and around Graz (Austria) consists of 200 companies and

research institutions working in the area of green technologies and innovations as part of Green

Tech Cluster. As the World´s 1st Green Tech Cluster, it represents a hotspot for advanced energy

and environmental technologies. The region of Styria provides the highest concentration in the

areas of bioenergy, solar energy, waste and resource management and green buildings by

having 20 global technology leaders located in this region. According to its strategy 2015-2020,

the cluster focuses on the areas of green energy, green building, and green resources. Following

the three “I”s of innovate, internationalise and initiate, the cluster supports companies with

R&D project development. Thereby, 24 innovation projects were initiated in 2015.

The Green Tech Cluster Styria GmbH is a Public Private Partnership and is owned by the

Steirische Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft mbH (SFG), a business support company of the

province of Styria and the Land Steiermark (the province of Styria itself). It is financed by

contributions of the cluster partners, project revenues and funding of the proprietors and the

European Union. It has been awarded many times with the “Cluster Management Excellence

Label”.

Key words: green cluster, green technologies, green energy, green building, green resources

Internet link: www.greentech.at/en

COMET – Competence Centres for Excellent Technologies

COMET, launched in 2006, is among the most successful technology policy initiatives in Austria

and an internationally recognised best-practice model. The aim is to build up key research

competences through cooperation between science and industry, and therefore, strengthen

the innovative capacity of companies, resulting in the creation of new product, process and

service innovations. So far, 45 centres and networks have been implemented, sponsoring

various projects among disciplines, such as Biotechnology, Symbiotic Mechatronics or

sustainable vehicle technologies.

It is sponsored by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) and

the Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs. The Austrian provinces also support

15

COMET with additional funds. The 7th project call started in June 2017 and projects to be funded

will be selected in summer 2018.

Key words: technological innovation, state funding

Internet link: www.ffg.at/en/comet-competence-centers-excellent-technologies

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References

ABA, 2015. Österreich: Starker Standort für Umwelttechnologien und erneuerbare Energien, 28 pp.

BMLFUW, 2016. Masterplan green jobs - mehr jobs durch green jobs!: Umsetzungsbericht 2015.

BMNT, 2015. Passivhaus in China bekommt den ersten „Austrian Green Building Star“, bmnt.gv.at. https://www.bmnt.gv.at/service/presse/umwelt/2015/150326ChinaGreen.html. Accessed 8 March 2018.

BMNT, 2017. Bundes-Abfallwirtschaftsplan 2017: Teil 1.

BMNT, BMVIT, 2018. #mission2030: Die Klima- und Energiestrategie der Österreichischen Bundesregierung.

BMWFW, 2016. Energiestatus 2016: Abteilung III/2, Wien, 121 pp. https://www.bmdw.gv.at/EnergieUndBergbau/Energiebericht/Documents/Energiestatus_2016_barrierefrei_Impressum.pdf. Accessed 7 March 2018.

Bundeskanzleramt, 2017. Zusammen. Für unser Österreich. Regierungsprogramm 2017–2022.

EEA, 2016. Waste recycling. https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/indicators/waste-recycling-1/assessment. Accessed 9 April 2018.

Eurobarometer, 2011. Attitudes of European entrepreneurs towards eco-innovation: Analytical report. The Gallup Organization, Brussels, 162 pp. http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/flash/fl_315_en.pdf. Accessed 21 March 2018.

Eurobarometer, 2016. European SMEs and the Circular Economy:, 89 pp.

IHS, 2014. Das Potenzial von Öko-Innovationen für den Standort Österreich.

IWI, 2017. Österreichische Umwelttechnik - Motor für Wachstum, Beschäftigung und Export: - Erstmals Industrie und Dienstleister -. Industrie Wissenschaftliches Institut, Wien, 209 pp.

Statistik Austria, 2017. Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnungen: Hauptergebnisse. Statistik Austria, Wien.

Statistik Austria, 2018. Überblick Umweltwirtschaft 2008 bis 2015. Statistik Austria, Wien, 1 p.

UBA, 2016. Elfter Umweltkontrollbericht: Umweltsituation in Österreich.

UBA, 2017. Klimaschutzbericht 2017, Wien, 168 pp. http://www.umweltbundesamt.at/fileadmin/site/publikationen/REP0622.pdf. Accessed 20 March 2018.

WKÖ, 2017. Nachhaltigkeitskontest 2017 (Sustainability Contest 2017), Wien, 5 pp. https://news.wko.at/news/oesterreich/wkoe-nachhaltigkeitskontest-2017-presseinformation_.pdf. Accessed 20 March 2018.

