The Austrian Packaging Institute was founded in 1956 as an independent and neutral centre for the packaging, filling and distributing industries. Concentrating its business objectives mainly on the quality testing of packages in the beginning, it soon expanded its activities in providing basic information about packaging and the packaging industry in Austria for public institutions as well as for individual companies. As a consequence of this work Austria is one of the few countries in Europe publishing packaging statistics. Special research work has been done in the field of beverage packaging including cans and plastic containers, to one-way and multiple way packaging - ecological and economic comparison, cost analysis - as well as to the topic "packaging and waste". The state-accredited testing laboratory is the central testing and certification authority in Austria concerning the packaging of dangerous goods for transport. Quality control is carried out for packaging materials, packages and the testing of barcode-symbols. Consultancy work is mainly related to the examination of damages where packages are involved. Furthermore the Austrian Packaging Institute is a member of national standard committees and joins the work of international technical groups. The activities of the institute are supported primarily by manufacturers of raw material and packaging, packaging companies, fillers, transport and distribution companies, associations of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and the Ministries of Commerce and Environment.