Approaches in the area of production
All of the countries under study promote raw material efficiency in the production sectors. Mostly, the approaches reflect the level of economic alignment, the sectoral focus of the industries and the strategic field of interest for the development of the countries. In almost all countries, the promotion of raw materials efficiency in production is linked to the promotion of innovation and competitiveness, economic development and the creation or safeguarding of jobs.
The Republic of Korea and China explicitly combine the promotion of raw material efficiency and green technology with the aim of becoming global market leaders in selected industries and technologies. The Republic of Korea addresses a 'green ecosystem of creative industries’ focusing on key technologies such as next-generation secondary' batteries, LED displays, green PCs, or high-efficiency solar cells (Global Green Growth Institute 2015). China fosters on ten key sectors such as energy-saving vehicles, information and communications technology' or aerospace technology in its development plan Made in China 2025 (State Council of the Peoples Republic of China 2015). Based on the Concept of the Long-Term Socio-Economic Development for the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020, Russia aims at the modernisation of traditional industrial sectors such as metallurgy', chemicals and agriculture (Ministry' of Economic Development of the Russian Federation 2015). Mexico chose to promote green growth e.g.by supporting the waste and recycling industry and additionally, the government established an additional program for sustainable production and consumption, the Programa Especial de Producciôn y Consume Sustentable (Gobiemo de Mexico n.d.).
An overall topic is packaging and construction. Both industries were addressed in many of the surveyed countries, regardless of their economic strengths. With respect to packaging, the objective is to reduce the quantity of short-lived packaging and to modify the design to make the recycling as simple as possible. In the material-intensive construction sector, one objective is to reduce the quantity of primary materials by introduction of secondary raw materials as building materials by certification systems and innovative building materials.
The instruments used by governments to promote resource efficiency in production are diverse. Among others, they include economic incentives for resource-efficient production, the definition of ’Best Available Technologies’ (BAT) for domestic manufacturing sites, awards from innovative companies and training for companies and fostering cooperation between companies.
In Russia, the modernisation of the production facilities and the domestic industry' is realised by' the introduction of the best available techniques. The Russian government has created a list of critical areas for which environmental impacts of technologies are assessed and described in specific BAT inventories (Romanov 2016). Addressed sectors are the mining sector, the basic chemicals industry, iron casting and the cement industry. The concept is implemented between 2015 and 2040 by the Bureau of BAT. located in the Chamber of Commerce (Romanov 2016). The implementation comprises economic instruments such as incentives (reduction of environmental taxes) and penalties (fees for environmental pollution) as well as regulative instruments; Production facilities have to comply with best available technology' in order to receive an operating license by the Bureau of BAT (GTAI 2018; Romanov 2016).
Awards are widely used, for example, in Indonesia, which credits innovative, and resource-efficient companies with three different awards: The Green Industry' Award honours innovative and resource-efficient companies. Besides, there is a Green Company Award, an award by' the business magazine SWA in cooperation with the KEHATI Foundation for ‘best sustainable performance company’. Indonesia has furthermore PROPER, which includes a particular approach to the coiporate procurement system: rating systems
What’s going on abroad? 127 and awards for companies (Afsah et al. 2011), creating strong visibility and incentives for companies to build their reputation through actions towards cleaner technologies (Kanungo & Moreno 2003). The United States award the WasteWise Award (USEPA 2019c) and Brazil awards the Fiesp (Federate das Industrias do Estado de Sao Paulo) Environmental Merit Award for companies recycling materials and other natural resources (FIESP 2016).
Training and technical advice is an instrument implemented in all countries. In the United State, for example, the Green Suppliers Network provides technical advice how to reduce waste in the supply chain, for example, in automotive industries or health sendees (USEPA n.d.). For many developing and emerging countries, the promotion of resource efficiency in production and respective training programs is often linked to the UN Program on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). Examples are the SCP networks in Indonesia, South Africa. Brazil and Mexico. Raw material efficiency is often implemented in addition to the approaches to increase energy efficiency. The instruments to promote resource efficiency in production are similar in developing and emerging countries. They include among others training of companies by centres and institutions to analyse and monitor their resource management, as well as online tools and manuals, for example by the National Cleaner Production Center (NCPC) or by the Global Network for Resource Efficiency and Clean Production (RECPnet), both sponsored by UNIDO and UN Environment (UNIDO n.d.).
Fostering cooperation between companies in industrial areas is an instrument, which turns the concentration of pollution and ineffective resource use in industrial zones into opportunities. The spatial proximity between different companies can serve as a breeding ground for cooperation for industrial symbiosis where the residues of one company become the raw material of another. This concept is implemented in China by specifically targeting companies in industrial parks and connecting their material flows (Qi et al. 2016). The USA is promoting the exchange of residual materials and waste streams through regional materials marketplaces (Materials Marketplace n.d.). In South Africa, this approach is implemented managed by the National Cleaner Production Center South-Africa. Three regional programs are operating, in April 2019 the fourth Industrial Symbiosis Program started at the province level. The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program, for example, founded in 2013, consisting of 300 companies sharing their resources. According to their annual report, the program has diverted 4,950 tons of waste from landfill and saved 25,100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions till the end of 2017 (GreenCape 2017).
