THE PROJECT’S POLICY DEVELOPMENT IDEAS FOR RESOURCE-EFFICIENT BUSINESS MODELS
in cooperation with the Ministry for Enterprise and Innovation and the Ministry of Finance. Clear priorities for resource issues are needed among policy-makers. For this reason in particular, it is important to significantly increase cooperation between ministries. More funding is needed to create and scale up innovations.7 One possible co-financing model could involve public-sector players (including municipal authorities), the private sector and stakeholders in public-private partnerships (PPP). The research community should then drive development all the way to commercialisation, as the step into large-scale and commercially viable goods or services is the most difficult one. Support may be needed for the development of products and services, such as regulation or other support (credit, insurances etc.).16 Another important possibility is support for technology development through public procurement.17, 18 Several companies participating in the project
pointed to opportunities for more publically funded research that is demand-driven from industry. Research is needed to help companies be more resource-efficient, for example research in new recycling technology. Companies in the fast-moving textile and consumer products industries want the Government to drive necessary joint sector research and enable more active participation in designing and executing important research initiatives closely involving the private sector. Some sort of financial risk-sharing instrument would be valuable. One suggestion put forward by the project to enable the private sector to influence research is an instrument for risk-sharing and joint research, where companies could co-invest in research to solve sector-specific sustainability challenges, such as textile recycling. This would allow companies to run essential joint sector research programmes and allow more active participation in designing and executing important research initiatives closely involving the private sector.
Traceability and preparation for repair, renovation, re-use and recycling BACKGROUND In order for manufacturers to take full responsibility for their products in a life cycle perspective, traceability for materials and products is needed, and products need to be prepared for the repair, renovation, re-use and recycling phases back in the design and production phase. This applies both within industries and for materials and products from other industries. One example of this is the infrastructure sector, where the amount of demolition is low in relation to how much is built. For this reason it is hard for the industry to close its own cycle of raw materials and products. In the bio-based raw material sector, raw materials are often mixed in basic industries with other materials in strong compounds that are difficult or impossible to separate later on in a recycling system. Inadequate sorting of waste into fractions makes collection and traceability more difficult in
infrastructure and several other sectors. Also, some materials, such as plastic for industrial production, are not available in sufficient quantities or of sufficient quality (see the section Increase the use of recycled and renewable materials). Traceability initiatives are associated with significant costs, particularly in the case of products with hundreds or thousands of components the design and content of which are changed often. It is also more difficult when products are traded globally. For long-life products, such as durables and buildings, the situation is more difficult due to things like fragmented construction processes, the long periods during which the products are used and have multiple owners (often in different countries and continents) between stages such as production and renovation, re-use and recycling. More funding is needed for demonstration projects.
15