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ANNEX: Policy measures addressing circular economy and eco-innovations in Austria

Group of policy

measures Type of policy measure

Specific measure

Please provide reference to or brief summary of specific measures (national, regional)

Focus of policy measure (tick if relevant)

Circular economy

Generic focus on

eco-innovation

Resource efficiency

improvement

Energy efficiency improve

ment

Reduction of emissions incl. CO2

Other relevant

areas (e.g. renewable

energy, etc)

SUP

PLY

SID

E FO

CU

S

Equity/business support

Publicly co-funded venture capital funds

- The Austria Wirtschaftsservice GmbH (aws) puts impetuses for innovations in the national industry. The Cleantech initiative allocates risk capital for enterprises in the area of energy technologies and environmental technologies. A total budget of €100 million is envisaged for supporting start-up companies.

www.awsg.at/Content.Node/en/index.en.php

x

- Enhancement of “Mountain Cleantech Fund II”: aiming at volumes of €100 million. Mainly invested in future Austrian Cleantech-growth enterprises with turnovers of €3-50 million.

www.mountain.partners/en/

x

Public guarantee funds

Support for R&D in public sector

and industry R&D funding

- The Programme on Technologies for Sustainable Development by the Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology is the biggest and most important programme promoting eco-innovation in Austria. It aims at supporting the economy with future-oriented innovations, initiates and supports trendsetting research and development projects and the implementation of exemplary pilot projects. It consists of the four sub-programmes “Building of Tomorrow”, “City of Tomorrow”, “Factory of Tomorrow”, “Energy systems of Tomorrow”. A significant share of Austria’s passive house and ecological construction knowledge stems from this programme.

x x x x x x

18

www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/

The Climate and Energy Fund (KLIEN) of the Federal Government aims to ensure a sustainable energy supply, a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in R&D activities in the climate and energy areas. In 2016, KLIEN aims at spending more than €100 milllion in research and other funding programmes (such as clima:aktiv).

www.klimafonds.gv.at/home-en-US/

x x x x

The Climate and Energy Strategy of the Austrian Federal Ministry. The Austrian strategy for adaption to climate change, also known as #mission2030 (www.mission2030.bmnt.gv.at), which was presented in April 2018, defines several tasks in fields such as infrastructure, energy system, market, innovation, and R&D, in order to pave the way towards decarbonisation by 2030 and 2050.

x x x x

Collaborative grants

There are different collaborative grant programmes in Austria:

- Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (Austrian Science Fund - FWF). FWF spent around €200 million on more than 650 projects in 2015.

www.fwf.ac.at/en/

x

- Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft (Austrian Research Promotion Agency – FFG). FFG manages a large number of R&D programmes.

www.ffg.at/en

x

R&D infrastructure

In 2016, FFG has launched a new specific programme to support the building-up and expansion of high-quality R&D infrastructure.

x

www.ffg.at/FuE-Infrastrukturfoerderung.at

Fiscal measures

Tax incentives for R&D and start-ups

The strengthening of the operational research and development (R&D) is one key factor for the improvement of the competitiveness of Austrian companies.

x

The basis for the R&D tax allowance is expenditure on the development or improvement of economically valuable inventions. In 2015, the Austrian

19

government decided to raise the tax credit from 10% to 14%, which is expected to have positive effects.

Tax incentives for R&D personnel

See above.

Education, training and

mobility

Tailored training courses for companies, entrepreneurs

The Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut (WIFI) is an example for occupational education in Austria. WIFI serves as a platform and knowledge mediator in different fields of innovation. WIFI acts as a partner for SMEs with regard to management and innovation questions. WIFI also works as an international gateway for knowledge transfer, international programmes and new education draughts.

www.wifi.at/start

x

x

Advice/consulting for start-ups, companies, entrepreneurs

The founder's service of the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) offers company founders and franchisees professional support in starting their entrepreneurship activities.

www.gründerservice.at

x

There are also some founder’s services from banks in Austria like the GO! Gründer Offensive from Erste Bank, and savings banks with a web portal and personal contact points for each federal state.

x

INiTS (Innovation into Business) has been providing advice and support for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas since 2002. The services are aimed at graduates, employees and students at universities and universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen) in Vienna who aim to put their business ideas into practice by starting up a company. Since 2002, INiTS has spent more than €200 million of private capital and more than €100 million of public support money into almost 200 start-up companies, creating almost 2,000 jobs.

www.inits.at/en/

x

20

Placement schemes for students

In Austria there are several web portals and networks for students and other employees. In particular, for the sector of innovations and “green jobs” there are multiple opportunities.

