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© fStopImages / Malte Müller

Enforcement still at the start line

Blog 11/28/2024

Miranda Amachree has dedicated her career to the environment – driven by her decades-long passion for the subject. That’s why, until her retirement in 2021, she was the Director of Inspection & Enforcement at Nigeria’s National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
The Partnership for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling (ProBaMet) Project starts in Nigeria with visits to lead smelters in Ogun State

Blog 06/12/2024

Researcher Frederick Adjei shares insights into the work and approach of the collaboration with local stakeholders within the ProBaMet Project.
©plainpicture/Mischa Keijser

Striking a Balance – The Role of Sufficiency in the Energy Transition

Blog 09/19/2023

Sufficiency has been an important topic at the Oeko-Institut for over a decade. In this context, the Oeko-Institut, together with Vito / EnergyVille and for the EEA, has written a study on the term „sufficiency“. The key findings are presented in this article.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Conflicting goals and contentious debates are unavoidable on the path to a circular future

Blog 08/08/2023

Establishing a circular economy is imperative for the transition to sustainability. However, there are some challenges along the way. Siddharth Prakash and Clara Löw offer an analysis and point to some solutions.
The EU Batteries Regulation – a success for the circular economy

Blog 07/26/2023

The EU Regulation concerning batteries and waste batteries is due to enter into force very soon. The Oeko-Institut conducted research in support of the development process and welcomes the Regulation. In our blog, Dr Hartmut Stahl and Dr Johannes Betz comment on this success.
© plainpicture/Love Strandell

Study reveals major climate change mitigation potential in film production

Blog 02/15/2023

The greenhouse gas emissions of film productions and TV series have been systematically analysed in a comprehensive study for the first time. The dataset is based on 78 productions (see list at the end of this article). The idea for a sustainability initiative came from the film industry itself and aimed to ensure that in future, climate impacts are taken into account and mitigated from the start of production onwards.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Waste management in practice in Ghana and Nigeria

Blog 01/05/2023

Tobias Schleicher, scientist at the Oeko-Institut, was on the road in West Africa, where two of his waste management projects are on the home straight. In this blog post, Tobias Schleicher describes his impressions.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

Linking a global plastic pollution agreement with local realities

Blog 12/02/2022

However, in the often abstract negotiations, it is important not to overlook realities at the local level, where action will be needed to implement the agreement.
© plainpicture/Christian Vorhofer

Civilisation’s gold: first-ever mapping of the urban mining potential to 2040

Blog 06/28/2022

How large is the anthropogenic material stock in Germany, and how much is it likely to increase? This has now been calculated by a team of researchers at the Oeko-Institut, who have also produced a forecast of the realistic potential to obtain secondary raw materials from urban mining to 2040.
Factsheets: The reform of the EU Emissions Trading System – a closer look

Blog 05/17/2022

In July 2021, the European Commission presented a series of legislative proposals as part of the Fit for 55 package to align energy and climate policy instruments with the new climate target of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Researchers at the Oeko-Institut have taken a closer look at the proposals for the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and have produced four factsheets with summaries and comments.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_5: Waste compensation as a circular business model in the e-waste sector

Blog 07/20/2021

As we mentioned in one of our previous blogs, everyone seems to be talking about circular business models as a contribution to a circular economy. But not all of these models lead to real progress in addressing social and environmental problems. So what makes a difference? Senior Researcher Tobias Schleicher shares his thoughts on e-waste and waste compensation.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_3: Only with the right prescription can the circular economy be a remedy

Blog 06/02/2021

Not all Circular Business Models are designed to relieve the environment to the extent that would be necessary.
© fstopimages/Malte Müller

#CircularEconomy_1: Will Circular Business Models save the world? [deu/eng]

Blog 04/29/2021

In the #CircularEconomy blog series, some scientists of the Oeko-Institut raise few questions on the current state and potential of Circular Business Models and present their proposals on how the circular economy can really contribute to climate protection.
© plainpicture / Åke-Nyqvis

The carbon footprint of our digital lifestyles

Blog 04/24/2020

Oeko-Institut is reputed for knowing the answers to many relevant environmental questions concerning the future. Senior researcher Jens Gröger is currently working on the topic of "sustainable digitization" and has done the maths.
Using incentives to put out fires [de/eng]

Blog 02/11/2020

The area of Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana’s capital city, has come to the world’s attention on account of its role in the recycling of electronic waste (e-waste) and the problems that this gives rise to. Andreas Manhart of the Oeko-Institut took part in a project that looked for – and found – new ways of solving the e-waste problem in Ghana.
#plasticfree: Car tyres are the main microplastic pollutant [deu/eng]

Blog 12/18/2019

Part 4: Tyre abrasion is in Germany responsible for one third of the total microplastic input into the environment.
#plasticfree: A bowl of soup instead of packet soup

Blog 12/09/2019

Part 2: Consumers should ask themselves with every piece of plastic they hold in their hands: How could I avoid this waste next time?
#plasticfree: Everybody produces microplastics

Blog 12/03/2019

Part 1: Our environment is suffocating in plastic waste that cannot be removed. What can we all do to stem the plastic flood?
© plainpicture / Tuomo Vainamo

Repair or replace?

Blog 04/04/2019

[Translate to English:] How can appliances be kept in service for as long as possible? When are they worth repairing – and when does it makes sense to buy a new and efficient appliance? The Oeko-Institut provides answers to these questions in a new background paper.
E-mobility: Resource needs for batteries and the challenges for Europe

09/06/2018

[Translate to English:] With a focus on lithium and cobalt for batteries, Dr Doris Schüler summarises the challenges currently facing the producing countries and looks at developments in Europe.
© plainpicture / Fred Dott

Erosion of European sustainability requirements for bioenergy

08/21/2018

[Translate to English:] Extending the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) on solid and gaseous biomass is being used to roll back sustainability requirements. This is the wrong path, say Dr. Klaus Hennenberg and colleagues, in their recent article in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
"eMobility is the right way to go"

08/16/2018

Are electric vehicles the answer to transport-related environmental problems, and is the controversy surrounding them justified? This is the kind of question that Lukas Minnich is often asked about e-mobility. He and his team have compiled a Fact Check to provide some answers.

Enforcement still at the start line

The Partnership for Responsible Battery and Metal Recycling (ProBaMet) Project starts in Nigeria with visits to lead smelters in Ogun State

Striking a Balance – The Role of Sufficiency in the Energy Transition

Conflicting goals and contentious debates are unavoidable on the path to a circular future

The EU Batteries Regulation – a success for the circular economy

Study reveals major climate change mitigation potential in film production

Waste management in practice in Ghana and Nigeria

Linking a global plastic pollution agreement with local realities

Civilisation’s gold: first-ever mapping of the urban mining potential to 2040

Factsheets: The reform of the EU Emissions Trading System – a closer look

#CircularEconomy_5: Waste compensation as a circular business model in the e-waste sector

#CircularEconomy_3: Only with the right prescription can the circular economy be a remedy

#CircularEconomy_1: Will Circular Business Models save the world? [deu/eng]

The carbon footprint of our digital lifestyles

Using incentives to put out fires [de/eng]

#plasticfree: Car tyres are the main microplastic pollutant [deu/eng]

#plasticfree: A bowl of soup instead of packet soup

#plasticfree: Everybody produces microplastics

Repair or replace?

E-mobility: Resource needs for batteries and the challenges for Europe

Erosion of European sustainability requirements for bioenergy

"eMobility is the right way to go"