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Waste | Resources

Resource consumption is essential to our existence. Global population and economic growth are increasing the pressure on natural resources such as raw materials, land and biodiversity. The German Environment Agency pursues the key aim to reduce resource consumption and the associated environmental impact overall and along the entire value-adding chain. The avoidance of waste and the use of residual and waste materials as secondary raw materials and the energy recovery of waste can also make a meaningful contribution to resource conservation, as can resource-efficient production processes, products and utilisation concepts.

Waste | Resources, Climate | Energy, Sustainability | Strategies | International matters

Rebound effects

Efficiency increase oftentimes reduces product or service costs, which can in turn ramp up consumption (due to reduced prices), thus partly canceling out the original savings. This is known as the rebound effect.

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Economy | Consumption, Waste | Resources, Water

Plastics in the environment

Plastic waste on a beach.

New UBA study: Numbers, background information, research needs, and measures to combat the plastic flood.

Waste | Resources

A coffee date with the Blue Angel

Viele Becher von FairCup.

The FairCup start-up is the first company to be awarded the Blue Angel ecolabel for its reusable cup system. FairCup started out as a student project at a vocational training school in Göttingen. The company is now represented all over Germany. The aim of the Blue Angel for resource-saving reusable cup systems (DE-UZ 210) is to reduce the number of disposable cups that are used.

Short link: www.uba.de/t58en