MATERIAL RESOURCES, PRODUCTIVITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

KEY FINDINGS
 Material Resources, Productivity and the Environment
Key Findings

1. Establishing a resource efficient economy is central to greening growth

Natural Natural resources provide essential inputs to production (Table 1). Apart from
resources are production, the extraction, processing and ultimate disposal of materials are an
fundamental to important source of income and jobs in many countries. These activities also impact
the economy the environment to a greater or lesser extent. Natural resources are also part of the
and human ecosystems that support the provision of services such as climate regulation, flood
well-being control, natural habitats, amenities and cultural services that are necessary to develop
man-made, human and social capital.
The use of materials from natural resources in production and consumption processes
has many environmental, economic and social consequences that extend beyond
borders and affect future generations. They have consequences on:
The rates of extraction and depletion of renewable and non-renewable natural
resource stocks, and the extent of harvest and natural productivity of
renewable resource stocks.
The environmental pressures associated with the extraction, processing,
transport, use and disposal of materials (e.g. pollution, waste, habitat
disruption); and their effects on environmental quality (e.g. air, climate, water,
soil, biodiversity, landscape) and ecosystem services and human health.
International trade and market prices of raw materials and other goods, and
the productivity and competitiveness of the economy.
The way natural resources and materials are managed through their life-cycle affects
all of these activities.

Table 1. Economic and environmental significance of selected materials and products

Selected Material/Product Environmental Significance Economic Significance
Aluminium  Lightweight (transportation fuel efficiency)  Widely used esp. in transportation, construction,
 Infinitely recyclable electricity generation
 Energy intensive production (GHG emissions)  Increasing global demand
 Solid waste (red mud)  Price volatility
 Consumption strongly coupled with economic
growth
Copper  Infinitely recyclable  Widely used esp. in electrical transmission and
 Energy-intensive production construction
 E-waste  Increasing global demand
 Price volatility
Iron and Steel  Infinitely recyclable  Most widely used and traded metal in the world
 well-developed scrap markets  Increasing global demand
 Energy-intensive production  Price volatility
Rare Earth Elements  Used in clean energy and energy efficiency  Used in wide range of high-tech electronics
technologies  Lack of substitutes
 Recycling extremely challenging  Increasing global demand, recent supply chain
 Chemically-intensive processing issues
 E-waste  Price volatility
Phosphorus  Eutrophication  Food security
 Waste (phosphogypsum) and emissions (fluorine)  Supports agricultural production
 Recyclable (with losses)
Paper  Renewable / recyclable (with losses)  Demand growing esp. in emerging economies
 Carbon sequestration, habitat (forests)  Wide variety of products
 Potential source of energy (wood biomass)
 Energy- and water-intensive production
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Current trends The last decades have witnessed unprecedented growth in demands for raw materials
in material worldwide, driven in particular by the rapid industrialisation of emerging economies
demands and continued high levels of material
present consumption in developed countries. Did you know…
environmental International commodity markets have OECD countries account for:
and economic expanded, with increasing mobility of  a third of all material resources
challenges… production factors and closer linkages among consumed worldwide;
countries and regions. This has been  over two-thirds of wood harvesting;
 nearly half of global exports of raw,
accompanied by highly volatile commodity semi-finished and finished materials.
prices and growing competition for some raw
materials.
By 2050, the world economy is expected to quadruple and the global population to
grow from 7 billion today to over 9.2 billion. The OECD Environmental Outlook to
2050 shows the additional strain that this will place on the earth’s material and energy
resources and the environment. A growing population with higher average income
requires more food, more industrial products, more energy and more water. This
creates formidable challenges for sustainable economic and environmental
development.
...and create Confronting the scale of these challenges requires ambitious policies to stimulate a
opportunities significant increase in resource efficiency, particularly through technical change and
for new innovation. The drive for improved resource efficiency will create new products,
markets and markets and employment opportunities.
greener growth
Establishing a resource efficient economy is central to green growth. It requires
putting in place policies to improve resource productivity and sustainably manage
natural resources and materials, building on the principle of Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle (the 3Rs). To be successful, such policies need to be founded on a good
knowledge base of the material basis of the economy, international and national
material flows, and the factors that drive changes in natural resource use and material
productivity over time, across countries and in the different sectors of the economy.

2. Worldwide use of material resources has been increasing steadily

Global trends
Global The amount of materials extracted, harvested and
extraction of consumed worldwide increased by 60% since 1980, Domestic extraction used
material reaching nearly 62 billion metric tonnes (Gt) per year in (DEU) measures the flow of
resources 2008 (Figure 1), some 8-fold increase since the early materials that originate from
1900s. OECD countries accounted for 38% of domestic the environment and enter
continues to
extraction of used materials (DEU) worldwide in 2008, the economy to be
grow transformed into or
while the BRIICS (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China
and South Africa) accounted for 35%. 1 While more incorporated in products.
updated global figures are not yet available, material use Domestic material
consumption (DMC) provides
likely remains around 62 Gt today and is projected to
a measure of the amount of
reach 100 Gt by 2030.2
materials directly consumed
Growth has been primarily driven by increased global by economic activities within
demand for construction minerals, biomass for food and a country. DMC equals DEU
feed, fossil energy carriers. These three material groups plus imports minus exports.
account for 80% of total global material extraction.

