The hospital spends around six million euros annually on food. Michael Kazianschütz, who heads its business and logistics operations, reviewed the entire supply chain. The reduction in waste is equivalent to about 10 truckloads that no longer need to be taken away.

Planning meals to reduce waste

The hospital’s central kitchen prepares about 8,000 meals a day. Head chef Thomas Sommer revised recipes and menus and improved kitchen processes, using information about which dishes patients eat and which are often returned to reduce overproduction.

Staff on hospital wards also help prevent waste. They cancel meals when patients are discharged early and request smaller portions when appropriate. The stocking of food vending machines is also part of the project. Under the slogan “Rescue food, save tons,” employees can buy surplus food at reduced prices.

The measures have attracted interest beyond Graz, including from Berlin’s Charité hospital. The Great Sustainability Award for Logistics will be presented in Vienna in early November by the Austrian Logistics Association and the weekly newspaper Verkehr.

The post Graz hospital nominated for Austrian sustainability award appeared first on Daily Alpine.

The dry summer has left young trees with brown needles across the region’s Christmas tree farms. The losses mean extra work and financial costs for about 280 growers.

Grower Christian Eder, whose farm is in the town of Maria Laach am Jauerling in Krems district, tried watering his young trees, but the effort made little difference. It took him three days to water one field, and he said the trees would need watering every week.

The drought prevented newly planted trees from developing enough roots. Affected trees have grown only a few centimetres of new roots, compared with the roughly 20 centimetres normally expected, said Josef Reithner, head of Lower Austria’s Christmas tree growers’ association.

A single dry summer is manageable for growers, Reithner said, but repeated drought years would force them to replace dead trees and buy new plants. If such conditions occur four or five years in a row, he said, growers may have to consider another line of business.

Eder is considering installing drip irrigation, which would deliver water slowly through hoses directly to the trees’ roots. The young trees affected this year would take five to 10 years, depending on their size, to become ready for sale. The impact of this year’s drought is therefore expected to show up in sales only in the coming years.

The post Drought kills 90 percent of newly planted Christmas trees appeared first on Daily Alpine.

The man bought the bike in July 2025 for nearly 3,570 euros. After only a few rides, he noticed paint and workmanship defects. The frame was replaced, but the replacement soon developed scratches and cracks near the seat clamp.

A manufacturer’s safety recall of the front fork then left the bike unusable for months. When the dealer offered replacement frames only in colours different from the bike’s distinctive design, the customer sought help from the consumer protection service after nearly nine months of problems.

Consumer advocate Valentina Konatschnig said that cracks in the frame raised safety concerns, not just questions of appearance. She said that under the Consumer Warranty Act, customers can cancel a contract if a dealer cannot provide a solution that meets the agreement after repeated attempts. The company repaid the full purchase price.

The post Consumer group secures refund for defective road bike appeared first on Daily Alpine.

Treiber said the honour was a great pleasure because it recognised her work. Writing can be a solitary activity with few social contacts, she said, adding that the award made her feel seen and recognised by the public.

Treiber, who is from Oberpullendorf, has been writing since the 1970s. She has published 60 books, mainly for children and young people, which have been translated into 23 languages. “The stories come to me, and I accept them,” she said.

The post Author Jutta Treiber receives Austrian Cross of Honour appeared first on Daily Alpine.

The intruders used the vehicle as a battering ram to get into the shop on the Graben, then took jewellery, police spokesperson Julia Schick said.

The amount of damage was not yet known. The State Criminal Police Office is investigating.

The post Thieves ram SUV into Vienna jeweller’s window and escape appeared first on Daily Alpine.

The collision happened at about 8:15 a.m. at kilometre 3.2 in the municipality of Pinggau, in the Hartberg-Fürstenfeld district. The two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions and struck each other side-on.

