Michael Brunn

Legal frameworks and technological possibilities obviously play an important part in the transformation to a circular economy. However, the role of consumers is often underestimated. And above all, they must have confidence in the circular economy as a concept. The report "The tipping point: building trust in the circular economy" published by BSI and the University of Cambridge deals with the question of how this trust can be both created and maintained.

The financing of the circular economy has been poorly documented to date. This is partly due to its complex, multidimensional nature. As long as there is no standardised and widely applied reporting on investments in circular economy models, little will change. However, it is essential to understand the current financial flows in order to reduce society's dependence on increasingly scarce resources. With its report 'Tracking Capital Flows in the Circular Economy', the global impact organisation Circle Economy aims to raise awareness of this issue.

Although multi-layer packaging has a whole range of advantages, it presents recycling with tasks that are sometimes unsolvable. In an article in "Academia Environmental Sciences & Sustainability", Indonesian scientists have examined the current status.

Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing global environmental problems. Since the 1950s, global plastic production has increased to several hundred million tons per year and could almost triple by 2060. Plastics are ubiquitous because of their low cost, durability and versatility, but they decompose very slowly. As a result, the burden on terrestrial and marine ecosystems is constantly increasing. About 89 percent of the plastics produced are neither recycled nor reused and often end up uncontrolled in the environment, exacerbated by hard-to-recycle composite materials and inadequate waste infrastructure in many regions. The solution requires sustainable strategies for effective plastic waste management with the goal of a circular economy. This requires technological innovations, economic incentives, clear legal requirements and a change in consumer behaviour. The article "Plastic waste management strategies: planning through sustainable lens and way forward towards circular economy" by scientists from India and Australia analyzes existing and new approaches to plastic waste recycling from a sustainability perspective. The article was published in "Discover Sustainability".

The transformation to climate neutrality is as necessary as it is expensive. According to the study "Investment rigidity endangers transformation and competitiveness - financing solutions for the climate-neutral transformation of companies", which was conducted by the German Economic Institute (IW) on behalf of Epico Climate Innovation and Bellona Germany, the money for investments is there. It just needs to be mobilized.

The study "Approaches and Perspectives for the Transition to a Circular Economy in the European Union" addresses the question of which factors are particularly relevant for the efficiency of the transition within the EU. Public measures designed to accelerate the transformation are derived from this study. Prepared by Romanian scientists, the study was first published in the journal "Frontiers in Environmental Science".

In many places, one gets the impression that efforts to protect the climate and the environment are being withdrawn rather than intensified. In any case, it is clear that technology is a real success story for these areas. In the "Green Tech made in Germany 2025 - Environmental Technology Atlas for Germany", the Federal Environment Agency shows how successful the industry is.

Like all other industries, the European containerboard industry wants to be climate-neutral by 2050. The interest group Containerboard Europa has presented a roadmap "Decarbonising the European Containerboard Industry" on how this can be achieved. The remarkable thing is that the cost of decarbonisation is lower than you might think.

The circular economy is considered a key element of global sustainability strategies, including in Southeast Asia. A recent study conducted by GIZ in cooperation with ASEAN and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) examines how micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the ten ASEAN member states are participating - or not participating - in the transition to a circular economy.

The economy is facing fundamental transformations in many parts. Digitalisation and sustainability will play a key role in this. As the results of a company survey by the Federal Environment Agency show, the importance of these topics has largely reached companies. However, the report "Digitization and Sustainability in Business Practice" also makes it clear that there is still a huge lack of practical implementation.