Preface

We live in a society that throws away resources we cannot afford to waste. There are clothes that are only worn a few times and that are designed in a way that make them unsuitable for recycling. There are electronics that end up in landfills, despite them containing critical raw minerals. There are single-use plastics that end up in ditches, in the ocean and in our own bellies, despite having a lifespan of 500 years. Over the past fifty years, the world’s use of resources has more than tripled. This trend must be reversed. As a society, we need to move from a linear to a circular economy in which resources are given new lives and products are designed to facilitate just that.

The transition to a circular economy poses challenges for established value chains and for us as consumers, but the transition also brings with it many advantages.

Circular resource use is good climate policy because it allows us to reduce emissions generated from the manufacture of new products. It is good environmental policy because less waste goes astray and the need for virgin minerals is reduced. It is good industrial policy because it generates new jobs and industries.

Establishing a circular economy requires greater coordination and cooperation between many different stakeholders: the public administration, business and industry, consumers, municipal and county authorities and relevant organizations in civil society.

Politics is about prioritising. This action plan identifies seven priority value chains that will be vital for succeeding in the transition to a circular economy, from batteries and vehicles to packaging and textiles. These value chains also encompass a wide range of actors that have a crucial role to play in our success.

We also need to look at various policy instruments and find the best incentives to support a circular economy. It should pay off to work within circularity. The Government has appointed an expert group to carry out a comprehensive study of policy instruments to promote circular activities. Such instruments may include laws and regulations, policy measures and increased knowledge. The expert group’s recommendations will form the basis for policy development going forward.

A circular economy is therefore a natural part of industrial policy, and we have incorporated it into the long-term goal for value creation, where respect for nature and climate is a guiding principle. For example, the letters of assignment sent to funding agencies for business and industry development contain guidelines designed to strengthen investment in and coordinate the cross-cutting work on the circular economy. The Government has also amended the regulations for public procurement, and the main rule now is that climate and environmental requirements must be set for all public procurements. The Government is also revising the second-hand trade regulations to facilitate circular business models and increase second-hand trading, and a circular economy also plays a significant role in industrial policy initiatives, such as the mineral strategy, the battery strategy and the green industrial initiative.

In the Hurdal Platform, the Government declared that we must move from a linear, throw-away economy to a circular economy based on the goal of wasting as few resources as possible. In this action plan, the Government presents specific and targeted measures to do our part to ensure that this transition happens as quickly as possible and in a way that reduces waste and brings about new value creation.

Andreas Bjelland Eriksen

Minister of Climate and Environment

Jan Christian Vestre

Minister of Trade and Industry