Topics | Umweltbundesamt

City centres have long been characterised by high levels of consumption. They are now facing major changes due to online retail, the after-effects of the coronavirus and the impact of the climate crisis. The EU Interreg project “NiCE – from niche to centre”, coordinated by the UBA, aims to take advantage of these changes and make city centres more attractive by offering sustainable options. read more

For the EU27 and Germany, the climate protection potential of the circular economy was examined for municipal waste, industrial & commercial, construction & demolition and food waste for 2017 and 2030 using the life cycle assessment method. The study shows the sector's GHG mitigation potential, including food waste prevention, in the context of the EU legal framework and the energy transition. read more

Extracting more and more new raw materials is unsustainable. The future ideal is a closed-loop, circular economy which, through “urban mining”, obtains many of its raw materials from end-of-life houses, piping, cables, cars and appliances rather than from mines and quarries. An UBA study has determined the types and quantities of potential secondary raw materials available in Germany. read more