2
 Figure 1. Global material resource extraction
70 % change, 1980-2008

60 Industrial
-29%
minerals
Billions of metric tonnes (Gt)

50 19% Wood

40 133% Metals

30 Fossil energy
60%
carriers

20 80% Construction
minerals

10 Biomass (food &

49%
feed)

0
1980 1990 2000 2008
Source: SERI (Sustainable Europe Resource Institute) material flows database.

Materials Over the last century, resource extraction from non-renewable stocks has grown while
originating from extraction from renewable stocks has declined, reflecting the shift in the global economy
non-renewable base from agriculture to industry. Once accounting for some 75% of global material
natural resource extraction, biomass today accounts for less than a third of total extraction. Non-
stocks renewable resource extraction now represents over two-thirds of global material
progressively extraction with construction minerals making up over 30% of global DEU in 2008, fossil
dominate the energy carriers 20%, and metal and metal ores 13%. Industrial minerals account for
material mix around 2% of global extraction.
Although global material use has been increasing steadily overall, growth has varied
across material groups.

Metals Over the last 30 years, the strongest growth in raw material demand has been for metal
ores. Global metal extraction more than doubled between 1980 and 2008, rising from
3.5 to 8.2 Gt or by 133%, a rate on par with global economic growth. But growth has not
followed a steady upward trajectory: after declining in the early 1990s, the growth in
metal extraction witnessed a significant upswing from around 2002. This acceleration
was due to high demands from countries entering their energy- and material-intensive
development phase, coupled with high levels of consumption in developed economies.

Construction Demand for construction minerals has expanded rapidly, increasing by 8.7 Gt or
minerals 80% from 1980 to 2008, though more slowly than world GDP. Economic growth and the
associated expansion of the construction sector have a strong influence on demand.
Demand construction minerals is also linked to changes in demographics (e.g. amount
and type of housing needed) and average wealth (e.g. size of dwellings), as well country
specific factors (i.e. geography, urban planning, consumer preferences). As with metal
ores, global extraction of construction minerals began to accelerate in the early 2000s.

Fossil energy Global extraction of fossil energy carriers expanded by less than construction
carriers minerals, growing by 4.8 Gt or 60% between 1980 and 2008. Throughout the 1990s
when real crude oil prices were relatively low, the extraction of fossil energy carriers
stabilised and in some years even declined. But by the early 2000s, as in the case of
metal ores and construction minerals, extraction began to trend upward again driven by
the expanding global economy.

Biomass for food From 1980 to 2008, both the world population and the extraction of agricultural
and feed biomass for food and feed increased by 50%. Increasing income levels also bring
changes in dietary habits. Meat consumption, in particular, tends to increase with
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 income or wealth. More biomass (in terms of feed) is required to support a meat-based
diet relative to a vegetarian diet.

Wood and Wood harvesting and the extraction of industrial minerals experienced the slowest
industrial rates of growth. Wood harvesting grew by less than 20% between 1980 and 2008,
minerals significantly lower than population growth. Increased paper recycling and competition
from digital media have likely contributed to flat demand for wood fibre. Growth in the
extraction of industrial minerals was more volatile than other material groups, and
declined by almost 30% between 1980 and 2008. However, figures must be interpreted
with caution since this group consists of variety of minerals ranging from phosphate rock
to diamonds.

Material Along with 62 Gt of material resources that were extracted and entered the economy in
extraction 2008, an additional 44 Gt of materials were extracted but not used in the production
increases by two- process. These materials – referred to as unused domestic extraction (UDE) – include
thirds when mining overburden, harvest residues and fisheries by-catch.
unused materials Unused extraction is important, particularly for some materials; it accounts for around
are considered 70% of the total extraction associated with fossil energy carriers (due to the large
volume of unused materials associated with coal extraction) and almost half for metals,
but only 10% or less for biomass and construction minerals. With unused extraction
taken into account, fossil energy carriers overtake both biomass and construction
minerals as the dominant material resource extracted globally, accounting for over 40%
of extraction in 2008.
Unused domestic extraction has grown at a faster rate than domestic used extraction,
more than doubling between 1980 and 2008 compared to a two-thirds increase in DEU.
Increased coal production, particularly in Australia, China, India and Indonesia from
2002 onwards is the likely factor behind this strong growth in DEU globally, as is
increased metal ore extraction.

