Raw material consumption has tripled worldwide since 1970. In a country comparison, Germany ranks among the top countries. The excessive consumption of raw materials and resources contributes massively to the crisis of global warming, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution. Nothing less than the future of current and future generation is at stake – environmentally, economically and the future of a global community. Our linear economic model is the cause of the high consumption of primary raw materials with all its negative implications. What we need is the implementation of a holistic Circular Economy (CE) that makes use of all circular measures. Germany’s existing laws, political programmes and strategies are too non-binding and incongruent, nowhere near ambitious enough. Expectations are now focused on the National Circular Economy Strategy (NCES), which is still in development. The process is being supported by researchers and proposals from the scientific community: WWF Germany has developed the “Circular Economy Model Germany” together with Öko-Institut, Fraunhofer ISI and FU Berlin (published in November 2023).
The key to the transformation from a linear to a circular economy is that companies need to adopt the circular model. Government policies can guide and support companies in the process; thus, policy recources also need to align with the concept of circular economy.
Circular Economy
"Circular economy is a new business model for production and consumption that ensures sustainable growth over time. Companies with circular business models that include the entire product life cycle are going to win the future!” emphasizes Isabel Wiedenroth, CEO of SinoGermanTrade.com (SGT).
Global Innovators harness Taiwan's Expertise
Transforming from a linear to a circular economy, Germany lags clearly behind Taiwan in respect of political programmes and adopted strategies. In 2018, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has launched the “Circular Economy Promotion Plan”. In 2019, MOEA has established the “Circular Economy Promotion Office” which coordinates the efforts of ministries, industries and academia. The Office is also in charge of “policy coordination” and “resource integration”. Tody, Taiwan can present following highlights as results:
1) Industrial Symbiosis
Establishing a resource-exchange mechanism is crucial to implementing the circular model. One factory's byproducts can be another's raw materials, preventing a waste of resources. Such a mechanism can be implemented by factories in the same industrial zones or inter-zonally. A well-known example is the Linhai Industrial Park in Kaohsiung, where the engergy and resource integration has been put into prictice by a cluster of the steel and petroleum industries formed around the integration between the businesses of Sinosteel Corporation and CPC Corporation, a state-woned petroleum enterprise.
2) Circular materials verification & matching platform
This platform is aiming to raise the public's trust in circular materials through transparent management of the materials and a good social communication mechanism. It uses technologies such as blockchain, AI, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to reinforce the quality verification of circular materials, to facilitate the matching of demand and supply, so it can accelerate resource integration and create business opportunities.
3) Taiwan Circular Economy 100 (TEC 100)
In 2019, MOEA established TCE 100, bringing together representatives from the private sector, government, and academia to foster cooperation related to circular economy among different industries. The joint statement by TCE100: Companies should start transiting towards the circular model, expand cooperation on energy and resources, and work together to build a circular resource system.