From 4th till 13th of June, the Sino-German Environmental Partnership organized a delegation tour to Germany on circular economy for a delegation of 10 participants from the State Council, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China (MEE), and the China Council for International Cooperation in Environment and Development (CCICED). This delegation tour complements the ongoing Scoping Study on Circular Economy which is implemented under the framework of CCICED’s regular study processes. The delegation tour and the Scoping Study increase the attention for the broad topic of circular economy within the State Council, MEE, and CCICED.

The delegation tour started in Berlin with visits to and meetings with BMUV, GIZ, UBA, ALBA, BDE (Bundesverband der Deutschen Entsorgungs-, Wasser- und Kreislaufwirtschaft e.V.), WWF, Oeko-Institute, and NABU. These institutions explained the current status of circular economy in Germany from their respective perspectives. Specifically, BMUV introduced the process of developing Germany’s National Circular Economy Strategy, while WWF and Oeko-Institute introduced the study Circular Economy – Model Germany as a piece of scientific advice to BMUV for this strategy developing process. UBA added presentations on circular economy in the sectors construction, batteries, and bio-economy.

The second part of the delegation tour brought the participants to the Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR), which explained the recycling of packaging material, followed by a visit to a sorting line (Lobbe Group). Furthermore, the group visited the Wuppertal Institute, Wuppertal Circular Valley, and the Fraunhofer Institute Umsicht. These visits provided further insights into innovations for circular economy. The delegation tour concluded with a visit to GIZ in Bonn, where GIZ’s activities in the field of circular economy were introduced.

The participants provided positive feedback on the program with its diversity of visited institutions, because this reflected the diversity and cross cutting character of circular economy and the need to involve the whole society. The delegation highlighted that they gained valuable insights into the role of the civil society and the need to change consumption patterns to achieve a circular economy.