The National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES)
The German government has drawn up a National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES). It brings together all of the national goals and measures in the transition to a comprehensive circular economy. Every phase of the cycle has to be considered: product design, materials selection, production, a product lifespan that is as long as possible and finally, reuse or recycling. The NCES aims to make sure waste is avoided in the first place. This can be achieved if products are well designed, long lasting and easy to repair, and if raw materials – from building materials and textiles to industrial metals – are kept in circulation for as long as possible. This is technically feasible and makes good economic sense.
A strategy for the environment and economy
Environmental protection and climate action: the National Circular Economy Strategy is intended to make a key contribution to environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and climate action. Circular economies and efficient resource use can support efforts to achieve climate neutrality and decarbonisation. In the primary industries, for example, such as the production of steel, aluminium, plastics, cement and concrete, more circularity and greater use of secondary raw materials can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption on a substantial scale. In our economy’s key industries, the majority of greenhouse gas emissions are not caused by manufacturing end products, but by extracting the raw materials and manufacturing upstream products. In the chemicals industry and the mechanical engineering and vehicle manufacturing sectors, for example, such greenhouse gas emissions, account for between 60 and 80 percent of the total. The potential for circular economy to reduce emissions is therefore considerable.
Secure raw material supply: the National Circular Economy Strategy needs to play a major role in resolving scarcity issues by ensuring a supply of raw materials, including critical raw materials such as rare earths. The aim is to become progressively more independent from raw material imports through circularity and conserving resources for as long as possible, thereby strengthening the resilience of the German economy.
Current situation
As a leading world economy, Germany requires large quantities of raw materials. However, in the next few years, the demand for raw material is expected to rise even more in light of the current high demand for new investments, for example in housing, renewable energy and defence. Moreover, per capita raw material consumption is appreciably higher in Germany than the global average. The goal of decoupling demand for raw materials from economic growth, formulated in the German Sustainable Development Strategy, has been achieved, but not on the envisaged scale. In the last 30 years, Germany has established high-level waste management and important structures for a circular economy, not only for collecting, sorting and recycling waste, but also by instituting extensive product responsibility.
Nevertheless, across large parts of the German economy, raw material flows are still more likely to be linear in organisation. The data collected by Eurostat, the EU statistical office, shows that only about 13 percent of the total raw material consumption in Germany is covered by secondary raw materials. Primary raw material consumption is high and will continue to increase without targeted measures. The German government intends to change this and launch the transition to a resource-conserving circular system designed to reduce the consumption of primary raw materials. The National Circular Economy Strategy maps out the path for this transition.
A strategy developed through stakeholder participation
The Federal Environment Ministry was supported in drawing up the NCES through extensive stakeholder participation. The aim here was to include a broad range of perspectives, expertise and innovative ideas from industry, civil society, the scientific community and policymakers in the German government’s opinion-forming process and create a broad basis for the NCES.
The dialogue forum on the National Circular Economy Strategy, as a top-level discussion, is chaired by Steffi Lemke and includes representatives of groups that are key to achieving a circular economy.
At the core of this process were three bodies, each of which included various stakeholder groups:
- At the invitation of Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, around 20 representatives of leading German associations convened at a dialogue forum. They met in person at the beginning and end of the stakeholder process and the forum facilitated discussions on the NCES goals and how the groups involved can to contribute to a circular economy. The dialogue workshop invited a broad group of stakeholders to discuss specific proposals on the content of the strategy, identify cross-cutting issues with relevance for all action areas and address potentially conflicting goals. Participants were able to attend virtually and in person in Berlin. Eight round tables took an in-depth look at the NCES’s action areas. The meetings took place in Berlin and each round table included a smaller group of experts from industry and the scientific community.
- In addition to the bodies involved in the stakeholder process, virtual dialogues provided the opportunity to submit opinions and comments on the progress made.
- The stakeholder process website was a central contact point for all information on the NCES. Updates on the status of the NCES and the accompanying processes were provided at regular intervals.
Overview of the stakeholder process for the National Circular Economy Strategy
The first dialogue forum with representatives of major German associations was held in the second quarter of 2023. In parallel, a broad group of stakeholders took part in dialogue workshops. Several roundtable discussions on strategy instruments and measures were also held in the second quarter, where it was also possible to participate virtually.
Recommendations were subsequently incorporated into the second dialogue workshop at the end of the second quarter.
At the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, the second phase of roundtable discussions began. The international dialogue workshop has taken place. The federal states and associations were then given the opportunity to participate online. The ideas and suggestions for overarching strategy goals and basic measures were discussed at the end of the fourth quarter in a third dialogue workshop. The dialogue process concluded with a second session of the forum.
FAQs on the stakeholder process for the National Circular Economy Strategy
Circular economy
With the NCES, the German government is guided by the vision of circular economy that forms the basis for the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. In the EU action plan, circular economy covers all phases of the value chain – from product design and production to consumption, repair, waste management and return of secondary materials to the economy.
Germany's Circular Economy Act provides a legal definition of circular economy that differs from that of the EU: "Circular economy within the meaning of the present Act shall constitute the prevention and recovery of waste", Circular Economy Act (KrWG) Section 3 (19).
The concept of circular economy, that every phase of material and product life cycles have to be considered, can considerably reduce the negative impacts of materials and products across their entire life cycles – for example, by saving primary materials and substituting secondary materials.
The aim of circular economy is to conserve natural resources, protect the environment and human health and ensure a supply of raw materials. Circular economy can and needs to play role in climate action because of its considerable potential to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases.
It entails more than simply closing material cycles. Circular economy includes product design for extending product lifespans and improving repairability and resource-efficient production processes, among other things.