For example: www.ecotechnology.at/en/content/education-training-and-green-careers

x

GoEcoSocial – Portal for Master Theses, as a part of the eco-social student’s forum (ÖSSFO): The challenge lies on the one hand in the sensitisation of the students by events and actions and on the other hand in the spreading and scientific deepening of the eco-social market economy.

www.go-ecosocial.at/

x

Support for R&D workers recruitments

FFG support for human resources. According to FFG, attracting highly qualified researchers to take up positions in R&D, retaining such employees through appropriate structural and personnel measures and making the most of existing staff potential through the provision of relevant employment conditions are currently some of the major challenges faced by R&D organisations. FFG thus has a range of programmes supporting young talents as well as experienced researchers.

www.ffg.at/en/content/ffg-support-human-resources

x

Networks and partnerships

Competence centres, clusters, science-technology

parks

The Green Tech Cluster, located in and around Graz (Austria) consists of 200 companies and research institutions working in the area of green technologies and innovations as part of Green Tech Cluster. As the World´s 1st Green Tech Cluster, it represents a hotspot for advanced energy and environmental technologies. The Cluster is financed by contributions of the cluster partners, project revenues and funding of the proprietors and the European Union.

www.greentech.at/en/

x x x x x

As the business agency of Lower Austria, ecoplus is the interface between business and politics, companies and authorities, investors and initiators of regional projects – on both a national and international scale. The organisation works within its established network of partners from the Austrian provinces and municipalities, as well as with EU institutions. The

x

21

main focus lies on the continued development of Lower Austria as a business location and the support of companies in Lower Austria.

www.ecoplus.at/en/

The Cluster Platform Austria was established in 2008 as an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth for information and cooperation purposes for the Austrian cluster players at national and regional level. The National Cluster Platform initiates the discussion of topics of common concern within working groups. It actively contributes to further developments of the Austrian research, development, technology and innovation (RDTI) policy and the link-up to cluster activities at European level, and facilitates a considerable rise in the implementation of innovative measures in Austria.

www.clusterplattform.at/index.php?id=1&L=1

x x x x

Environmental Technology Cluster (Upper Austria). Currently, 160 partner companies cooperate in the environmental technology cluster, which was founded in January 2006. The cluster represents a hub for technology providers and users, and is a know-how provider as well as a platform for know-who transfer in the areas of water, waste, soil, air and noise. Furthermore, it supports environmental technology companies in all measures for the development of product and process innovations, initiates national and international cooperative projects, and provides information about current funding opportunities.

www.umwelttechnik-cluster.at/

x x x x x

Technology platforms and innovation networks

COMET – Competence Centres for Excellent Technologies, hosted by FFG. The competence centre programmes initiated in 1998 (Kplus, K_ind, K_net) belong to the most successful innovations of technology policy in Austria. The programme promotes the construction of competence centres whose core is a cooperatively defined research program by economy and science at a high level.

www.ffg.at/comet

x

Foresight and common vision building

The Platform Kreislaufwirtschaft Austria is a multi-stakeholder platform acting as a think tank, incubator, and catalyst for projects and initiatives towards a transition to a circular economy in Austria.

www.circularfutures.at/

x

22

Market intelligence and other forms of information

sharing

With the slogan "Worldwide business Support" and with the help of a wide range of services in the areas of Information, Coaching and Events, the AWO-Programme by the WKÖ sees it as its duty to bring still undecided enterprises into the export business, leading dynamic ones into new markets and supporting the already efficient to grow successfully.

x

www.go-international.at/branchen-im-fokus-2015-2019.html

DEM

AN

D S

IDE

FOC

US

Regulations and standards

Regulations, targets, cap & trade schemes

The Austrian Climate Protection Law from 2011 determined maximum emission levels for six economic sectors, i.e. waste management, energy and industry not covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), fluoride gases, buildings, agriculture and transport. In cooperation between the federal and regional governments, an implementation plan has been elaborated for all six sectors.

x x x

ACM (Austrian Carbon Management) is the only Austrian interdisciplinary service platform for climate change services. ACM consists of three companies and a big Austrian bank, RZB. Within ACM, company DENKSTATT is conducting climate strategies and consulting for corporates, iC Consulenten and TPA are performing Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects and are working strongly for the Public Sector. The bank RZB provides subsidies and support for climate policy projects.

