Austria: ARA packaging declarations
ARA takes packaging declarations through the ARA Connect portal, using its own material classification. Recyclability is assessed against ARA Circular Design, which is an Austrian methodology rather than a version of the German assessment next door.
What you must do
- Declare through ARA Connect, using the ARA material classification.
- Map each component to that classification rather than reusing the German material types, which are a different system despite the shared language and border.
- Assess recyclability against ARA Circular Design where the Austrian position is relevant.
What data you need
| Field | What the scheme needs |
|---|---|
| Material per component | Mapped to the ARA classification, which is its own and not a variant of the German codes. |
| Component weight | Per component, aggregated into the declared volumes. |
| Composite construction | Recorded as construction, because composite categorisation differs between schemes. |
| ARA Circular Design assessment | Per component, held alongside the assessments for the other markets the component reaches. |
What Merchant produces
- Merchant does not generate an ARA declaration. It holds the component materials and weights the declaration is built from, and exports them as CSV or Excel for you to prepare it.
Common mistakes
- Treating Austria as an extension of Germany. ARA has its own material classification and its own recyclability methodology, and reusing the VerpackG mapping produces wrong categories.
- Assuming a ZSVR assessment answers the Austrian question. ARA Circular Design is a separate methodology and can place the same component differently.
- Reducing composites to a dominant material, which changes the category the component is declared under.
- Maintaining the Austrian declaration alongside the German one in a second spreadsheet, which doubles the places a component weight has to be corrected.
How Merchant helps
- Hold the component data the ARA declaration is built from
- Record each component's recyclability grade and the basis it rests on
- Collect the component data the declaration depends on
Questions
How are Austrian declarations submitted?
Through the ARA Connect portal, using the ARA material classification.
Can I reuse my German VerpackG mapping for Austria?
No. ARA uses its own material classification. The proximity and the shared language make this a common assumption, and it puts volumes in the wrong categories.
What is ARA Circular Design?
The Austrian recyclability assessment methodology. It sits alongside ZSVR in Germany, COTREP and CEREC in France, KIDV in the Netherlands and RAM in the UK as one of several assessments a component can carry.
Do I need separate packaging data for Austria?
No. The component data is the same. What differs is the material mapping, the assessment methodology and the output, which is the part worth generating rather than maintaining.
Related reading
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Book a demoLast reviewed 2026-08-17