NABU is well aware of the urgent need to consolidate and expand infrastructure for the circular economy, especially in the countries of the global south. We can help by exchanging experiences and taking part in joint projects involving Germany organisations and partner countries. Key players in Germany have gathered extensive experience in developing a circular economy over a number of years, covering everything from legal frameworks, extended producer responsibility and systems for returning waste products. They are also facing up to a range of current challenges including avoiding waste, improving recyclability, and increasing the use of recyclable materials in new products. The PREVENT Alliance represents a valuable forum in which to share and debate these experiences with partner countries and assess what knowledge can be transferred, bearing in mind the specific circumstances in each partner country. NABU is keen to get involved in these exchanges and confront environmental issues.
The aim of a circular economy is to ensure that finished goods and raw materials remain in use for as along as possible. NABU’s work on waste is guided by the EU’s waste management hierarchy. In practical terms, that means it is geared towards preventing waste by encouraging the re-use, return and repair of existing goods. Where this is not possible, goods are recycled using a high-quality process to turn them into new products. Implementing extended producer responsibility allows us to develop systems in which the people who market the goods become responsible for disposing of them later on. But it takes more than collection, reuse and recycling systems to create a circular economy. In fact, the circular economy starts with environmentally-friendly product design that promotes recyclability, uses recyclable raw materials, limits the use of chemicals to sustainable levels and produces durable products with long service lives.