Circular economy at national and EU level
Cirlular economy in Germany
The German government's National Circular Economy Strategy(NKWS) is intended to bring together objectives and measures in Germany for a circular economy and the conservation of resources from all existing strategies so that the reduction in primary raw material requirements set out in the coalition agreement can be achieved. At the same time, the NKWS should make a decisive contribution to reducing environmental pollution, protecting biodiversity, and protecting the climate.
In the primary industry, for example, GHG emissions and energy consumption are to be significantly reduced through increased recycling and the use of secondary raw materials. This is because most GHG emissions are not generated during production but during the extraction of raw materials. At the same time, the NKWS in Germany should make a significant contribution to securing the supply of raw materials, such as rare earths, and thus reduce dependence on raw material imports.
Circular Economy Action Plan of the EU
The European Commission published its new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) back in March 2020. It is an important part of the European Green Deal, the European agenda for sustainable growth. "The EU's transition to a circular economy aims to reduce pressure on natural resources and create sustainable growth and jobs," according to a press release from the European Commission. The plan is seen as a prerequisite for achieving the EU's climate neutrality targets and halting the loss of biodiversity.
The EU action plan contains initiatives throughout the product's life cycle. The focus is on product design, promoting circular economy processes and sustainable consumption, avoiding waste, and retaining used resources within the EU economy. This is to be achieved with both legislative and civil measures.
Circular economy in the context of standardization
The German government believes that the rapid transition from the currently predominant linear economy to a functioning circular economy is essential to achieving the goals formulated in the Green Deal and the National Climate Protection Act 2021 or its revision in 2023. Standardization of processes and products should play a vital role in this.
DIN (German Institute for Standardization), DKE (German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies), and VDI (Association of German Engineers) have, therefore, developed the "German Standardization Roadmap" on the circular economy with specialists from industry, science, the public sector, and civil society.
This action plan intends to create a basis for norms and standards along the entire value chain and thus enable a circular economy to be practiced in the first place. At the heart of the roadmap are seven critical areas for which sustainability-based standardization of the value chain appears particularly necessary and which are based on the focus topics of the EU's Circular Economy Action Plan:
- Digitalization, business models, management
- Electrical engineering, information and communication technology
- Batteries
- Packaging
- Plastics
- Textiles
- Buildings and municipalities
Around 2,100 individual standards already exist for these key topics. They can all be relevant to the circular economy and are now being looked at again with the topic in mind. Five over-arching topics were also identified across all sectors that can be advanced using standards and environmental standards:
- Sustainability assessment
- Service life extension
- Digital product passport
- Recyclability
- The end of waste