Increasing consumption of products and materials, growing waste volumes and its inappropriate man-agement increasingly threaten the functioning of ecosystems on our planet. In this context, we cannot limit our work for improvements only on the national situation but must look beyond boundaries and seek co-operation and interaction with key actors in other world regions. PREVENT provides a platform for such co-operations and enables developing and testing innovative approaches for waste reduction and better management.
A circular economy does not only focus on the management of waste, but includes all possible measures to minimize resource use, to avoid the generation of waste and to keep materials in the industrial cycle as long as possible. At the same time, it keeps a careful look on hazardous substances and pollutants and avoids that such substances are used in the products or generated from our production, consumption and waste management practices. Functioning circular economy concepts require changing production and consumption patterns and are strongly dependent on favourable regulatory and economic framework conditions. To date, we see highest improvements needs in such framework conditions.