Greens: Federal government's raw materials policy is treading water

Dieter Janecek, Spokesperson for Industrial Policy and the Digital Economy, and Dr. Bettina Hoffmann, Spokesperson for Environmental Policy and Environmental Health, comment on today's cabinet meeting and the planned discussion of the draft German Resource Efficiency Programme III (ProgRess III):

With ProgRess III, the German government is treading water. Two resource efficiency programmes of the Federal Government could not prevent the German consumption of raw materials from continuing to rise. It is foreseeable that the third resource programme of the Federal Government will not change this situation either. ProgRess III also remains a longish hodgepodge of plans, announcements and test orders.

The majority of the measures are limited to non-binding information and advisory instruments. In addition, reference is made in some cases to ongoing processes or measures are listed which the Federal Government is obliged to take in any case, for example with regard to the implementation of EU directives. There is a lack of concrete legislative initiatives and funding programmes backed by substantial financial resources.

German industry plays a central role in the consumption of metallic raw materials worldwide. For aluminium and copper, for example, it is the third largest consumer. Germany's responsibility is correspondingly great. Unfortunately, it remains open by how much the increase in raw material consumption is to be reduced nationally and at the European level. Without a concrete reduction target, however, it is difficult to trace or verify a path.

In the past, the pure focus on raw material efficiency led to rebound effects. We therefore urgently need a genuine raw materials turnaround that leads not only to a relative but also to an absolute reduction in resource consumption. The Greens already called for a reduction in resource consumption by a factor of 10 by 2050 in their motion on a raw materials turnaround last year.

In addition, the Greens advocate the transfer of the resource efficiency programme into an action plan for the circular economy. This should include, among other things, legally anchored waste reduction targets and an extension of producer responsibility to product groups such as building materials, furniture and textiles.

Source: PM from 17.6.2020