“We promote the circular economy as an effective means of protecting the climate and conserving resources, and as an opportunity for sustainable economic development and job creation.” This is the new federal government’s commitment to this important issue as stated in the current coalition agreement.
However, it is not only in the federal government’s coalition agreement but also in the new innovation strategy of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia that “innovative processes, manufacturing methods, alternative materials, products, and services for greater resource efficiency and effectiveness, as well as improved circularity or recyclability (durable, robust, repairable, modular, free of harmful substances, single-material, recyclable)” are cited as key factors.
In particular, developments in the field of new materials—addressed by the NanoMikroWerkstoffePhotonik.NRW cluster—as well as in the key technologies of nanotechnology, microsystems engineering, and photonics, and in digital technologies such as quantum computing, neuromorphic computing, and digital twins, are providing important impetus from North Rhine-Westphalia. As a result, they are becoming a key enabler for the further development of the world’s largely linear economic systems toward a circular economy. In the context of sustainable mobility, for example, the areas of battery manufacturing and recycling, lightweight construction, and clean energy generation play a central role.
The shift toward a circular economy is important for nearly all industrial sectors, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), one of Europe’s most important hubs for materials and high-tech industries. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the grounding of the cargo ship “Ever Given” in March 2021, have shown just how heavily we rely on international supply chains. These chains have been thrown into disarray and, in some cases, have come to a standstill. The result is supply shortages and massive price increases for raw materials such as silicon and aluminum, which are also being felt in B2B and B2C business and are jeopardizing our economic development as well as innovation processes in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and Europe. Competitive material cycles could significantly mitigate these effects.
Professor Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, also emphasizes in an interview in this issue of NMWP Magazine: “Even if many price increases are merely temporary, one thing is certain: Many raw materials will remain scarce for the foreseeable future because production capacities cannot be expanded quickly enough or have been exhausted. The trend is therefore clearly toward significantly higher prices. This further increases both the necessity and the profitability of the circular economy, as demonstrated by a recent study conducted for us by the RWI. The pandemic has certainly been a major catalyst for this effect, but it is not the only cause.”
This is why the circular economy is so important in industry: In addition to protecting the climate and conserving resources, it can help achieve a certain degree of independence from international markets and stability in a country’s own economic development.
However, the challenges posed by the circular economy are multifaceted. Not only does the topic require interdisciplinary teams for implementation, but a fundamental shift in thinking is also necessary—not only in industry, but also in society.