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- Kreislaufwirtschaft (207) (remove)
Ohne die Transformation unserer Wirtschaft in eine nachhaltige Kreislaufwirtschaft werden wir die planetaren Grenzen weiter überschreiten, die Klimaziele verfehlen und die Ökosysteme schädigen. Deutschlands Politik hat sich in einem Flickenteppich aus Strategien und Gesetzen verfangen, aus dem eine echte Kreislaufwirtschaft nicht in der notwendigen Geschwindigkeit hervorgehen kann. Der Versuch, einer verschwenderischen Wirtschaft allein mit den Mitteln des Abfallrechts beizukommen, kann nicht glücken.
Nötig ist vielmehr eine ganzheitliche, übergeordnete deutsche Kreislaufwirtschaftsstrategie mit ambitionierten nationalen Zielen. Das vorliegende Papier will zeigen, was sich konkret verändern muss und welche Hebel es braucht, um die Kreislaufwirtschaft signifikant voranzubringen.
Es ist Zeit zu handeln. Innovative Ideen, Konzepte und Forderungen liegen auf dem Tisch. Sie machen es möglich, Deutschland auf eine zirkuläre Zukunft auszurichten, Rohstoffe und Materialien konsequent im Kreislauf zu führen und der Wirtschaft Planungssicherheit zu geben. Kreislaufwirtschaft ist Zukunftswirtschaft. Sie muss Kernthema einer neuen Regierung werden.
The ultimate goal of German Resource Efficiency Programme (ProgRess) is to make the extraction and use of natural resources more sustainable and reduce associated environmental pollution as much as possible. By doing this - also with responsibility towards future generations - the programme should create a prerequisite for securing a long-term high quality of life. To bring the policy approaches formulated in ProgRess to reality, efforts to implement resource efficiency measures have to be increased at all levels - from international to regional to local.
The chapter intends to provide an impetus for the current debate on ProgRess policy development. The chapter identifies, analyses and describes deficits and possibilities of vertical integration of the German programme in particular and derives recommendations for action which may also serve as indications for other strategies. The following sections are based on results of the advisory report "Vertical integration of the national resource efficiency programme ProgRess (VertRess)", conducted by the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) and the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy on behalf of the German Environmental Agency (UBA) and the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Nowadays, high expectations are set for a digitally enabled circular economy (CE), to enhance resource efficiency. Tracing, tracking, and storing information is most important for this. In this paper, the application of Internet of Things (IoT) and Distributed Ledger Technology (Blockchain) are hence discussed by presenting the case of professional Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) in Italy. Within the context of CE, prevention of electronic waste (WEEE) is extremely relevant as it is a fast-growing waste stream, and the products contain environmentally damaging substances as well as valuable and rare materials. The use of a proper combination of IoT and blockchain can help the producers to keep control on products until EEE end-of-life, while promoting CE strategies and supporting decision-making. Based on the outcomes of five interviews conducted in 2019 to companies of the EEE sector, potential improvements in the EEE end-of-use management are discussed. After providing the definition of requirements for both the technical solution and its testing are provided, three solution variations and the related business models are created and presented, as well as considerations on their environmental and economic impacts. The study shows how digital technologies can support the appropriate and circular management of EEE products and WEEE.
The waste prevention program (WPP) from 2013 must be evaluated every 6 years and updated if necessary. The review and evaluation of the implementation of the WPP took place within the scope of the project. Based on the analysis results for the implementation of the WPP at federal, state and municipal level and an assessment of existing prevention potentials, concrete proposals for a possible further development and updating of the program on prioritized waste streams and corresponding priority prevention approaches were developed. In addition, structural adjustment and change needs of the WPP were worked out and further research was shown.
