Berlin: The support programmes for an ecological economic policy

Abstract:

Since 1991 the Berlin Ministry of Economics and Technology has set up two consecutive programmes for the promotion of an ecological economic policy. The programme for an ecological economy and the future-oriented initiative for ecological management are both designed to improve the conditions for ecological business. The programmes should support the process of ecological modernisation and industrial change. The projects of the programmes are remarkable examples of good practice for the following reasons:

• The promotion of innovative production process;
• The promotion of environmentally friendly products;
• The anchoring of environmental issues in business management;
• The support of medium-sized companies which operate in future-oriented markets of environmental technology and services;
• The support of technology transfer and the willingness for innovation;
• The transfer of environmental know-how to East European countries.

Concept and aims

In 1991 the Department for an Ecological Economy within the Ministry for Economics and Technology had set up a programme for the promotion of an ecological economy. Whereas a comparable programme by the Berlin Ministry of Urban Development and Environmental Protection is designed for environmental improvements in small and medium-sized enterprises, the first ecological programme, which had been implemented between 1991 and 1993, had mainly given priority to pilot and demonstration projects. The projects should improve know-how on the methods of ecological manufacturing and housekeeping. Applications for a project had been open to all aspects of an ecological economy as long as they met one of the four ecological themes of the programme:

1. It could be a pilot project which either demonstrates an innovative production process or which sets up the manufacturing of environmentally compatible products;
2. It could be an environmental advice project for the commercial sector;
3. It could promote ecological marketing;
4. It could raise consumer awareness for ecological issues.

The core of funding was provided for the promotion of ecological production methods and the use of environmental technology. Projects in this area have to apply the following criteria:

• Products or production methods have to save energy or resources;
• The project has to establish a closed cycle economy for resources or set up waste and material recycling;
• The project has to substitute materials or substances that are a risk to health and the environment.

In 1994 the follow-up programme, the future-oriented initiative for ecological management, was initiated. The arrangements of this programme can be compared to the conditions and arrangements of the Environmental Improvement Programme (compare for details the case study in this database). Whereas the first programme had been financed by the Land of Berlin, the on-going programme, which will run until 1999, is co-financed by the European Commission`s European Fund for Regional Development. In consequence, the individual projects are increasingly oriented towards the dissemination of technology and know-how to East European countries. The following themes should be addressed:

• The improvement of the quality of urban living by supporting ecological changes in the industrial structure;
• The anchoring of environmental issues in business management;
• The support of medium-sized companies which are involved in future-oriented markets of environmental technology and services;
• The support of technology transfer and the willingness for innovation;
• The strengthening of Berlinposition as a centre of environmental technology;
• The transfer of environmental know-how to East European countries.

The projects should apply the following criteria:

• promote the recycling of high-quality secondary materials at company level or at inter- company level (e.g. improvements in dismantling, development of products suitable for recycling, survey and testing of recycling concepts, planning and building of recycling facilities, development of high- quality products from secondary materials);
• install preventive environmental technology above end-of-the-pipe level (integrated environmental protection concepts);
• introduce an environmental management system (e.g. eco-controlling, eco-audit, eco-balance, optimisation of distribution logic);
• support environment-related technology transfer (e.g. research and development of new methods of environmental measurement, research and development of the redevelopment of contaminated areas, research and development of innovative technology for the recycling of sludge);
• initiate the co-operation with East European companies in the area of environmental technology.

Implementation

Within the programme on the ecological economy the projects can be classified into two main categories. Firstly, pilot projects on ecological compatible production methods and products and, secondly, environmental advice and consultancy. The pilot projects demonstrate different methods and processes of manufacturing and product design. The following major projects have been put into practice:

• A plastics recycling project at a Berlin hospital: in co-operation with the Institute for Plastics from the Technical University of Berlin new medical products have been designed and manufactured. The new products are easier to dismantle and to recycle and contain only a limited number of high-quality plastics. Therefore, the collection is easier and a closed cycle system can be installed.
• Eco-controlling has been implemented in a foundry as well as in a telecommunications company. Several production processes had been rearranged and the products had been redesigned in an environmentally friendly way. Both projects had been implemented with the support of special eco-controlling software.
• The new building of a social organisation (Diakonisches Werk Berlin-Brandenburg) had been built under an environmentally compatible construction plan. A concept for ecological housekeeping includes measures for energy saving, waste avoidance, green roof areas etc. In addition, the building had been equipped with a photovoltaic system.
• An environmental service at a wholesale business for paint and carpet goods had been set up. It gives advice to craftsmen, retail traders, and private customers. In addition, a concept for the collection of special waste from the paint business had been elaborated.
• Several projects have been implemented in the area of exhibitions and trade fairs. Waste avoidance concepts have been worked out for the international agricultural products exhibition (Grüne Woche), the Kreuzberg summer festival, the Zehlendorf Christmas market, the out- door swimming facility in Wannsee, and the Berlin Marathon.
• Other projects include the development and construction of an automatic service apparatus for the Berlin car-sharing company, the use of new solvent-free technology in the wood- processing business etc.

In the area of environmental advice and consultancy the programme on ecological economy spent a total of 560,000 DM for 68 studies on the potentials of environmental protection measures. This led to environmental projects with an investment of a further 18 million DM (e.g. project within the Environmental Improvement Programme). Customer oriented advice projects had been e.g. the list, which gives an overview on environmentally harmful products.

