Circular economy strategy: Austria on the way to a sustainable and circular society

In a circular economy, the value of products, materials and resources within the economy is preserved for as long as possible and as little waste and environmental pollution as possible is generated. In resource-efficient and low-pollutant production, secondary raw materials or renewable raw materials are used wherever possible to keep resource consumption within planetary boundaries. A circular product policy enables the products manufactured to be used, reused, repaired, refurbished and recycled for as long as possible. This extends the life cycle of the products and reduces the overall consumption of primary raw materials. The Federal Ministry has therefore developed a national circular economy strategy with the involvement of numerous stakeholders. The vision of the strategy is to transform the Austrian economy and society into a climate-neutral, sustainable circular economy by 2050. Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (now: Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism, abbr. BMWET) jointly set up a Circular Economy Task Force to advise on the implementation of the strategy, which has drawn up recommendations on this issue.

Key objectives of the strategy

• Reduction of resource consumption
  • Domestic material consumption (DMC): maximum 14 tonnes per capita/year (2030)
  • Material footprint (MF): maximum 7 tonnes per capita/year (2050)
• Increase of resource productivity by 50 percent (2030)
• Increase of circularity rate to 18 percent (2030)
• Reduction of private household consumption by 10 percent (2030)