Kreislaufwirtschaft
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A policy mix for resource efficiency in the EU : key instruments, challenges and research needs
(2019)
Against the background of an often wasteful use of natural resources, the European Union has made resource efficiency a top policy priority. Policy formulation is, however, at a very early stage in many Member States, with often vague notions of what resource efficiency means, characterised by fragmented instruments and overlapping competencies. This paper develops a conceptual framework for defining, assessing and developing resource efficiency policy mixes. It argues that a mix of policies and instruments is best suited to overcoming the complex challenges of the 21st Century. Such a mix addresses multiple resource domains at a strategic, high level and contains interacting instruments targeting multiple actors, levels of governance and sectors and life-cycle stages of resource use. This paper looks at criteria for effective resource efficiency policy instruments, presents both an indicative policy mix across 9 policy domains and case studies (on environmental harmful subsidies, supply chain efficiency in food systems and product-service systems) and identifies key challenges to overcome trade-offs in instrument design, maximise synergies, reduce conflicts, promote coherence, coordinate activities and move from theory to practice. Research needs are discussed regarding who shall devise, implement, and coordinate such a policy mix, considering negotiating power, timing and complexity.
Die Autoren verdeutlichen in diesem Papier, dass der Megatrend Digitalisierung nicht zwingend unkontrollierbar über die Wirtschaft und die Gesellschaft hereinbricht. Seine Wirkung hängt vom menschlichen Verhalten, von der Gestaltung neuer Prozessen in Organisationen, aber auch Anpassungen der gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen ab. Dieses sozio-kulturelle, organisatorische und institutionelle Umfeld der digitalen Innovationen könne und müsse im Sinne ökologischer Nachhaltigkeit beeinflusst werden. Politik sei hier aufgefordert auf der Basis fundierter Analysen flankierend tätig zu werden. Die Autoren fordern daher, für die Digitalwirtschaft eine eigene sektorspezifische Politik zu entwickeln, wie sie für andere umweltrelevante Sektoren - etwa die Energiewirtschaft, Chemieindustrie oder Autoindustrie - bereits etabliert ist.
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.
Der Anlass für die Evaluation des Deutschen Ressourceneffizienzprogramms ProgRess ist seine Fortschreibung im Jahr 2020. In zahlreichen Interviews identifizieren die Autorinnen und Autoren Stärken und Schwächen und zeigen Wege für eine institutionelle und strategische Weiterentwicklung auf. Die Bedeutung des Programms wird als überwiegend positiv, die bisherigen Ressourceneffizienzwirkungen hingegen als durchwachsen bewertet. Den Umsetzungsstand konnten die Befragten wenig beurteilen, da Indikatoren bislang nur für einen Teil der Maßnahmen vorhanden sind. Eine Priorisierung der Aktivitäten, verbindlichere Instrumente und Zielvorgaben sowie eine bessere Mittelausstattung gehören zu den Empfehlungen.
Addressing food waste prevention is one target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a major task for the UN Environmental Programme and the European Commission. It is promising in terms of its environmental saving potential. However, it also leads to consumers being able to save money, which they then are likely to spend, thus again causing a negative environmental impact. This dimension of the so-called indirect rebound effect, which prevents the desired ecological benefits from being achieved, is investigated in this paper. By using a single-region environmentally extended input-output model from a production perspective, the indirect rebound effects from food waste prevention in Germany are analysed. Any political action needs to consider not only a differentiation in income class, but also alternative concepts such as the principles of sufficiency in order to achieve all ecological benefits and specifically the third target of SDG 12.
Each year, approximately one-third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted worldwide. The waste of resources used for this food has significant environmental impacts in terms of land and water use as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, one of the targets of the UN sustainable development goals is to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030. However, sufficient knowledge about the suitability of instruments for food waste prevention is still lacking. The purpose of this paper is therefore threefold: first, it outlines the generation and causes of food losses and waste. Second, it discusses good practices from different countries, such as laws to reduce food waste, voluntary agreements, awareness campaigns and results from behavioural economics. Finally, based on these findings, this paper identifies barriers to as well as requirements for the implementation of effective and efficient instruments.
Abfallwirtschaftliche Produktverantwortung unter Ressourcenschutzaspekten (RePro) : Abschlussbericht
(2019)
Elektro- und Elektronikaltgeräte enthalten eine Vielzahl von umwelt- und ressourcenrelevanten Metallen wie Gold und Neodym, welche derzeit noch nicht optimal recycelt werden. Im vorliegenden Projekt wurden die Mengenpotenziale von 10 dieser Metalle in 30 ressourcenrelevanten Elektrogerätearten quantifiziert und die bestehenden Verluste bei der Elektroaltgeräte-Entsorgung von der Sammlung über die Behandlung bis zur Metallrückgewinnung über Mengenstrombilanzen ermittelt, teilweise unterstützt durch Sortieranalysen und Behandlungsversuche. Die Studie leitet daraus Maßnahmenempfehlungen zur Optimierung der Erfassungsstrukturen sowie der Behandlungs- und Verwertungssysteme für Elektroaltgeräte aus privaten Haushalten zur Rückgewinnung der betrachteten Metalle ab.
