National Circular Economy Strategy

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) has published a draft of the new National Circular Economy Strategy (NKWS).

In many sectors of the German economy, the majority of emissions are caused not by domestic production, but in the upstream value chain during raw material extraction and the production of intermediate goods. Therefore, the circular use of products and raw materials offers the opportunity to significantly reduce resource consumption and emissions.

Against this background, the NKWS aims to contribute to reducing environmental pollution, protecting biodiversity, and combating climate change. Therefore, a framework is to be created that brings together the German government's raw material policies to reduce Germany's absolute raw material needs. The draft of the NKWS is being developed with the involvement of stakeholders from business, associations, civil society, science, and administration, and is expected to be adopted by the federal cabinet in 2024.

Fraunhofer CCPE, represented by Cluster Head Prof. Dr. Manfred Renner, participated in the consultation process.

Source: BMUV (2024). Draft of a National Circular Economy Strategy. Available online at: https://www.bmuv.de/fileadmin/Daten_BMU/Download_PDF/Abfallwirtschaft/nkws_entwurf_bf.pdf