Abstract
This paper assesses world-wide patterns of material extraction, trade, consumption and productivity based on a new data set for economy-wide material flows, covering used materials for all countries world-wide between 1980 and 2009. We show that global material extraction has grown by more than 90% over the past 30 years and is reaching almost 70 billion tonnes today. Also, trade volumes in physical terms have increased by a factor of 2.5 over the past 30 years, and in 2009, 9.3 billion tonnes of raw materials and products were traded around the globe. China has turned into the biggest consumer of materials world-wide and together with the US, India, Brazil and Russia, consumes more than 50% of all globally extracted materials. We also show that the per-capita consumption levels are very uneven, with a factor of more than 60 between the country with the lowest and highest consumption in 2009. On average, each human being consumed 10 tonnes of materials in 2009, 2 tonnes more than in 1980. We discuss whether decoupling of economies’ growth from resource use has occurred and analyse interrelations of material use with human development. Finally, we elaborate on key environmental problems related to various material groups.
Highlights
Since the industrial revolution the Western world has experienced enormous increases in affluence and economic development
For the compilation of the data used in this paper, we follow the guidelines for economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) as published by EUROSTAT [18]
Material Consumption (DMC), which is calculated as Domestic Extraction Used (DEU) plus the Physical Trade Balance (PTB), i.e., direct imports minus direct exports
Summary
Since the industrial revolution the Western world has experienced enormous increases in affluence and economic development. Waste and emissions are produced at a scale which surpasses the absorption capacity of the planet’s ecosystems [4]. These developments entail risks of severe environmental change. If the current patterns of consumption and production as well as the associated use of natural resources, and the outflows of wastes and emissions into environment and atmosphere, continue, the negative consequences for the planet’s ecosystems and their provision of services may be irreversible [5]. Competition over key material resources is increasing on the global level, leaving countries and world regions increasingly concerned about how to ensure stable access to these resources [6,7]
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