Refine
Year of Publication
- 2021 (8) (remove)
Document Type
- Report (8) (remove)
Language
- English (8) (remove)
Division
- Kreislaufwirtschaft (8) (remove)
The transition to a greener and more circular economy has been a European policy priority for several years. The Circular Economy Action Plan of 2020 underlines the ambition. The following EEA initiatives are meant to support the transition process:
- Bellagio Process on circular economy monitoring principles (EPA network);
- Enhancement of EEA indicators on circular economy (ETC/WMGE);
- Explorative work on novel data streams (FWC);
- Co-creation work - knowledge sharing of monitoring experience (ETC/Eionet).
The scope of the present task was to report on the co-creation process that was undertaken at the end of 2020. The co-creation process was organised to identify:
(i) best practices on monitoring strategies, data sources and target setting; and
(ii) areas of circularity measuring and monitoring that remain challenging and require additional investment.
The co-creation process partially built on the work done during the Bellagio Process/Initiative which was run in parallel. This ETC report presents and documents the evidence gathered throughout the co- creation process as well as providing a retrospective analysis of the links to the Bellagio Principles.
A main goal of this study - which also functions as deliverable 210078-D07 of the Circular Economy Beacons (CEB) project - is to evaluate currently available frameworks that measure and operationalise Circular Economy (CE), with a particular focus on the urban context. The regional focus lies on the Western Balkan region, which is at the centre of the project. Such "Urban Circularity Hotspot Frameworks" (UCHF) aim at providing decision support for policy makers, companies, citizens etc. regarding the transition to CE within cities. Based on the analysis of different frameworks, suggestions are derived regarding UCHF suitable for the specific characteristics of Western Balkan municipalities, i.e. a Circular Economy Beacons Urban Circularity Hotspot Framework (CEB-UCHF) ready for short-term implementation.
The transition from today's "take, make, waste" economic paradigm to a circular economy requires a joint effort from actors on all levels: governments, business, and civil society. While companies are among the drivers of the circular transformation, they find it hard to achieve a circular economy on their own. Hence, cross-industry collaboration is one of the imperatives for scaling a circular economy. Against this background, econsense, together with Accenture and the Wuppertal Institute, launched its study "Germany's Transition to a Circular Economy - How to Unlock the Potential of Cross-Industry Collaboration".
Based on a survey and expert interviews within the econsense community, the study finds that companies are yet to unlock the full potential of cross-industry collaboration. While two thirds of analysed industry collaborations have a high potential for scaling the circular economy, only 43 per cent of those already show a high degree of interaction. The study provides concrete guidance for companies to get started with circularity and identify the right partners for cross-industry collaboration. Specifically, the report recommends companies: 1) Understand what circularity is about and map it on their own operations and processes. 2) Understand the different circular business models and identify the ones relevant to each business. 3) Discover areas where collaboration can help to create the needed foundation and to execute circular actions.
This study presents in detail: the use of plastic products and the opportunities for recyclate use in the construction sector, quantities of plastic used, take-back systems, recycling techniques, current recyclate use and plastic construction product packaging.Potentials for increasing high-quality recyclate use were identified. Existing hurdles and options for action for industry and politics are presented. Current recyclate use as well as its potential use are strongly dependent on the application area of plastics. The biggest hurdles for the use of recycled materials are product life time, dismantling and technical requirements.
By use of macro-economic model EXIOMOD, the expected impacts of actions described in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) have been analyzed. The results of this analysis show that the R&I actions described in the SRIA contribute to decoupling economic growth from resource use. The actions are expected to cause an increasing gross domestic product and a decreasing raw material demand. This results in an increasing extracted resource productivity, a measure used to show the decoupling of economic growth and resource use. It can however be questioned whether the actions in the SRIA - or the measures implemented in the model - assume a strong enough pace for decoupling economic growth and material use. The actions contribute to the climate goals of the European Commission, by showing a pathway through which the emissions of greenhouse gas can be reduced.
The first step of complete transformation will be utilizing digital technologies and applications to improve current procedures, processes, and structures (Improve). Next, complete digitalisation will pave the way for new business models and framework conditions (Convert). Finally, comprehensive transformation of the economy and value creation will ensure the effective reorientation of society and lifestyles towards sustainability (Transform). This last step is critical for a successful ecological transformation, or a "green transformation", must be placed front and centre during international debate.
Through this report, we aim to highlight and discuss the opportunities that digitalisation can bring to Germany. In particular, we will discuss three exemplary areas of ecological transformation where action is necessary: 1) A digital and circular economy that uses data to increase resource efficiency. 2) Intelligent, sustainable mobility that connects us in eco-friendly ways. 3) Transparent transitions towards sustainable food chains and agriculture.
This report represents the first phase of the Shaping Digital Transformation project. In this report, we will outline the framework of our project to create a starting point for further debates.
The transport sector accounts for 20 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions in Germany and it is therefore key to success for German climate policy. At present, however, there is no other sector with a wider gap in missing the trajectory to climate neutrality. The present study, conducted on behalf of Huawei within the project "Shaping the Digital Transformation - Digital Solution Systems for the Sustainability Transition", points out new pathways towards a sustainable and climate friendly transition of the transport sector. The report specifies concrete options to follow up on the ambitious goals of the new coalition agreement to foster clean and digital mobility solutions.
The authors refined eight theses on how digitalisation can foster sustainable mobility solutions and how to shape a supporting policy framework, which is aligning the financial and regulatory guardrails for ramping up a sustainable mobility system while gradually phasing down the usage of private cars.