The circular economy transition (through measures such as eco-design, eco-innovation, waste prevention and the reuse of raw materials) could boost Europe’s resource productivity by 30% by 2030 while creating 2 million additional jobs, generating cost savings of €600 billion a year and €1.8 trillion more in other economic benefits.
- Source: European Commission https://ec.europa.eu/environment/green-growth/
- Source: Ellen McArthur Foundation and McKinsey (2015) https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/growth-within-a-circular-economy-vision-for-a-competitive-europe
Improving non-labour resource productivity could boost manufacturers’ profit by 12% and increase manufacturing employment by 12%
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Source: Next Manufacturing Revolution report https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Resources/Next-Manufacturing-Revolution-full-report.pdf
In spite of increased awareness and improvements in recent years, resource efficiency improvements still present huge untapped potential. Among others:
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Remanufacturing is below 2% for most non-perishable/non-consumable products
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27% of freight truck journeys are running empty
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Many companies have achieved 10 to 15% efficiency gains over the last decade, however leading companies have achieved over 50% improvements in the same timeframe.
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Source: Next Manufacturing Revolution report https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Resources/Next-Manufacturing-Revolution-full-report.pdf
The Eurobarometer on SMEs, resource efficiency and green markets 2018 give you more insights
Review the current levels of resource efficiency actions and the state of the green market amongst Europe’s SMEs, as well as in neighbouring countries and in the US.