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This process of clearly defining a division of labour took place in
the three product chains. By doing so, the roles of all actors in the
particular initiative were clear, and participants could address each
other to act accordingly. If division of labour is vague, frustration
often arises, with some actors not doing what they were supposed
to. The role of the national government in the respective product
chains, for example, turned out to be a mix of activities. These
included revising quality standards and procedures; changes in EU
and international policies; using purchasing power through circular
procurement; developing innovation budgets for targeted projects
and process budget for orchestrating the transition process. The
government could therefore not simply proclaim policy objectives
to which the market should conform and execute. The government
had its own function to fulfil in the execution.
How labour was divided was case-specific. In the mattresses
case, the group of actors involved was rather broad at the start
and did not focus on a division of labour. After a transition broker
was appointed to orchestrate the voluntary EPR negotiations, the
division of labour became clear. The mattresses producers were
held responsible for the introduction of the scheme, while the
recyclers had to invest in higher efficiency of the equipment. The
collection of discarded mattresses was defined as a joint task for
municipal cleaning departments, different sectors and retailers to
fulfil. As it is a voluntary scheme, the role of the national government
was limited to independent inspection and strengthening policies
if the mattresses producers could not agree on a voluntary system.
In the case of the Concrete Agreement, the role of the concrete
sector first seemed obvious, taking the lead for developing a
roadmap to meet the ambitious targets. In drafting these roadmaps,
however, the importance of other actors became explicit.
Commissioning parties and builders had to be made responsible
for implementing options higher on the circularity ladder as these
were not within the remit of the concrete sector itself. The same
held for the active involvement of public commissioning partners