Unvermeidbare Emissionen aus der Abfallbehandlung : Optionen auf dem Weg zur Klimaneutralität
(2022)
Auch die thermische Abfallbehandlung in Deutschland kann zu einem Baustein des klimaneutralen Wirtschaftens werden. Allerdings sind dafür noch verschiedene Voraussetzungen zu schaffen. Technisch sind neben den bereits bekannten weitere innovative Verfahren in der Entwicklung; nicht zu vernachlässigen ist zudem die anspruchsvolle Aufgabe des CO2-Handlings. Hier ist zum einen der Aufbau der benötigten Infrastruktur zu nennen. In Bezug auf die Nutzung des abgetrennten CO2 ist auch die Industrie gefragt, um sektorübergreifende, klimafreundliche Use-Cases und Geschäftsmodelle rund um CCU und die weitmöglichste Schließung von Kohlenstoffkreisläufen zu entwickeln. Entsprechende Regularien und Marktanreize sind politisch zu setzen.
With increasing world population and an unsettling resource scarcity in the back, sustainble consumption has moved to the foreground of political, economical and social discussions. One major school-of-thought is Circular Economy (CE), an approach summarizing various sustainable consumption activites under one roof. However, quantitative studies on the consumer are rare, yet crucial for a transfer from linear to circular consumption. This dissertation adds to literature by providing pioneer insights into consumer behavior in CE as an overarching concept, instead limiting research on singular subconcepts. Namely, four consumer activities are studied: recycling, upcycling, renting and sharing. In order to identify relevant insights for both academics and practitioners in CE, the research question ("what drives participation in CE?") is broken down into sub-hypotheses, which are addressed by three empirical studies. Using the SOR-Model (adaption Belk 1975) as overarching logic, the three studies deal with (1) the consumer (and their motivation) and situational stimuli (both (2) offline and (3) online). Respectively, three data sets are consulted to assess the sub-hypotheses and to identify overarching insights on how to accelerate consumer participation in CE, The research methodology employed ranges from a structured equation model (SEM), a random allocation field experiment during Fashion Week in Berlin to a discrete-choice model with best-worst scaling. The dissertation succeeds in revealing that (1) different activities in CE can be summarized in one latent variable, proving CE as a wholesome concept in consumer-related activities; that (2) Trust has a leveraging effect on participation in CE activities. Further, Trust can be enhanced offline via face-to-face interaction and online via third-party online attributes.; and that (3) experience in CE activities affects perception of online attributes, implying the need for adapted measures when dealing with CE-unexperienced consumers as compared to consumers with prior experience in CE activities.
With the introduction of the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (2011) and the more recent commitment of The Action Plan towards the Circular Economy (2015), the European Commission (EC) has expressed its fundamental interest to substantially improve the resource efficiency of the European economy and enable the transition towards the Circular Economy (CE). This policy push has meanwhile been complemented by some quite ambitious national programmes for RE and CE and institutional advances but it is not yet bound to targets or mandatory reporting.
Against this background, the objective of this paper is to give a comprehensive overview of the current policy frameworks at EU and a selection of MSs and provide insights into the elements shaping policy processes. The analytical framework relies on three essential interconnected components: the policy framework, the economic incentive system and economic side policies which are relevant in the context of RE and CE and actor constellations. The paper does this looking at the interface between EU-MSs. The analysis is based on different empirical surveys in which the policy development is observed and discussed (EEA 2011, 2016a, 2016b, EIO 2013, 2014, 2016) and a comprehensive review of legislative and policy frameworks at the EU and selected MSs, undertaken as part of the project POLFREE (Policy option for a Resource-Efficient Economy) (Domenech et al., 2014, Bahn-Walkowiak et al., 2014). The analysis reveals that policy frameworks for RE/CE are complex and fragmented as competing goals and visions reduce effectiveness of measures. The paper makes recommendations as to how EU and MS policies could improve RE in a coordinated way, but recognizes that achieving such coordination will be challenging in the current political context.
Transformative Innovationen : die Suche nach den wichtigsten Hebeln der Großen Transformation
(2021)
Der hier vorliegende Zukunftsimpuls soll den Grundgedanken der Transformativen Innovationen und ihre Notwendigkeit beschreiben sowie erste Kandidaten für solche Transformativen Innovationen aus diversen Arbeitsbereichen des Wuppertal Instituts vorstellen. Er dient vor allem als Einladung, gemeinsam mit dem Wuppertal Institut über solche Innovationen zu diskutieren, die irgendwo zwischen den großen Utopien und kleinen Nischenaktivitäten liegen. Denn es braucht nicht immer den ganz großen Wurf, um Veränderungen in Gang zu setzen.
