Consumer's behaviour in assessing environmental impact of consumption - State of the art and challenges for modelling consumer's behaviour in life cycle-based indicators

The European Commission (EC) has been developing an assessment framework to monitor the evolution of environmental impact associated to the European Union (EU) consumption. The assessment framework should help to support a wide array of policies, such as those related to resource efficiency, eco-innovation and circular economy. The environmental impact of EU consumption is assessed adopting two sets of life cycle-based indicators: the Consumption footprint and the Consumer footprint, which have a complementary role in assessing those impacts. The EU Consumer Footprint is the measurement of the environmental impacts based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) of products (or services) purchased and used in one year by an EU citizen. This is based on the results of LCAs of representative consumed products (and services, where relevant). Within the framework of this project, a dedicated area of research focused on the “Product use phase and consumption scenarios”, aiming at the examination of consumer behaviour types in view of further refinement of product use phase modelling and in support to the definition of scenarios on improved environmental behaviours. Whereas the production-based perspective helps in identifying domestic sectors, product groups and products responsible for emissions and resource use, the consumption-based perspective looks at the overall environmental impact induced by the domestic consumption. Each of the two perspectives on environmental impact has its use for policy-makers. This report is addressing variability in the use phase grounded on consumers' actual behaviour patterns, with reference to the aims presented before. After a brief review of theories and models explaining consumer behaviours, this report discusses the main approaches for measuring the environmental impacts of consumption and the key drivers that influence consumers’ shift towards more envrionmentally friendly consumption choices and behaviours. Moreover, the possible link between behavioural sciences and Life Cycle Assessment, through the development of scenarios on consumer behaviour applied to the Basket of Products (BoPs) is discussed, together with the possibility to capture the rebound effects in these scenarios. Current knowledge gaps and related research needs are illustrated in the concluding section, highlighting possible future paths of research for the integration of behavioural economics into environmental assessment (e.g. to capture the rebound effects induced by household expenditure structure shifting, based on Engel’s curve), and to complement and further improve the approaches discussed herein.JRC.D.1-Bio-econom

European Union’s trade flows of non-food and non-energy raw material commodities: Basic facts and figures

The first objective of this report is to get a detailed picture of the most important EU-28’s aggregate trade flows of non-energy and non-food raw materials commodities (NFNERM) over the period 2011-2016, by identifying its most traded products and main supplying and destination countries. In addition to presenting EU-28 aggregated data, we also zoomed in on the EU-28 economy and analysed the trade flows in raw materials of the leading importing/exporting EU countries. Finally, for illustrating the diversity of products containing raw materials across a specific raw material value chain, in the last section of this study we selected one raw materials critical to the EU, i.e., borates, and analysed the EU-28’s trade flows of the commodities incorporating it, as identified in trade statistics.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Bioeconomy and sustainability: a potential contribution to the Bioeconomy Observatory

