board boekje web pages

45
impacts in the whole product chain. For example, the Dutch
government is now examining a European import tax on highly
polluting critical raw materials and/or products. It is also looking
into a national or EU raw material or input tax, specifically for the
use of energy-based products which are exempted from an energy
tax (e.g. oil for the production of plastics). A tax on air pollution (e.g.
SO X
, NO X
and particulate matter from industrial emissions) and a
further increase of the existing waste tax are also being examined.
Whether one or more of these impactful economic instruments
goes into effect remains to be seen. Proposals that need EU-level
consensus take time and can be particularly hard to pass.
3.4 Monitoring and Measuring Circular Activities
As part of the Dutch national policy the Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency (PBL) was asked to set up a monitoring system.
That system should not just follow the transition to a circular
economy, but also find the adequate parameters to manage the
transition. To carry out this task, PBL formed a consortium together
with eight other institutes. To present a zero measurement of
Dutch circular economy activities, PBL published an Outline of
the Circular Economy in 2019. 24 This report contained a variety of
initiatives, totalling approximately 85,000, some 1,500 of which
are considered innovative. The PBL also analysed current barriers
to and opportunities for accelerating the move to a circular
economy. According to the agency, to cut down on raw material
usage in the Netherlands, focus should not be only on recycling,
but also higher up on the ladder: refuse, reduce, reuse and repair.
PBL recommendations to the government include eliminating
financial, legislative and permit-granting barriers as well as
getting all public authorities to work together on the issue. In
doing so, they can learn from each other and create more impact.
24 Rood, T. and Kishna, M., Outline of the Circular Economy, PBL Netherlands
Environmental Assessment Agency, PBL Publication Number: 3633,
The Hague, 2019,
https://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/outline-of-the-circular-economy.