The European Union needs to use its natural resources more efficiently to become more competitive, argues the Bruegel think-tank in a policy brief published on Thursday 12 September. Increased circularity in the use of raw materials, water and land will also reduce the risk of critical dependence on certain third countries and strengthen economic security, according to the authors of the document.
Bruegel deplores a general lack of awareness regarding the extent of the impact of human extraction on nature. Along these lines, the think tank suggests that work be undertaken to identify the costs of pollution externalities on climate and biodiversity. More specifically, Bruegel mentions the idea of a tax on resources, the feasibility of which could be studied.
The authors of the brief also want to take a look at landfill and incineration taxes, which should be levied more on producers than on consumers. “If more responsibility for materials throughout their lifecycles falls on producers, they might redesign products radically for easy recycling or remanufacturing, or develop different business models such as ‘product-as-a-service’”.
A circular economy taxonomy could also encourage investment in this direction, according to the authors, who make other concrete recommendations to the European Commission.
See the document: https://aeur.eu/f/df2 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)