Circular and resource-efficient production 

Alongside product design, which sets the course for a circular and low-resource product life cycle and largely determines manufacturing technologies, further frameworks are necessary for production processes in order to optimise them in terms of resource efficiency and circularity. The Federal Government therefore introduced the German Resource Efficiency Programme (ProgRess) in 2012 and has since updated it. This includes measures to improve resource efficiency in production and already incorporates measures for circularity within and between companies. 

Measures for resource efficiency and circularity in production address the following obstacles: 

  • Implementing resource efficiency and circular production measures in day-to-day business operations is often not considered due to short-term costs and a lack of time and personnel capacity. Where measures are implemented in businesses, there is often no established methodology to measure their effectiveness.
  • There is a lack of product- and process-specific information for the development and implementation of effective design-for-circularity solutions enabling high-quality circularity that is on an equal footing with the linear use of primary raw materials.
  • For businesses, secondary materials in sufficient quantities and quality are often either not yet available in economically viable quantities or their availability is too volatile and uncertain to be incorporated into design specifications and material procurement routines for high‑volume quality production. This situation  prevents the creation of corresponding market demand.
  • The absence or volatility of key secondary material markets creates high business risks and uncertainties, discouraging the necessary investment in more sophisticated sorting, processing and recycling technologies.

Various regulations and current initiatives form an important basis for measures to implement the above objectives:

  • The existing EU Ecodesign Directive and its development into the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), including requirements for circularity, recycled content and information obligations such as the digital product passport.
  • EU-wide product responsibility systems enshrined in waste legislation, their national implementation under the Circular Economy Act (KrWG), and their further development.
  • Standardisation of recycled materials at the EU level through norms and within the Standardisation Roadmap Circular Economy developed by the German Institute for Standardization (DIN), German Commission for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (DKE) and the Association of German Engineers (VDI).
  • The revision of EU regulations on Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference documents (BREFs) and the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), particularly BAT conclusions and their implementation in German law, embedding circular economy practices in operator obligations in plant permitting. 

Based on the vision of a comprehensive circular economy for 2045 presented in Section 1.3, and complementing the guiding principle and overarching goals formulated in Section 2, the following objectives are defined for the NCES implementation period up to 2030:

  • Promoting targeted measures to improve resource efficiency and circular production, particularly through digitalisation in small and medium-sized enterprises.
  • Providing targeted information and necessary training on technological options for resource efficiency and circularity through the Circular Economy Competence Centre.
  • Supporting the development and application of a sound methodology for simple, unbureaucratic measurement of circularity within and between companies.
  • Developing comprehensive quality standards that also draw on the standardisation needs identified in the Standardisation Roadmap Circular Economy for all secondary raw materials and overarching input specifications for all high-volume recycling routes by 2030, with parallel transfer to the European level. 

To achieve these goals, the following measures, among others, are required at national or EU level.

The proposed measures involve adjustments to frameworks in order to enable circular production processes and the management of materials in circular production. All measures and instruments are closely interconnected: 

Supporting investment in recycling and resource efficiency

In keeping with circular economy principles, the BMUV Environmental Innovation Programme (UIP) will increasingly support innovative demonstration projects, including UIP lighthouse circular economy projects. 

Suitable federal funding programmes will be reviewed to determine whether they can be further developed or, where appropriate, prioritised in terms of the circular economy. 

The introduction of a new fund that ensures equal access for businesses of different sizes and structures will be considered for finance pilot and demonstration plants. 

Supporting the transition of industry to a circular economy through digital technologies

Continuation, consolidation and expansion of the successful funding programme Digital Applications for Improving Resource Efficiency in Circular Production Processes (DigiRess) beyond 2025. This will support industrial companies, particularly SMEs, in leveraging digital solutions for the circular economy and facilitating a successful transition to circular, resource-efficient production and value creation processes. Additional funding options will be reviewed to develop innovative digital technologies and circular economy business models, particularly for start-ups and their collaboration with established businesses to drive innovation.

