“Mixed municipal waste” is refuse, which originates mainly in private households, or which resembles waste from private households in its nature or composition. In Austria separately collected waste materials, biogenic municipal waste, bulky municipal waste, waste electronic equipment, used batteries, problematic substances or street-cleaning waste, do not belong to mixed municipal waste.
The composition of mixed municipal waste depends on different factors. These include for instance, the existing waste collection system, the socio-economic structure of the population or the location of residences in an urban or rural area. The most crucial components of mixed municipal waste constitute synthetic and composite materials, organic elements, as well as paper and cardboard.
Mixed municipal waste is either directly, or following preparation, thermally and biologically treated. Waste materials, which have been separated out of the municipal waste, are recycled. (BAWP 2017)