Germany is not rich in raw materials, but it is all the more diligent in its use of them. According to figures from the Federal Statistical Office, 500 million tons of primary raw materials went into construction in 2021 alone, 575 million into metal production, and more than 200 million tons into the automotive industry. These raw materials are rarely lost forever – you just have to recover them somehow. But how?
Since this week there is now at least the Draft of a “National Circular Economy Strategy”it was created by the Federal Ministry for the Environment. The German economy, it says, can be described as “a kind of flow economy”. In it, raw materials are imported and exported again in the form of processed goods. However, only 13 percent of the raw materials used have a second life – they flow back into the material cycle as “secondary raw materials”.
The strategy should at least show how there could be more. For example, through “digital product passports” that list all the materials that a product contains. There can be a lot of them, especially in electronic devices – this would make recycling easier. The latter can also be supported by rules for product design: if things are simply constructed, they are also easier to repair or break down into individual parts and materials. Conversely, the materials obtained in this way, the “recycled material”, should also preferably flow back into production – after all, the end goal is to close the loop. Standards and norms could also support this, and finally the public sector itself could ensure that demand for goods that have gone through this material cycle grows.
On average, a person in Germany consumes 16 tonnes of raw materials per year
The strategy is to be passed by the cabinet by autumn. It does not yet contain any concrete legislative proposals, but it does contain goals. For example, per capita consumption: currently, each person in the country consumes 16 tonnes of raw materials per year – from private consumption to filling up tanks and building materials for the house. The draft proposes that this value should be halved by 2045. The use of secondary raw materials should also double by 2030. Municipal waste should shrink by ten percent by then, and by 20 percent by 2045.
Compared to the progress made so far, this is all quite ambitious. Since 2010, the German sustainability strategy has been covering the Use of raw materials in private consumptionIn 2018, there are no more recent figures, but it was still at the same level as in 2010. At least the curve for energy consumption is pointing downwards.
There is literally a lot to be gained, says Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). “Not only do the environment and climate benefit from a well-functioning circular economy, it also makes our economy more resilient to crises.” A circular economy could replace imports from politically unstable countries. However, this must begin where raw materials are extracted and where products and processes are planned. “This ensures from the outset that the circle can be closed at the end,” says Lemke.
This also pleases those who could earn money from such cycles, the German waste disposal industry. A country with few raw materials like Germany needs “a consistent Circular Economy“, says Anja Siegesmund, who was the Green Environment Minister in Thuringia until last year and has recently become President of the industry association BDE. She says: “The circular economy is industrial policy.”