Here is a report on the excursion by Marietta Krismer, group speaker of the ETIA 18 cohort: Triplast processes waste from Austria and Germany, contributing to higher recycling rates for plastics. The tour provided us with an insightful overview of the facility and its cutting-edge processes, capable of sorting up to 100,000 tons of waste per year.

The state-of-the-art machinery efficiently separates PE and PP with remarkable precision. However, one of the biggest challenges remains the large number of batteries mistakenly disposed of in Austria’s “yellow bag” system. These pose a significant fire hazard during handling. Fortunately, ongoing technological advancements have made it possible to mitigate this risk. Witnessing firsthand how the waste we generate daily is processed in Austria was highly interesting.

On our way back, we also visited voestalpine in Linz. A guided bus tour took us through the vast industrial production site, giving us a glimpse into one of Austria’s most important industries. We were lucky to see the blast furnace in action, where voestalpine produces iron tailored to customer specifications. The steel production technique used here was originally developed in Austria and remains a cornerstone of the global steel industry today.

All in all, the excursion was a great success, offering us valuable insights into how the theoretical concepts we study are applied in real-world industrial and environmental processes.

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