OKUV Blaimschein GmbH

Plastic recycling in Upper Austria for more than 45 years

As early as the early 1970s, the Upper Austrian farmer and long-time member of the state parliament, Karl Blaimschein ( 1923-2001 ), recognized that artificial fertilizer sacks improperly deposited in the agricultural landscape without an alternative to disposal can pose a serious environmental problem. But he not only recognized the problem, he also developed a business model for how plastic bags and agricultural films could be returned to production in the same way as scrap metals. The catalyst for this was the oil price crisis of 1973, which made new plastics more expensive as a result, which in turn was the trigger for the development of recycling processes and systems.

 In 1974 Karl Blaimschein established a plastic bag collection system together with the Upper Austrian fire brigade. He guaranteed the plastic collectors fixed revenues. In parallel, he founded on his Osterberger-agricultural property in St. Marien, 30 km south of Linz / Donau, the " O sterberger KU nststoff V erwertung Karl Blaimschein KG" (short OKUV) and became the pilot users of the then newly introduced Krauss-Maffei Zerglomat systems.  

The company is now in the second generation and offers recycling services for industrial partners, in particular the processing and up-cycling of production waste. The most modern cutter / compactor / extrusion / granulation systems are used. Details on the company's activities can be found in the “Services” section.

The whole OKUV / Blaimschein pioneering story can be read in the 2019 ÖKZ book with the title "Many ways led to ... plastic" as one of 12 pioneer portraits. 

About us

1974 Foundation of OKUV O sterberger KU nststoff V erwertung Karl Blaimschein KG in St. Marien, Upper Austria.

The company is named after the family-owned farm, the "Osterbergergut" in St. Marien.

Karl Blaimschein Sen. initiated with the Upper Austrian. Fire brigades set up a collection system for emptied fertilizer sacks, which until then were either deposited in a disorderly manner in open fields or at the edge of the forest or burned. For the bags he had collected, he guaranteed the fire brigades fixed proceeds that would enable them to purchase equipment.

The technical partner for the construction of the recycling plant was the German engineer Erich Beck, inventor and developer of the world's first plastic recycling machine, which, according to him, was built by the German engineering company Krauss-Maffei and delivered to OKUV.

1978

Karl Blaimschein Sen. was invited by the Council of Europe to present his recycling concept at the World Congress for the Recycling of Plastic Waste in Strasbourg.

1979

Lecture at the chemical fair "Incheba 79" in Bratislava, Slovakia - Karl Blaimschein Sen. and the German Prof. Schlitter were the only western speakers.

1978-80

Construction of the large warehouse with 3,000 m²

1992

Transfer of the company from the founder to his son Karl Blaimschein Jun., Who has been with the company since the beginning of the company's history.

1995

Purchase of the first Erema recycling plant.

1997

Move into the new office building and staff rooms.

2005

Restructuring from the limited partnership to OKUV Blaimschein GmbH.

2015

Installation of a photovoltaic system on the roof of the warehouse in cooperation with the Upper Austrian Energy AG. 2015 Purchase of the Intarema 1309 TVEplus for Karl Blaimschein's 60th birthday.

2018

Increase in green electricity generation by expanding the photovoltaic system on the roof of the former stable building and other buildings. 2018 A chronicle is published for the 700th anniversary of the St. Marien parish, which also contains reports on Karl Blaimschein and OKUV Blaimschein GmbH.

2019

OKUV Blaimschein GmbH celebrates its 45th anniversary (1974-2019).