German Resource Efficiency Programme III

The German federal government committed itself to report every four years on the development of resource efficiency in Germany and to assess progress and update its Resource Efficiency Programme. The Federal Government adopted the third version of the Resource Efficiency Programme in June 2020 (ProgRess III). In addition to an intensive consultation process with the federal states, associations and other social actors, extensive citizen participation was also carried out as part of the development of ProgRess III. Based on the results of this dialogue, citizens formulated a Citizens' Advice on resource conservation, which was integrated into ProgRess III. The fundamental goal of the German Resource Efficiency Programme is to make the extraction and use of natural resources more sustainable. The spectrum of topics covered by the 118 measures ranges from ecological due diligence obligations in raw material supply chains to the reparability of products, advisory services for companies and standardisation and certification systems for recyclates to investments in public transport and eco-labels for resource-efficient software. In this third version of the programme, focus is set on digitalization and improved information on resource-saving products. ProgRess III is dedicating a new focus to digitalisation with measures for resource efficiency in the area of Industry 4.0 and data centres. Companies are supported in designing and producing products in a resource-efficient manner in the future. During the production, use and disposal phases, products should in future use a minimum of material, water and energy and still fulfill their function. ProgRess III also focuses on raising awareness among the population, in everyday areas such as "working and living", "mobility" and "informing and communicating". Here, durability and quality are to become central selling points. Consumers should receive transparent, reliable, comparable, verifiable and easily understandable information for their purchasing decisions.