Achieving systemic change for a circular economy necessitates policy measures and steering instruments that target the entire product value chain rather than focusing solely on the end-of-life stage. We need well-targeted and robust measures that tackle the core issue of overconsumption of virgin natural resources. The following steps will help lead developments in this direction:
Revise existing strategies:
Review what waste prevention actions are already present in the national waste policies and how these are monitored and evaluated for impact.
Assess what targets and measures for waste prevention in the production-consumption phase should be strengthened in the waste plan and exchange knowledge between the countries on this.
Aim high, start with easy steps:
Keep the focus on systemic change toward the circular economy and aim to identify impactful leverage points for policy actions.
Assess which of the ‘low-hanging fruit’ measures identified in the study could be easily implemented.
Implement a couple of these at Nordic level, facilitating joint monitoring and evaluation of impacts.
Anticipate and make the change:
Discuss how the Nordic countries can share experiences and work together on interpreting and implementing upcoming EU regulations in the Nordic countries.
Discuss which of the economic instruments reviewed in this report would best support and strengthen the forthcoming EPR schemes, to ensure that they can make a real difference.
Provide clear messages:
Use information steering as a necessity for achieving the needed behavioural shift in overproduction and consumption patterns. While most economic instruments (when studied in isolation) might not have massive impacts in terms of savings or environmental benefits, they can drive a shift when used in combination.
Discuss which economic steering instruments would provide strong messages of political will and choose to start with these.
Pilot a toolbox of economic steering instruments that have been tested elsewhere, using the examples analysed in this study, for example:
Enforcing eco-fees on unsustainable products (which drive excessive use of natural resources or where the origin and material cannot be tracked).
Enforcing tax exemptions or subsidiary systems (like vouchers) for repair services, strengthening the message that reuse is politically supported.
Consider lowering VAT for second-hand products (strengthening the message that reuse is politically supported).
Driving EPR systems to more directly support waste prevention rather than merely covering waste management costs of products.
Continue targeting innovation and business funding towards developing viable business models that are decoupled from increased material use.