Deutschland liegt bei Klimaschutz und der langfristigen Sicherung der Energie- und Rohstoffversorgung weit hinter seinen eigenen Zielen. Nur mit Tempo, Mut und Ehrlichkeit lässt sich der Rückstand jetzt aufholen. Dazu gehören ein beschleunigter Ausbau erneuerbarer Energien, ein sofortiger Aufbau eines umfassenden Netzes für grünen Wasserstoff, verbindliche Ziele für eine echte Kreislaufwirtschaft, klare Vorgaben für den Wohnungsbestand, eine ernsthafte Mobilitätswende und wirksame Anreize für eine nachhaltige Produktion. Bei all dem müssen sozial gerechte Lösungen gefunden werden, nur so lässt sich CO2-Vermeidung und Ressourcenschutz in der Breite durchsetzen.
Das vorliegende Impulspapier des Wuppertals Instituts zeigt, wie sehr Deutschland auf dem Weg zur Nachhaltigkeit seinen eigenen Zielen hinterherhinkt.
This report examines the role of waste management in the context of a circular economy transition. Key challenges relate to moving beyond the perception of "waste as a problem" to "waste as a resource". To this end high levels of cooperation are needed between the waste industry and enterprises engaged in circular economy business models. Collecting high quality waste streams for re-use, remanufacturing and recycling also requires citizen engagement and integrated infrastructure development from the municipal to the EU level. Ultimately, both waste prevention as well as a widespread growth in circular economy activities will require a coherent and holistic approach that takes recovery options into account at every stage of the product life cycle. Co-benefits will include reducing environmental burden as well as creating both high-skilled and low-skilled jobs for an inclusive, green economy. In concrete terms, this report examines five waste streams identified in the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan: municipal waste, packaging waste, food waste, bio-waste and critical raw materials. It looks at the current state of policy development, presents trends and data comparing Member State performance, reviews the state of technological development, and assesses employment opportunities relevant to each waste stream in the overarching context of assessing progress toward the circular economy transition in the EU. Case studies of specific options for collecting and treating waste based on experiences in Denmark, Italy and Slovenia complement the more macro-level analysis of trends. Finally, key policy options are identified, in particular focused on ways to prevent waste, align circular economy and waste management objectives and improve the quality and reliability of indicators toward more robust monitoring.
The contribution of the EU bioeconomy to sustainable development depends on how it is implemented. A high innovation potential is accompanied by considerable risks, in particular regarding the exacerbation of global land use conflicts. This article argues that a systemic monitoring system capable of connecting human-environment interactions and multiple scales of analysis in a dynamic way is needed to ensure that the EU bioeconomy transition meets overarching goals, like the Sustainable Development Goals. The monitoring should be centered around a dashboard of key indicators and targets covering environmental, economic, and social aspects of the bioeconomy. With a focus on the land dimension, this article examines the strengths and weakness of different economic, environmental and integrated models and methods for monitoring and forecasting the development of the EU bioeconomy. The state of research on key indicators and targets, as well as research needs to integrate these aspects into existing modeling approaches, are assessed. The article concludes with key criteria for a systemic bioeconomy monitoring system.
Supply risks and environmental concerns drive the interest in critical raw material recycling in the European Union. Globally, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is projected to increase by almost 40% until 2030. This waste stream can be a source of secondary raw materials. The determination of the economic feasibility of recycling and recovering specific materials is a data-intensive, time-consuming, and case-specific task. This study introduced a two-part evaluation scheme consisting of upper continental crust concentrations and raw material prices as a simple tool to indicate the potential and limitations of critical raw material recycling. It was applied to the case of light-emitting diodes (LED) lamps in the EU. A material flow analysis was conducted, and the projected waste amounts were analyzed using the new scheme. Indium, gallium, and the rare earth elements appeared in low concentrations and low absolute masses and showed only a small revenue potential. Precious metals represented the largest revenue share. Future research should confirm the validity and usefulness of the evaluation scheme.
