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Policy Document

A resource-efficient Europe

Policy Document
A resource-efficient Europe – Flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strategy The flagship initiative for a resource-efficient Europe under the Europe 2020 strategy supports the shift towards a resource-efficient, low-carbon economy to achieve sustainable growth. Natural resources underpin our economy and our quality of life. Continuing our current patterns of resource use is not an option. Increasing resource efficiency is key to securing growth and jobs for Europe. It will bring major economic opportunities, improve productivity, drive down costs and boost competitiveness.  The flagship initiative for a resource-efficient Europe provides a long-term framework for actions in many policy areas, supporting policy agendas for climate change, energy, transport, industry, raw materials, agriculture, fisheries, biodiversity and regional development. This is to increase certainty for investment and innovation and to ensure that all relevant policies factor in resource efficiency in a balanced manner.

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Related indicators

Indicator Specification Land recycling and densification This indicator addresses the use of urban land for further urban development, whether that urban land is currently in use or not. The indicator comprises two concepts of urban development: land recycling and land densification. Land recycling is defined as the reuse of abandoned, vacant or underused land for redevelopment. It includes ‘grey recycling’ and ‘green recycling’. Grey recycling is when ‘grey’ urban objects, such as buildings or transport infrastructures, are built under redevelopment. Green recycling is when ‘green’ urban objects, such as green urban areas or sport facilities, are built. Land densification is defined as the land development that takes place within existing communities, making maximum use of the existing infrastructure instead of building on previously undeveloped land. The indicator examines land recycling relative to total land consumption. Total land consumption is understood as all the land use processes occurring on or ending up in developed land, i.e. urban redevelopment, urban and infrastructure sprawl, and any change in previously developed land. Land recycling includes both the densification and the recycling phenomena. Therefore, land recycling is understood broadly and includes three components: land densification, grey land recycling and green land recycling.
Indicator Specification
Archived
Emission intensity of manufacturing industries in Europe This indicator is used to illustrate the emission intensity of manufacturing industries expressed as the amount of pollutant discharged in water per unit of production of the manufacturing industries (expressed as one million Euro gross value added). Furthermore, the indicator shows a decoupling of economic growth (GVA) from  environmental impact (emission of pollutants). The decoupling indicator displays the percentage change in the emission of pollutants from manufacturing against the change in the gross value added (GVA) of the manufacturing industry over the same period of time (2004-2010). Absolute decoupling occurs when the environmentally relevant variable is stable or decreasing, while the economic driving force is growing. Relative decoupling occurs when the growth rate of the emission is positive, but less than the growth rate of GVA. In line with the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE Rev. 2 Section C  (divisions 10-33)) the following manufacturing industries are considered: Division 10: Manufacture of food products Division 11: Manufacture of beverages Division 12: Manufacture of tobacco products Division 13: Manufacture of textiles Division 14: Manufacture of wearing apparel Division 15: Manufacture of leather and related products Division 16: Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials Division 17: Manufacture of paper and paper products Division 18: Printing and reproduction of recorded media Division 19: Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products Division 20: Manufacture of chemicals, chemical products Division 21: Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations Division 22: Manufacture of rubber and plastic products Division 23: Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products Division 24: Manufacture of basic metals Division 25: Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment Division 26: Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products Division 27: Manufacture of electrical equipment Division 28: Manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified Division 29: Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers Division 30: Manufacture of other transport equipment Division 31: Manufacture of furniture Division 32: Other manufacturing Division 33: Repair and installation of machinery and equipment The following divisions from NACE Rev. 2 Section C were considered: Food industry: division 10, 11 Chemical industry: division 20, groups 20.1-20.6 Metal industry:division 24, 25    
Indicator Specification
Archived
Emission intensity of manufacturing industries in Europe The indicator is used to illustrate emission intensity of manufacturing industries expressed as amount of pollutant discharged in water per unit of production of manufacturing industries (expressed as one million Euro gross value added). Furthermore, indicator shows decoupling of economic growth (GVA) from the environmental impact (emission of pollutants).Decoupling indicator displays the percentage of change in emission of pollutants from manufacturing plotted together with the change in the gross value added (GVA) of the manufacturing industry over the same period of time (between 2004-2010). Absolute decoupling occurs when the environmentally relevant variable is stable or decreasing while the economic driving force is growing. Relative decoupling occurs when the growth rate of the emission is positive, but less than the growth rate of the GVA. In line with Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community NACE Rev. 2 Section C  (divisions 10-33) the following industries : are considered in the „manufacturing“:” Division 10: Manufacture of food products Division 11: Manufacture of beverages Division 12: Manufacture of tobacco products Division 13: Manufacture of textiles Division 14: Manufacture of wearing apparel Division 15: Manufacture of leather and related products Division 16: Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except furniture; manu- facture of articles of straw and plaiting materials Division 17: Manufacture of paper and paper products Division 18: Printing and reproduction of recorded media Division 19: Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products Division 20: Manufacture of chemicals, chemical products Division 21: Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations Division 22: Manufacture of rubber and plastic products Division 23: Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products Division 24: Manufacture of basic metals Division 25: Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment Division 26: Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products Division 27: Manufacture of electrical equipment Division 28: Manufacture of machineryand equipment n.e.c. Division 29: Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers Division 30: Manufacture of other transport equipment Division 31: Manufacture of furniture Division 32: Other manufacturing Division 33: Repair and installation of machinery and equipment   The following divisions from NACE Rev. 2 Section C were considered for: Food industry: division 10, 11 Chemical industry: division 20, groups 20.1-20.6 Metal industry:division 24, 25    
Indicator Specification
Archived
European ecological footprint per capita compared to available biocapacity (2.1) The ecological footprint translates a few of the global pressures caused directly and indirectly by a country’s consumption into direct and virtual land use worldwide. This includes direct land use in the country for urban areas and roads, land used indirectly globally for the production of food, fibre, timber, energy consumed in the country, and finally ‘virtual’ land in the form of average forest that would be required to absorb CO2 emissions from the country’s use of fossil fuels thus avoiding accumulation in the atmosphere. A nation or a region’s footprint can be benchmarked against the area of land, or biocapacity available globally per person, giving a useful indication of the extent to which its consumption is environmentally sustainable. The biocapacity of a given piece of land is a function of its physical area, a factor that takes account of the type of land cover, and a yield factor varying according to local conditions.
Indicator Specification
Archived
Electricity consumption, energy efficiency and ownership of household appliances This indicator presents  trends in consumption of electricity in households, and in the efficiency and stock of three key appliances in the EU-28. The use of electricity in households for different types of end uses is shown in figure 1, while figure 2 shows energy consumption, average specific energy consumption (efficiency) and total stock of key household appliances, and trends in total electricity consumption for all appliances in the EU28. 

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