Treating waste as a resource and the design of a circular economy have been identified as key approaches for resource efficiency. Despite ambitious targets, policies and instruments that would enable a transition from a conventional waste management to an integrated and comprehensive resource management are still missing. Moreover, this will require innovative policy mixes which do not only address different end-of-pipe approaches but integrate various resource efficiency aspects from product design to patterns of production and consumption. Based on the results of a project funded by the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development named “POLFREE—Policy Options for a resource efficient economy”, this paper addresses several aspects of the conceptualization of policy mixes with regard to waste as a specific resource efficiency challenge. The guiding research interest of this paper is the combination of policies necessary to create a full circular economy. In a first step, the present waste policy frameworks, institutions and existing incentives at national level are examined in order to disclose regulatory and policy gaps. Based on this, the second part of the paper describes and analyses specific waste-related resource efficiency instruments with regard to their potential impacts under the constraints of various barriers. Based on the assessment of the country analyses and the innovative instruments, the paper draws conclusions on waste policy mixes and political needs.

For 20 years, the number of resource policy approaches with direct and indirect relations to raw materials, resource and material efficiency has grown enormously at national and international level. This discussion paper makes an inventory of different political and regulatory approaches that contain a direct or indirect reference to resources such as construction materials, industrial minerals, or metals. They are examined and evaluated regarding foci and resource priorities as well as further categories such as target lines, governance levels, indicators used, integration into wider target systems, specification, and implementation. The aim is to provide an overview of the spectrum of resource objectives in international, European, and national strategies, programs, and initiatives. The closer analysis of raw material targets embedded in the policy programs and legal approaches reveals that most goals lack a time frame and a concrete vision, thus remain at a strategic level. To complement the overview, the state of research in the field of modeling and simulation is briefly discussed. Concluding remarks concerning their relation to the objectives identified and the task of target setting complete the discussion.

Aggregates are granular materials – sand, gravel and crushed rock, in particular. Usually they are not thought of as a hot spot of environmental policy. This paper looks at the most important aspects of the aggregates system throughout Europe and puts it into the wider context of sustainable resource management as launched by the European Commission ( 2005b [Eurostat] Statistical Office of the European Communities, editor. 2001. Economy‐wide material flow accounts and derived indicators, Luxembourg: EC. A Methodological Guide. ed. 2000 [Google Scholar] ) in its thematic strategy (COM(2005) 670 final). Aggregates are important for sustainable resource management chiefly for two reasons:•their material intensity – their relevance for increasing resource productivity in the European Union (EU) as part of the Lisbon strategy and the sustainability strategy; 1 1. See: http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/index_en.htm for information on the EU Lisbon strategy, and http://ec.europa.eu/sustainable/for information on the EU sustainability strategy. View all notes •their environmental intensity – their relevance for increasing eco‐efficiency and for lowering environmental impacts in the EU.Both dimensions will be looked at in this paper. For understanding those dimensions, the aggregates value chain – the construction material industries, the building industries' outcomes, and the housing sector – is crucial too. The paper sheds some light on aggregates value chains, but does not attempt to provide a full comprehensive view. Distinction is made between direct factors (aggregates themselves and economic incentives for sustainable aggregates management) and indirect factors (downstream environmental and economic relevance of aggregates). It is argued that such a wide life‐cycle perspective will become important for any policies on aggregates. The second section looks at the economic relevance of aggregates throughout Europe in more detail and considers driving forces for the use of aggregates within an economy. The environmental relevance of the aggregates will be reasoned in the third section. Following this, section four looks at existing EU, national and international policies, such as energy and mining policies and taxes that affect or have side effects on the aggregate system. Concluding thoughts are given to the way ahead in the final section.

This chapter intends to outline the emerging field of resource policy. A strategic approach is described considering the role of competitiveness and innovation, the influence of barriers and incentives, and the scale and scope of system innovations. Essential elements for resource policies are improved information and dissemination and the creation of lead markets. A sectoral approach is deemed necessary to promote a more efficient and sustainable use of resources in key industries. Adjusting the framework conditions for industry and households might be a prerequisite for making change happen. To proceed at the international level, a strategic partnership between the EU, Japan and the USA is suggested, and elements of a global governance system of sustainable resource management are described.

This paper explores the relationship between municipal finance, urban development, and environmental sustainability in Germany, with a specific focus on the potential for a circular economy to address persistent issues of land consumption. As centres of concentrated economic activity, urban areas are central to the achievement of sustainability goals, yet the German construction and housing sector operates largely within a linear system. Despite ambitious national targets, such as a goal to reduce land development to a net-zero increase by 2050, political objectives have not been met, and land consumption remains too high. The paper investigates whether institutional and structural barriers prevent municipalities from implementing effective sustainability measures. Using a two-part methodology, the research combines a narrative literature review on urban transformation, (post-)growth, and the circular economy with a quantitative data analysis. The data analysis utilises the INKAR database to examine land consumption, population density, tax revenues, and debt in German municipalities with the highest land consumption in 2022. The literature review suggests that the current political and financial systems in Germany create a systemic bias towards growth, as municipalities are incentivised to expand to generate income and compete for businesses and residents. While the data analysis finds that the correlation between financial pressure and land consumption is not statistically significant, indicating other factors may be at play, the findings of the literature analysis emphasise a conflict between municipal economic growth and environmental goals. The short-term financial gains of expansive development often come at the expense of long-term social and environmental costs. The paper reveals a research gap and addresses the lack of a clear explanation for why German municipalities, despite national policy, continue to consume land at an unsustainable rate, and provides new, counter-intuitive data on the role of municipal finance in this dynamic.