In response to the need for further clarifications concerning the emerging concept of the “bio-economy”, the present study scrutinizes this concept in order to better delineate its analytical scope. It also describes methodologies of potential relevance to evaluation and monitoring of the bio-economy. Although not directly intended to prepare the ground for the future EU Bio-economy Observatory (BISO), the material presented herein may also meaningfully inform the design of monitoring activities which will be undertaken within the BISO framework. The introductory section sheds some light on the bio-economy’s multi-dimensional nature, scope, drivers, challenges and economic potential. In order to clearly distinguish between their specific features and coverage, a comparative description of eco-industries versus the bio-economy is included here. The current EU policy approach to the bio-economy is sketched in the second section of this report. With the purpose of defining the bio-economy’s scope and its internal flows, the third section advances an integrated analytical perspective on the EU bio-economy. This perspective builds upon descriptions provided in the related Commission documents. Its potential use in support of the future Bio-economy Observatory is elaborated, together with several associated methodological aspects. In the fourth section, the datasets, methods and models which could be used for measuring and monitoring the bio-economy’s drivers, development and impact are identified and grouped into five inter-related methodological modules. Further methodological clarification is provided as to i) the need for complementing a sectoral approach to the bio-economy with other perspectives, including the product-chain approach, and ii) the usefulness of inventory data from the European Commission’s life-cycle based resource efficiency indicators. Other relevant data sources are also described. In addition, in light of the limited availability of statistical data on new bio-based products and processes, the need for further disaggregated product-level statistics for bio-based products and company-level research is also discussed. Current standardization and research activities on issues such as harmonization of sustainability certification systems for biomass production, conversion systems and trade, sustainability assessment of technologies, and environmental performance of products are reviewed in the fifth section. Based on the observation that it would be impossible to obtain all required data for bio-economy monitoring from official statistical sources, we propose in the sixth section a general-purpose questionnaire which could serve as a basis for prospective surveys. It is intended to be further refined and adjusted, in collaboration with the sector-relevant European technology platforms and industry associations and other relevant stakeholders, according to the specific profile of each sector, product group or firm type to be included in any future surveys.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Development of a Sankey Diagram of Material Flows in the EU Economy based on Eurostat Data

Europe relies on reliable and robust knowledge on materials stocks and flows to promote innovation along the entire value chain of raw materials. The concept of the circular economy, recently adopted by the European Commission, aims at maintaining the value of products, materials, and resources in the economy for as long as possible, and minimize waste generation. One of the prerequisites for better monitoring materials use across the whole life-cycle is a good understanding of material stocks and flows. The goal of this report is thus to show how readily available statistical information can be used to generate a Sankey diagram of material flows and their circularity in the 28 member states of the European Union (EU-28). Despite several data challenges, it is possible to develop a visual representation of material flows and their level of circularity in the EU-28 as well as for individual member states for the period 2004 to 2014 (with future updates possible as new statistical data sets become available). The focus is on non-energy and non-food materials in line with the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP-RM). This includes material flows used for their material quality including, e.g., metals, construction minerals, industrial minerals, and biomass like timber for constructions or fibres for paper or textiles. Materials used for their energy content like fossil fuels, fuel wood, feed or food are excluded. A combination of regularly available data sources including economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) and EU waste statistics are used to generate a Sankey diagram showing the flows and net additions to stocks of four major material categories (metals, construction minerals, industrial minerals, and biomass (timber and products from biomass)). In 2014, the turnover of non-energy and non-food materials in the EU economy is found at 4.8 Gt (direct material input + recycling and backfilling). Recycled materials make up around 0.7 Gt (15%) of all materials used in the EU-28 in 2014. Socioeconomic stocks are growing in the EU-28 at about 2.2 to 3.4 Gt each year (net additions to stocks during the period from 2004 to 2014). For example, in 2014 around 51% (2.3/4.5 Gt) of all non-energy and non-food materials used domestically within the EU were added to stocks. Stock accumulation limits the potential for current recovery because material stocks are not immediately available for recycling (but will become available in the future when products providing useful services to the EU economy reach their end-of-life). In 2014, total waste generated from non-energy and non-food materials use in the EU-28 amounted to 2.2 Gt. Some 1.9 Gt of this waste was treated in the EU-28. The largest share of this waste (about 41%) was subject to landfilling operations. About 33% of the waste treated in the EU-28 in 2014 was sent to recycling operations (recovery other than energy recovery and backfilling) and 10% was used in backfilling. The EU is largely self-sufficient for construction minerals and industrial minerals, somewhat import dependent for biomass (for materials purposes), but highly import-dependent for metals. Sankey diagrams for eight individual member states including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy are generated and compared with each other. Overall material throughput is highest for Germany, France, and Italy. Belgium’s economy depends on imports of a large number of raw materials, while several other EU countries domestically produce construction minerals and industrial minerals. Metals are imported by all member states although some EU countries (e.g., Finland) also have limited metal mining activities. In the eight EU member states examined, recycling and backfilling ranges between 11% and 68% at end-of-life (output side) and 6% and 27% when compared to overall material inputs (input side). Germany is used as a case study to show how the proposed visualization framework can be used to generate member state Sankey diagrams for multiple years. Further research is needed to confirm these findings, fill in data gaps (e.g., trade in waste products), and better estimate selected flow parameters. However, the proposed assessment and visualization do provide a reasonable first picture of raw material uses and their flow magnitudes (by major material categories) in Europe, and how these evolve over time. The resulting Sankey diagrams will feed into the EC's Raw Material Information System's (RMIS) MFA module (currently in development) to better visualize related material flows for the EU and at individual country level. The level of circularity can be measured considering different groups of raw materials. Because for materials used for energy purposes materials recovery is mostly not possible, we recommend including resource categories including fossil energy materials and biomass for food and energy purposes in future studies to obtain a more holistic picture of raw materials use in the EU.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Country-level data and indicators of trade in raw materials for Australia, Chile, Indonesia and New Zealand

