Circular Economy Helpdesk The Circular Economy HelpDesk – Central Contact Point for the Austrian Circular Economy Strategy

Information from Implementation Practice

At the end of 2022, the Austrian government adopted the Circular Economy Strategy – and it is already showing results. A wide range of planned, ongoing and implemented measures are already contributing to the priority objectives: minimising resource consumption, preventing environmental pollution and waste, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Private initiatives and associations are involved, as are municipalities, regional stakeholders and federal states.

The Circular Economy HelpDesk supports the practical implementation of the Circular Economy Strategy and is aimed at a wide range of target groups: companies, municipalities, federal states, non-governmental organisations and interested citizens. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, municipal decision-makers and civil society initiatives, the Circular Economy HelpDesk is a valuable source of information for navigating the complex field of the circular economy.

The HelpDesk’s information services include:

• Information on the Circular Economy Strategy as well as relevant legal, political and technical foundations
• Answers to individual enquiries, for example regarding the practical implementation of measures
• Networking with responsible authorities or experts where specific advice is required
• Guidance on funding opportunities, programmes and initiatives related to the circular economy

In this way, the HelpDesk supports the practical implementation of measures and raises awareness of the need for sustainable production and consumption patterns.

Inspiration for Replication

Where circular economy activities are already being implemented in Austria is shown by the HelpDesk’s interactive map. It contains numerous best-practice examples, funded projects and initiatives from across Austria, including from the construction sector, waste prevention and the reuse of materials. These successful implementation examples serve as a practical source of inspiration. Users can also filter by region and identify existing activities in their own area. This facilitates networking between stakeholders.

Available Online

The Circular Economy HelpDesk is available online at www.kreislaufwirtschaft-helpdesk.at (Website in German only). Use of the platform is simple and open to everyone. Questions can be submitted easily via a contact form. Enquiries are handled by an interdisciplinary team of experts from the Environment Agency Austria. Where necessary, users are referred to additional relevant organisations and experts.

Strategic Background and Establishment of the HelpDesk

The establishment of the Circular Economy HelpDesk is directly embedded in the implementation of the Austrian Circular Economy Strategy, which was adopted by the Council of Ministers at the end of 2022. This strategy provides the national framework for the transition towards a resource-efficient and circular economy by 2050 at the latest. Key objectives include reducing resource consumption, increasing the circularity rate and minimising environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions.

The HelpDesk represents an operational measure created to embed these objectives concretely across society. The idea emerged from the need to consolidate and make accessible the wide range of activities, stakeholders and questions relating to the circular economy. As an interface between politics, public administration, business and civil society, the HelpDesk plays a coordinating role – particularly in the areas of communication, information and networking. Its establishment was highlighted as a key implementation instrument in the first progress report on the Circular Economy Strategy in 2024.

Outlook: Further Development and Perspectives

The Circular Economy HelpDesk is continuously being developed further. In the coming years, the platform is intended not only to be expanded in terms of content, but also to be more closely linked with the existing implementation instruments of the Circular Economy Strategy. Planned measures include the systematic expansion of a best-practice collection and the creation of a publicly accessible knowledge pool in the form of FAQs.

In addition, the enquiries received by the HelpDesk to date are being analysed and systematically used to develop future priorities. The topics generating particularly high numbers of enquiries provide valuable insights into the practical challenges of the transformation. These include, among others:

• Waste prevention, waste treatment and waste legislation
• Chemicals legislation, toxic substances, recycling and green chemistry
• Mobility concepts (for example electromobility, shared mobility, mobility management)
• Sustainable production, circular business models, carbon capture and raw material use
• Life cycle assessments (LCA), carbon accounting and environmental evaluation
• Green finance, EU taxonomy and sustainability reporting
• Consumer behaviour, repair initiatives, textiles and societal change
• Digitalisation in the context of the circular economy
• Land and brownfield management (for example reuse of vacant buildings, land-use policy)

The HelpDesk will also play a supporting role in monitoring and evaluation in the future. The information gathered from practical experience is intended to increasingly feed into national reporting on the strategy and serve as a basis for further policy measures.

Another objective is to make the platform more interactive – for example through digital event formats, training sessions or topic-specific dialogue formats. In this way, the HelpDesk can further expand its role as an operational hub and contribute to the long-term implementation of the circular economy as a society-wide project.