On Tuesday 20 September, the European Commission announced that it had handed down a fine of €6 million to the Austrian company ARA, which manages a collection and recycling system for packaging waste throughout the country. The European institution found that the company had prevented its competitors from accessing the Austrian household packaging waste management market between 2008 and 2012.
"The waste management sector is an important part of the circular economy. Effective competition is vital for making recycling affordable for consumers", said the commissioner in charge of the dossier, Margrethe Vestager.
In Austria, product manufacturers are obliged to take back packaging waste resulting from the use of their products, but they may also entrust this responsibility to other companies to carry out the collection and recycling on their behalf, subject to the payment of a licence fee.
The Commission noted that the collection infrastructure at national level, some of which is controlled and owned by ARA, could not be duplicated. Competitors wishing to enter or expand on the market were dependent on access to this existing infrastructure.
The investigation also showed that between March 2008 and April 2012, ARA denied access to this infrastructure, which helped to exclude competitors from the market and remove competition. On top of the fine, the Commission ordered a corrective structural measure to resolve the issue of the foreclosure of the Austrian household packaging waste management market.
Amongst other things, the company offered to sell the household packaging waste collection infrastructure it owns; this will mean that it is no longer in a position to block access to this infrastructure for its competitors.
Furthermore, after the Commission's investigation began, Austria adopted a new law on waste in September 2013 and ARA began to allow access to its household waste collection infrastructure. Since then, several competitors have entered the market.
The fine was reduced by 30% as a result of ARA's cooperation. The Commission opened it sin-depth investigation in July 2011 and sent the company a statement of objections in July 2013. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)