The current report contains four trade-related country fiches for Australia, Chile, Indonesia and New Zealand. These country fiches include essential country-level data and indicators on trade in raw materials, being divided into five sections, following the structure of Country section of the Raw Materials Information System’s Economics and Trade module: i) Raw materials trade flows; ii) Trade measures - export restrictions and import tariff; iii) Trade agreements; iv) Foreign direct investments; and v) Trade performance indicators. Each country profile starts with a key messages section, which summarizes the main findings.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

EU methodology for critical raw materials assessment : policy needs and proposed solutions for incremental improvements

Raw materials form the basis of Europe's economy to ensure jobs and competitiveness, and they are essential for maintaining and improving quality of life. Although all raw materials are important, some of them are of more concern than others, thus the list of critical raw materials (CRMs) for the EU, and the underlying European Commission (EC) criticality assessment methodology, are key instruments in the context of the EU raw materials policy. For the next update of the CRMs list in 2017, the EC is considering to apply the overall methodology already used in 2011 and 2014, but with some modifications. Keeping the same methodological approach is a deliberate choice in order to prioritise the comparability with the previous two exercises, effectively monitor trends, and maintain the highest possible policy relevance. As the EC's in-house science service, the Directorate General Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) identified aspects of the EU criticality methodology that could be adapted to better address the needs and expectations of the resulting CRMs list to identify and monitor critical raw materials in the EU. The goal of this paper is to discuss the specific elements of the EC criticality methodology that were adapted by DG JRC, highlight their novelty and/or potential outcomes, and discuss them in the context of criticality assessment methodologies available internationally

Raw Materials Information System (RMIS): towards v2.0 - An Interim Progress Report & Roadmap

