CE Delft is a leading player when it comes to research on the circular economy – an economy in which materials are continually reused while retaining maximum value. This reduces resource consumption, environmental damage and dependency on raw materials that are often finite.
The circular economy is now a major policy theme at the national, regional and European level. The Dutch government’s Circular Economy programme seeks to reduce primary resource consumption by 50% by 2030 and have a fully circular economy in place by 2050. The EU’s Circular Economy action plan has similar targets.
We provide ex-ante policy advice and conduct ex-post policy reviews. In collaboration with TNO and RIVM, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and Environment, CE Delft helped develop a method for establishing the current and potential effectiveness of circular procurement.
We construct cost curves for quantifying business cases. For the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, PBL, we developed indicators to measure value retention in the circular economy. We do research on trade in second-hand goods and leasing as an alternative to ownership.
One of our studies looks into how the Dutch SDE++ renewable energy subsidy scheme can be broadened to include circular and biobased measures and Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU).
For the European Commission we’ve developed policy options for promoting sustainable production and for PBL we’re inventorying technical aspects of circularity strategies (e.g. product-sharing, service life extension and recycling: the so-called R-ladder).