Economic systems are connected to the natural environment through a continuous flowudof energy and materials. The production of economic wealth implies the use of natural resourcesudand their transformation into goods (bound to become, at least partially, waste in the future), currentudwaste (pollution) and low-valued energy (entropy). The scarcity of natural resources and the negativeudexternalities arising from their use throughout the entire value chain are quite natural motivationsudfor the current policy push towards a more dematerialized and a more circular economy. In thisudperspective, the EU seems to be approaching a new frontier in environmental policy. The mainudcontribution of this paper is a qualitative assessment of a coordinated set of dematerializationudpolicies, which aim at fostering the socially efficient use (and re-use) of virgin materials at firm level.udThe policy mix we propose envisages a green tax reform (GTR) with a material tax, which aims atudshifting relative input prices in favour of labour and capital, and a policy of funding research anduddevelopment activities in the area of resource efficiency. In order to support firms in their transitionudto higher material efficiency, we foresee targeted skill enhancement programmes. Finally, to preventudfirms to shift towards less material-intensive production, potentially leading to lower output quality,udwe complete the policy mix with specific command-and-control measures, aiming at setting minimumudquality standards for selected product categories. The qualitative assessment of this mix of policiesudrelies on the four basic criteria of the economic policy analysis (effectiveness, efficiency, equity andudfeasibility). Since the EU is deeply integrated in the world economy, and it is a net importer ofudvirgin resources, our policy evaluation necessarily takes an open-economy perspective. In this vein,udthe paper reviews the state of affairs of the major world countries (USA, Japan and China in particular)udon this issue, and contextualizes the EU action in a global perspective.
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