Page 26 - Green knowledge 2025

Photo: Erling Fløistad
Measures that could make Norway more circular
In May 2025, the government-appointed expert group delivered the report Not
Straightforward, containing 79 proposals aimed at reducing resource use and making
reuse and sharing the norm in Norway.
“We have to bring consumption down, and we
cannot subsidise our way to lower consumption,”
says Thomas Hartnik, member of the expert group
and Division Director at NIBIO.
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•
Product requirements: Extended warranties
of three years and requirements for recycled
materials.
Repair scheme: For electronics, white goods
and textiles, financed by industry and public
authorities.
According to the UN International Resource Panel,
current consumption accounts for more than 90 per
cent of biodiversity loss and depletion of water
sources, and for half of global climate impacts.
In the report, the expert group proposes 79 policy
instruments to make circular solutions profitable:
•
•
Taxes and incentives: A levy on emissions
from aquaculture combined with refunds for col-
lected fish sludge, a plastics tax based on recycled
content, and a textile tax.
Construction sector: Requirements for circu-
larity in public procurement, a tax on the extrac-
tion of sand and gravel, and maximum green-
house gas emissions per m².
“Many biological resources are currently underuti-
lised because there are no economic incentives,” says
Hartnik.
A clear example is the aquaculture industry, where
there is currently no driving force to collect fish
sludge. As a result, resources that could have been
used for biogas, feed and fertiliser are lost.
In line with this, the expert group recommends,
among other things, introducing requirements for
the use of recycled phosphorus in fertilisers, improv-
ing oversight of biological resource flows, and steer-
ing agricultural support schemes more strongly
towards climate-friendly solutions.
Purpose: Collaboration: Identify measures that contribute to reduced resource use and increased reuse and sharing.
Statistics Norway, SINTEF Ocean, University of Stavanger, Norwegian School of Economics,
Borgarting Court of Appeal, Omtre AS
Funding: The Norwegian Government
Contact: Director Thomas Hartnik, Division of Environment and Natural Resources.
Email: thomas.hartnik@nibio.no | Telephone: +47 926 94 021
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