A Nation Making the Most of Its Resources, a City Running on the Future (Germany, May 2000)
In 2000, Germany was rapidly transitioning to a recycling-oriented society. One initiative that attracted attention was a company's efforts to recycle 95% of its waste at its headquarters plant. This was an achievement that reflected Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) based on the "Circular Economy and Waste Law" enacted in 1996, and was an advanced model built on the premise of sorting and recycling from the product design stage. In addition, plans were in place to introduce fuel cell buses to the market in 2002, and the steps toward a hydrogen society were in full swing. Against the backdrop of the urgent need to switch from diesel vehicles as a measure against air pollution in urban areas, public transportation systems using renewable energy were expected to be developed. These moves were symbolic of "economic ecology," which aims to balance the environment and the economy, and were efforts that would influence the environmental policy of the EU as a whole. Germany was
truly a future-oriented environmental nation.
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