Accelerating investment in circular economy 

Decisions to accelerate planning and approval procedures (including through the Pact for Germany between the Federal Government and the Länder) will also speed up investment in the circular economy. Through the Circular Economy Platform, dialogue with businesses and experts will identify additional barriers and explore targeted ways of removing them in order to accelerate the transition to a circular economy. We also want to initiate an investment and innovation campaign in collaboration with industry. A clear legal and economic framework will provide planning certainty. As a complementary measure, the draft Regulatory Sandboxes Act (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rahmenbedingungen für die Erprobung von Innovationen in Reallaboren und zur Förderung des regulatorischen Lernens, ReallaboreG), which aims to improve the framework for testing innovations in living laboratories and promotes regulatory learning, will also be used for investments in the circular economy, leveraging the potential of regulatory sandboxes to accelerate the testing and market introduction of key innovative technologies. 

Creating market transparency on resource efficiency in different primary and secondary material production routes

To highlight resource efficiency across different primary and secondary production routes and enable informed market choices, relevant metrics are required. Metrics that are still missing will be developed in a research project. These will quantify the resource input needed to produce, for example, one tonne of a given material.

Support for competition law-compliant coordination among manufacturers to ensure standardised methodologies for the transparent identification and data transparency of resource efficiency metrics for defined materials, creating a level playing field across different material routes. 

With the ProBas database at the German Environment Agency (UBA), such data will be made available free of charge, regularly updated and expanded. This will include data that enable the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, which is relevant for some federal and Länder funding programmes.

Targeted further development of product responsibility schemes

The quality of secondary raw materials depends on applicable standards. At European level, discussions must explore whether, in addition to volume-based targets, quality requirements for sorting fractions should also be embedded in the manufacturer’s product responsibility. 

Mandatory requirements should be established in collaboration with plant operators, secondary raw material suppliers and potential buyers to define input specifications for recycling processes as part of product responsibility obligations. 

In addition, discussions at the EU level must explore whether product groups not currently subject to product responsibility should be covered under specific regulations, such as implementing acts under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).

Embedding circularity in corporate strategies: integrating circular and resource-efficient production into environmental and sustainability management systems

Circularity must be taken into account in corporate strategies. Environmental and sustainability management systems, such as the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and DIN EN ISO 14001, enable businesses and organisations to systematically identify circularity potential and opportunities to reduce resource consumption, while raising employee awareness. 

Further development and campaigns to encourage more businesses to introduce environmental and sustainability management systems and integrate existing standards into their operations. 

Further development of advisory and training services, especially for SMEs

Further development and continuation of existing advisory services, such as those provided by the VDI Center for Resource Efficiency (VDI ZRE), as SMEs in particular require targeted support in developing and implementing circular and resource-efficient products and production processes. 

Similar to resource efficiency, industry-specific checklists, training and advisory services will be developed for circular products and production processes. Better coordination and further development of existing Länder programmes with federal initiatives to enhance effectiveness.

Launch of a training campaign for circular technologies and business models in collaboration with industry. This initiative is also to be developed, implemented and expanded in dialogue with the Länder.

Establishing a European Circular Economy Knowledge Center for advising SMEs 

Work at EU level to leverage existing structures and networks (such as the European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform and the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI). The aim is to strengthen networking, knowledge transfer and visibility of institutions, initiatives and activities at national and regional levels in Europe, with the goal of establishing a European Circular Economy Knowledge Center. This will focus on technical expertise and supporting tools and activities for business model innovation, drawing on experiences gained from the European Resource Efficiency Knowledge Centre (EREK).

Efficiency standards for harnessing the potential of materials, including circular materials

Development of suitable material efficiency requirements in the IED/BREF implementation process, particularly through best available techniques (BAT) conclusions, and their incorporation into plant operator obligations for plant permitting. 

Support for ongoing information exchange, including on best practices on improving the efficient use of materials and raw materials and the direct and indirect recovery of by-products and processing residues. A dialogue on this will also be established with the Länder. If the results of best practices are incorporated into BAT conclusions, the general operator obligations under section 5 of the Federal Immission Control Act (Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz, BImSchG) can be specified in more detail in the plant permitting procedures and the implementation of corresponding measures prescribed.