www.centric.at/partners/acm-austrian-carbon-management

x x x

The Austrian Recycled Construction Materials Regulation regulates waste that occurs among construction and demolition processes in order to increase their recycling potential. Identification of hazardous substances before building and demolition assures a high quality of waste.

www.brv.at/english/

x x x

A new waste prevention program (Bundes-Abfallwirtschaftsplan BAWP) has been published by the BMNT in 2017, supporting environmental goals by defining the targets of avoiding waste, reducing pollutants and establishing a circular economy. The vision of this program is to realize a circular economy through various measurements among the action areas ‘waste prevention’ and ‘waste re-use’

x x x

23

Performance standards, labelling, certification

Classification of different environmental labels is according to Type I (ISO 14024), Type II (ISO 14021) and Type III (ISO/TR 14025). The most important Austrian example for Type I is the “Austrian Environment Label” (“Das Österreichische Umweltzeichen”). This label was introduced in 1990 and is being provided for products, companies in the tourism industry, and institutions of education, such as schools.

www.umweltzeichen.at/cms/en/austrian-ecolabel/vision/content.html

x x x x

The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) leads to enhanced performance, credibility and transparency of registered organisations. While ISO 14001 is predominant in other EU member states, Austrian organisations more often implement the EMAS system. One reason for the high number of EMAS registrations (currently around 290) in Austria are specific financial and technical support activities that the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, the Austrian provinces and the chamber of commerce have offered since EMAS was introduced in 1993.

x x x x

Public procurement

“Green“ public procurement of goods and services

The National Action Plan on sustainable public procurement (NaBe) was adopted by the Council of Ministers in July 2010. The action plan consists of two parts. Part I contains the policy background, the definition of sustainable procurement, targets and initiatives, as well as implementation. Part II defines key environmental criteria for 16 product groups of key interest for public procurers, including buildings, vehicles, chemicals and IT products. In 2016, a focal area is being set on “circular procurement”, i.e. purchase of products with a high degree of circularity of the involved raw materials.

www.nachhaltigebeschaffung.at/sites/default/files/nabe2011_17_engl_kurzfassung.pdf

x x x x x

Service centre for innovativeness promoting public procurement (IÖB) conducted in 2013 by BBG-Bundesbeschaffungsgesellschaft and financed through BMDW and BMVIT. It represents the main contact and coordination office for questions regarding innovativeness promoting public procurement (IÖB) in Austria.

www.ioeb.at/ueber-ioeb-und-die-servicestelle/ueber-ioeb-und-die-servicestelle/

R&D procurement

24

Pre-commercial procurement

Technology Transfer

Advisory support for technology adopters

There are different support strategies for Austrian technology adopters by AWS (Austria Wirtschaftsservice), see above, including advisory and fiscal aid programmes, ERP-Fonds, and AWS funds for SMEs.

www.awsg.at/Content.Node/en/index.en.php

x

Financial or fiscal support for technology adopters

(e.g. grants for purchasing new technology)

See AWS above. x

Support of private demand

Tax incentives for consumers (e.g. for purchasing

environmentally efficient products)

Tax reductions for products and services (e.g. VAT

reductions)

Tax reductions are being granted for some environmental friendly products. For example, the car purchase tax (NOVA) is not charged for electric vehicles, resulting in an around 16% reduction of the overall price.

x x x

Demand subsidies (e.g. eco-vouchers, consumer

subsidies)

Incentives for feed-in tariffs regarding private eco-electricity production, such as from solar panels exist in several Austrian provinces.

x x x

The government also supports the thermal insulation of private homes. For a complete insulation following the “clima.aktiv” standards.

x x x

www.klimaaktiv.at/english/

Awareness raising and information provision

There are many different activities that aim to raise awareness provided by local community governments, environmental agencies, etc.

For example, the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW) hosts a number of initiatives in the area of sustainable consumption, including an info-portal, “Buy aware”.

www.bewusstkaufen.at

x x x x x x

About the

Eco-Innovation

Observatory (EIO)

The Eco-Innovation Observatory (EIO) is the initiative financed by the European Commission’s Directorate-

General for the Environment. The Observatory is developing an integrated information source and a series

of analyses on eco-innovation trends and markets, targeting business, innovation service providers, policy

makers as well as researchers and analysts.

Visit EIO and DG ENV EcoAP website and register to get access to more information

and to access all EIO resources.

www.eco-innovation.eu

ec.europa.eu/environment/ecoap