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.
The paper undertakes a closer look on the relation of institutions and policy mixes within the multi-level scope of the European Union in the policy field of resource efficiency and maps out different configurations. Based on an extensive analysis of scope, foci, instruments and especially the distribution of institutional responsibilities in 32 EU countries, the paper aims to amplify the categorisation of policy mix characteristics developed by Rogge and Reichardt by considerations on the institutional background of policy mixes. It specifically brings into question the potential impact of different institutional settings on the consistency and coherence of approaches in this evolving policy field. Resource efficiency is an eminently cross-cutting policy concept and a specific interesting unit of analysis due to the observable heterogeneity of implementation approaches. However, it is still mainly disconnected from energy issues and, at the same time, EU policy has shifted to the circular economy approach, indicating further need for streamlining with the resource efficiency approach. The paper stresses the need to include institutional and multi-level governance issues for policy design and the development of policy mixes, especially in the context of the now refocused resource efficiency agenda to the transition to a circular economy.
Germany's waste management system is one of the world's most advanced - its primary objective is to dispose of waste in a way that is safe for both people and the environ- ment. However, only about 14 per cent of the raw materials used in industry are derived from recycling processes; the remainder are still sourced from primary materials. The circular economy is not yet being implemented on a large enough scale. Recyclates or recycled materials, i.e. secondary raw materials recovered from waste, are being fed back into production and usage processes at volumes that are far below what is possible. If this system were to be improved, loss of value, dependence on volatile commodity markets, lower resource productivity, and externalities in the form of environmental pollution could be avoided. A drive towards digitalisation in industry and the waste management sector could make this happen. A study by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) indicates that no other lead market in the environmental sector stands to benefit from digitalisation more than the circular economy - and that, at the same time, no sector has ever been so poorly positioned.
At the end of March 2022, the European Commission published its new EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. Its ambitious vision is to reduce textile waste, promote circular measures and minimise the negative environmental impacts of the textile industry. But what would a textile industry that keeps textiles in a closed loop look like, and what political conditions would be required in Germany? This Zukunftsimpuls paper by the Wuppertal Institute points to the role that Germany could play in the transformation towards a circular textile industry.
Within the Shaping Digitalisation project, we aim to highlight and discuss the opportunities that digitalisation can bring to Germany. In particular, we are discussing three stand-out areas where action is most needed to achieve ecological transformation: mobility, the circular economy, and agriculture and food.
This report addresses the second area in need of action. Up until now, discussions on the circular economy have been limited to recycling and the re-use of materials. We must expand the scope of these discussions to include new, resource-efficient business models and the comprehensive transformation of value chains and industrial structures. Our analysis has found that digitalisation is indispensable for this transformation if used properly.
We hope this report will provide the impetus needed to kick-start a climate- and resource-friendly industrial transformation in Germany. Here, we have incorporated the findings of our interdisciplinary workshop on "Shaping the Digital-Ecological Industrial Transformation - Business Models and Political Framework Conditions for Climate and Resource Protection" that was attended by experts from international research institutes, civil organizations, public authorities, and private companies.
The need for a transition towards a circular economy (CE) is evident, as the current economic model is based on the exploitation of far more resources than the planet can replenish sustainably. A significant part of this economic transition is the inception of new, CE-oriented startups and business activities. While business model frameworks (BMF), such as the Business Model Canvas (BMC), were at the center of discussions about structuring business ideas in the beginning of the millennium, the conversation must now shift towards circular BMFs (CBMF). This paper follows the Design Research Methodology (DRM) for an empirical approach to devising a novel CBMF, including expert interviews as well as a first application of the framework with a startup. Throughout this process, a new and innovative tool called Circular Business Framework (CBF) was created and tested based on CE principles.