A 48-year-old man from the Graz-Umgebung district was trapped in his badly damaged car and had to be freed by firefighters. The other driver, a 47-year-old man from the Oberwart district in Burgenland, was also seriously injured. Both received emergency medical care and were taken to Oberwart Clinic.

Debris from the crash damaged a car travelling behind them. The B63 was closed to all traffic for about three hours while crews cleared the scene and recovered the vehicles. The volunteer fire brigades of Sinnersdorf and Pinggau set up a local diversion. The investigation into the cause is ongoing.

The post Two drivers seriously injured in B63 collision appeared first on Daily Alpine.

The German chipmaker plans to build a plant in Villach to produce chips using a technology developed there that is new worldwide. The chips are expected to use less power and deliver greater performance than existing products.

Infineon’s Graz operation is part of the Silicon Alps Cluster, a network linking semiconductor companies, technology firms and research institutions in Styria. Cluster managing director Robert Gfrerer said construction of the new plant would also create work for regional businesses, including electrical contractors, plumbing firms and roofers.

Gfrerer said the investment could raise the international profile of the Villach-Graz chip region and help it attract more funding. He cited an analysis that ranks the region among Europe’s top six in internal documents.

The new technology was developed in collaboration with research institutions. Gfrerer warned that cuts to university funding could limit basic research and affect the region’s long-term prospects. The cluster plans to continue working closely with research institutions.

The post Infineon’s €1.1 billion Villach expansion expected to benefit Styria appeared first on Daily Alpine.

A 69-year-old man was walking his dog at about 8 a.m. on Sunday when the animal came across the scraps near the Dachsberg footpath towards Aistinger Straße. The owner, from Schwertberg, saw needles protruding from the pieces of meat.

The man informed Schwertberg’s mayor, who contacted police. The person who placed the meat there is not known. Police suspect it may have been intended to injure animals.

Poisoned bait is also found on walking paths, according to ORF. The animal welfare organisation WWF is increasing its use of a trained detection dog, working with police to find the traps.

The post Police investigate meat packed with needles found in Schwertberg appeared first on Daily Alpine.

The plant covers about 4,000 square metres in the western Indian city. Tyrolit said it was a strategic step to expand its presence in a key growth market and strengthen regional supply chains and the company’s international competitiveness. It already had an office in India.

Superabrasives are made from diamond and cubic boron nitride. Their hardness and resistance to wear, heat and acids make them suitable for precision grinding materials such as ceramics, glass and non-ferrous materials.

Tyrolit tools are used in aerospace, automotive manufacturing, tool and mould making, and medical technology, as well as in medical applications. The company says these industries require high precision, process reliability and surface quality.

The Tyrolit Group makes grinding and dressing tools and supplies systems for the construction industry. It has about 4,500 employees and most recently reported revenue of about 740 million euros, with production at 30 sites.

The post Tyrolit opens its first production plant in India appeared first on Daily Alpine.

Peter Burgherr, the study’s project leader and an energy systems researcher at the Paul Scherrer Institute, said that by the time a plant built in 2050 or later came online, other technologies could have advanced enough to change its value to Switzerland.

Renewable power from wind, solar and water would still need to expand, even if a new nuclear plant were built. The study also warns that planning a nuclear plant could slow the development of renewables. Burgherr said that must not happen, and stressed the need for storage and flexibility in the electricity system.

A new plant could reduce Switzerland’s electricity imports, but it would create other foreign dependencies. The country would still have to buy nuclear fuel abroad and send spent fuel abroad for processing. Burgherr noted that most energy technologies involve some reliance on other countries.

The 551-page study sets out the hurdles to building a plant, including choosing a reactor type, deciding whether new legislation would be needed, finding billions of francs in financing and securing a company willing to build it. Swiss voters would also need to support nuclear power in several ballots. A vote on lifting the ban on new plants is due next year, followed potentially by a vote on a construction permit.

The post TA-Swiss says Switzerland must move quickly on any new nuclear plant appeared first on Daily Alpine.