In this project, nova-Institute has partnered up with IEEP (Institute for European Environmental Policy) to carry out a fact-finding study for WWF and Mondi, an international paper and packaging company, about the existing policy framework for the cascading use of wood in several European countries and the U.S. The goal of the project is to find out which policy measures exist in the focus countries that enable or hinder the application of the cascading use of wood in concrete terms. The results will be published and are meant to contribute to a more transparent and more informed debate about cascading use in the political and economic arena.
In the absence of an official definition of what cascading use actually is, the first step of the project is to collect and assess different existing attempts of definitions. One definition will be selected as a working basis and as a foundation for further discussions.
Then, existing studies and policy documents – complemented by a number of expert interviews – will be analysed with a view to find out which measures exist in the different focus countries that either promote and enable the cascading use of wood, or pose barriers to the application of the cascading principle. After an initial screening, deeper analyses will be carried out for best and worst case examples.
Results are expected for summer 2015.