In 1994 the second support programme for an ecological economic policy had been established. Within the first year 108 project applications had been made. The first 20 implemented projects have been subsidised with 3,419,096 DM. So far the implementation of eco-audit projects has been a major field of activity (20 applications).

Actors and Structures

The support programmes for an ecological economic policy have been initiated by the Department for an Ecological Economy at the Ministry for Economics and Technology. The department had been established in 1990 at the time of the Social Democratic/Green coalition government. It has a staff of twelve.

Finance

The first programme on ecological economy was set up by the Ministry of Economics and Technology. The finance was provided by the Land of Berlin. Between 1991 and 1993 a total funds of 17,175,000 DM had been spent.

Financial overview on the programme for an ecological economy 1991 - 1993 (in DM)

The follow-up programme, the future-oriented initiative for ecological management, was started in 1994 and until 1999 the total spending will amount 102,000,000 DM. A share of 47,000,000 DM of the this programme is supported by finance from the European Fund for Regional Development.

Source of Information

Jänicke, Martin 1992: Die Umweltproblematik - ein Engpaßfaktor industrieller Entwicklung in Berlin?, in: Senatsverwaltung für Wirtschaft und Technologie, (Hg.), Auf dem Weg zur Wirtschaftsmetropole Berlin. Empfehlungen der Strukturpolitischen Expertenkommission, Berlin, S. 158-167

Wituschek, Jürgen 1993: Ökologisches Wirtschaften in Berlin - ein Bündel umweltorientierter Förderprogramme, in: UTECH (Hg.), Förderprogramme für betriebliche und kommunale Umweltschutzinvestionen, 18. Seminar im Rahmen der UTECH konzipiert von der Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umweltschutz und dem Umweltbundesamt, Berlin: 27-40

Wituschek, Jürgen 1993: Das Krankenhaus-Kunststoff-Recycling-Modell Berlin - Ein Beispiel zur Erschließung von Wirtschaftskreisläufen bei Wegwerfartikeln, in: UWF No.2, S.79-82

Heinrichs, Dirk 1994: Neue Arbeitsplätze durch EU-Förderprogramme, in: Institut für ökologisches Recycling / Gesellschaft für präventiven Umweltschutz, (Hg.), Arbeitsplätze pro und contra Ökologie, Fachtagung am 1./2. Dezember in Berlin, Berlin, S. 67-72

Fietz, Harald 1994: Conditions of success of environmental action programmes in small and medium- sized firms in Berlin, paper presented at the Euroconference Environmental Management, Berlin

Beratungs- und Service-Gesellschaft Umwelt mbH 1994: Jahresbericht 1993, Berlin

Beratungs- und Service-Gesellschaft Umwelt mbH 1995: Bericht 1994, Berlin

Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung und Umweltschutz 1995: Umweltschutzbericht Berlin 1995,Berlin

Fietz, Harald / Wanke, Andreas 1996: Erfolgsbedingungen umweltpolitischer Handlungsprogramme in Berlin aus der Sicht von Unternehmen, Projektbericht innerhalb der berlin-dienlichen Forschung der FU Berlin, Berlin

Fichter, Heidi 1996: Unterwegs zur ökologischen Wirtschaftspolitik. Berlins Erfahrungen bei der ökologischen Modernisierung politischer Institutionen, Berlin

Contact:

Cities:

Berlin :

Berlin has a population of almost 3.5 million of which approximately 11% are foreign citizens. The wider conurbation has an additional population of nearly one million. The city covers 889 square kilometres; 38 km from north to south and 45 km from east to west. 24 per cent of the city’s surface is water and navigable waterways are 197 km in length. In size it is almost as large as the densely populated Ruhr area in North Rhine Westphalia. Berlin is the largest city in Germany, and one of the sixteen regional States (Bundesländer) of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The unified municipality of Berlin is a decentralised body divided into 23 districts (Bezirke). The districts have between 50,000 and 300,000 inhabitants. They carry responsibility for local politics and their own administration. Unlike independent municipalities, however, they do not have financial autonomy but are allocated funds by the City Government, the Senate of Berlin. The main authority for the City as a whole is the Senate which is divided into different administrative departments (comparable to Ministries in other German Länder).

Although Berlin has experienced a steady decline in industry, there are still over 200,000 people working in the manufacturing sector. Approximately 230,000 of the 1.5 million citizens in the workforce are employed in trade and about 750,000 people have jobs in service, primarily in the public sector.

In addition, Berlin is a centre of environmental research as well as technology, and a great number of businesses are engaged in environment-related activities. According to a study by the ifo Institute in Munich and the IÖW (Institute for Ecological Economic Research) in Berlin, 400 companies with 13,000 employees are directly involved in environmental protection (engineering offices, and producers and distributors of environmental technology). This number has tripled within the last ten years, and half of the companies have started as new businesses since 1990. Furthermore, Berlin is a stronghold of scientific research with approx. 100 companies involved in measurement and analytical activities, approx. 80 eco-research institutes (including universities), and 45 public administrations and authorities in charge of environmental matters.

Population:

Project was added at 25.06.1996
Project was changed at 21.08.2001

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