The European Commission's (EC) Raw Materials Initiative (RMI) emphasises that raw materials are essential for the sound and sustainable functioning of Europe’s industries and, in a broader context, of Europe’s economy and society. The EC is committed to promote the competitiveness of industries related to raw materials. These industries play an important role in many downstream sectors in the European Union (EU) such as construction, chemicals, automotive, aerospace, machinery, pharmacy, equipment, renewable energy devices, and defence. These sectors have a combined added value of around EUR 1,000 billion and provide employment for some 30 million people. Securing the undistorted supply of raw materials and, in particular, Critical Raw Materials (CRM) is thus crucial and requires a sound and continuously updated knowledge base, namely the European Raw Materials Knowledge Base (EURMKB), as highlighted in the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials, in its Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) from 2013, particularly in the Action area no. II.8. In this context, and responding to a specific action of the 2015 Circular Economy Communication, the EC's Directorate General (DG) Joint Research Centre (JRC), in close collaboration with DG GROWTH, is advancing its Raw Materials Information System (RMIS). The first version (hereinafter referred to as RMIS 1.0) was launched in March 2015. The advanced RMIS (hereinafter referred to as RMIS 2.0) intends to become a one-stop information gateway and knowledge service centre for non-energy, non-food primary (e.g. extracted through mining) and secondary (e.g. recycled, recovered from mining waste) raw materials and materials/commodities. RMIS 2.0 will (a) support European Union (EU) policy with tailor-made products like the Raw Material Scoreboard and CRM assessments, and (b) to help coordinate other EU level data and information on raw materials. The EU policy support will rely on knowledge from the EUKBRM. This will be made available directly in the RMIS from different sources. The coordination role will be jointly developed with Member States, industry representatives, and other stakeholders, e.g. hosting an entry point to the EURMKB and by further coordination activities with focus on compilation, presentation and application of EU level data. Towards the launch of the RMIS 2.0 (foreseen in the 4th quarter of 2017), this “Interim Progress Report & Roadmap” presents the up-to-date development of the RMIS, including the key policy support knowledge needs that shall be fulfilled, and starts linking identified (EURMKB) knowledge needs with knowledge providers. It also presents foreseen key building blocks for the policy support and several development milestones of the RMIS 2.0 (as of February 2017). The key building blocks focus on a number of themes, including: Critical Raw Materials (CRM) and criticality analysis; Material Flow Analysis (MFA) including the EC Material System Analysis (MSA); the Raw Materials Scoreboard; trade policy aspects; material efficiency and secondary raw materials; sustainability aspects; business & industry; Research & Innovation (R&I); and the policy context. With a view to reinforce synergies and stregthen cooperation with raw materials knowledge providers, as well as with other relevant stakeholder groups (including RMIS users), the first RMIS international workshop will take place in March 2017. The aim of the workshop is to present progress and the foreseen development milestones, as well as to discuss the frame and concept of the cooperation with stakeholders.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Variability and Change in Water Cycle at the Catchment Level

This study proposes a simple methodology for assessing future-projected evolution of water cycle components (precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and potential runoff) based on the two-level Palmer model of the soil and their impact on drought conditions at basin level. The Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) is used as drought metric. The catchments of rivers Arges, Mures, Prut, Siret and Somes (mid- and lower Danube basin) have been chosen as case studies. The present climate data consist of Romanian gridded dataset, monthly precipitation and values of streamflow from Romania and Republic of Moldova and potential evapotranspiration-related data from the Climate Research Unit (University of East Anglia). We used as future projections five numerical experiments with regional models obtained through the EURO-CORDEX initiative, under two Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios. The correlations between observed streamflow at the river basin outlets and PDSI-related components of the water cycle show that PDSI represents reasonably well processes taking place in the selected catchments. Depending on the specific scenario and catchment, droughts that in the Palmer classification were deemed as incipient, mild or severe under present climate will become a normal summer feature toward the end of this century, especially over catchments situated in the lower Danube basin

Raw materials scoreboard

The raw materials scoreboard is an initiative of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials. Its purpose is to provide quantitative data on the EIP's general objectives and on the raw materials policy context. It presents relevant and reliable information that can be used in policymaking in a variety of areas. The scoreboard will, for example, contribute to monitoring progress towards a circular economy, a crucial issue on which the European Commission recently adopted an ambitious action plan. The scoreboard will be published every two years

EU country profiles in the Raw Materials Information System (RMIS): Hungary: Country-level key data and information related to non-food, non-energy raw materials

The module European Country Profiles of the European Commission’s Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) provides country-specific data and indicators related to non-food, non-energy raw materials. These data and indicators are derived from data from official sources and well-established data providers, or by their elaboration. Each profile is structured into nine thematic sections: i) Key indicators; ii) Investment and regulatory framework; iii) research, development and innovation; iv) Resources and reserves; v) Supply; vi) Raw materials use; vii) Trade; viii) Environment; and ix) Social & Policy. The current country report presents the data and indicators for Hungary, mirroring the EU Country Profile for Hungary included in the RMIS in March 2020, which is the reference month of the data used.JRC.D.3-Land Resource