Trends in OECD countries

Material Material extraction and consumption in OECD countries have increased, but
extraction and much more slowly than at the global level, except for metals. While the global use of
consumption in material resources continues to increase, since 2000 there are signs of stabilisation in
OECD countries OECD countries as regards both material extraction and consumption; they levelled
are growing at a off at around 20Gt and 22Gt respectively, after stronger growth in the 1980s and
slower pace 1990s (Figure 2).3
than at global Since 1980, the growth has been driven primarily by the extraction of construction
level minerals which accounted for half of the increase, while metal ore extraction
accounted for a quarter (Figure 3).
The use of construction minerals has increased across all OECD regions, while growth
in metal ore extraction was mainly isolated to Chile and Australia. In Chile, copper
ore extraction grew from 70 million tonnes (Mt) in the early 1980s to well over 500
Mt by 2008. In Australia metal ore extraction grew from under 200 Mt to over 600
Mt during the same period, with the extraction of iron ore, copper and zinc more than
doubling. Precious metal extraction increased by a factor of 12. 4

Roughly half of all material resource extraction in the OECD area takes place in the
Americas (i.e. Canada, Chile, Mexico and the United States). OECD countries in
Europe account for 35% of extraction while member countries in the Asia-Pacific are
responsible for the remaining 15% of extraction. Among OECD countries, the United
States is the single largest extractor of material resources with over 6.5 Gt extracted in
2008 – one third of all materials extracted in OECD countries. Australia, Canada,
Mexico and Germany follow, each extracting between 1 and 1.5 Gt in 2008.

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 Figure 2. Domestic extraction used (DEU), Figure 3. Domestic material consumption (DMC),
by OECD region by material group,
(billion metric tonnes) (billion metric tonnes)
25 25
% change, 1980-2008
1980 2008
20 5% Industrial
20 minerals

4% Wood
15
15
77% Metals

10
10 Fossil energy
19%
carriers

5 Construction
5 29%
minerals

0 10% Biomass (food &

feed)
OECD Total OECD Americas OECD Asia- OECD Europe 0
Pacific 1980 1990 2000 2008

Source: OECD material flows data.

Notes: Figures do not include Estonia or Slovenia.

Domestic material consumption (DMC) in the OECD area has largely followed
the same trends as DEU, growing by 23% between 1980 and 2008 and, since the early
2000s, stabilising around 22 Gt per year.
The composition of material extraction and consumption are similar, with the
exception that fossil energy carriers accounting for a slightly larger share of
consumption than extraction in OECD countries, due to significant imports. In terms
of regional shares in the OECD area, OECD Europe’s share of consumption is slightly
higher than the region’s share of extraction, while the inverse if true for the OECD
Americas region. The OECD Asia-Pacific region’s share of consumption is the same as
its share of extraction.
While material extraction in OECD member countries is stabilising, it is rising in
countries experiencing rapid economic expansion and where incomes are rising, such
as the BRIICS. Most of these countries experienced a strong upswing in material
extraction starting the early 2000s, while China’s surge began much earlier.5 With the
exception of South Africa all of the BRIICS experienced large increases in material
extraction when average income rose.
Conversely in OECD countries, where average incomes are higher, material extraction
is growing less quickly. But there appears to be two distinct trends for OECD
countries with average incomes exceeding 20 000 USD (Figure 4).
Material extraction remains flat or decoupled from average income
growth, likely linked to an increasing share of value added generated in the
economy from the services sector, while material-intensive manufacturing is being
outsourced to non-OECD countries (Figure 5). The decoupling is absolute when
population is decreasing faster than material extraction per capita. With the
exception of Japan, all of the member countries in this group are located in
Europe.
Material extraction continues to increase with GDP per capita. This group
is generally characterised by, but not limited to, large resource-rich countries with
relatively low population densities.

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 Figure 4: Change in domestic extraction used (DEU) and per capita GDP,
(Change, % 1980-2008)
500
DEU GDP per capita
400

300

200

100

-100
PRT

SWE

AUT

POL
NLD
AUS
NOR

DEU
ISR

HUN
CAN

GBR
GRC
KOR

JPN
SVK
FIN
IRL

CHE

CZE
MEX

USA

NZL
LUX

FRA
CHL

ESP
TUR

DNK

ISL
BEL

ITA
Source: OECD, World Bank.
Note: Figures do not include Estonia or Slovenia. GDP is in 2005 USD and PPPs.

Figure 5. GDP and national income growth, OECD, BRIICS, 1990-2009

Real GDP and national income, 1990-2009 GDP structure, 1990/02-2007/09
OECD, GDP structure
OECD
300
OECD real GDP Services
OECD net disposable income Industry
BRIICS real GDP
BRIICS real GNI Agriculture
200

-8 structure
BRIICS, GDP -4 0 4 8
BRIICS
100 Services
Industry
Agriculture
0
1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 -8 -4 0 4 8
Source: OECD 2011c, OECD National Accounts; The World Bank World Development Indicators.

Material The volume of unused materials extracted in OECD countries reached 22 Gt in 2008,
extraction in a level that is roughly equivalent to the volume of used extraction. Close to 80% of
OECD doubles unused extraction is related to fossil energy carriers (70% of which is from coal
when unused extraction in Australia and the United States), followed by metals which account for
materials are 14%. Relatively small volumes of unused extraction are associated with biomass and
considered construction and industrial minerals.

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 Counter to the global trend, over the 1980-2008 period unused extraction in OECD
countries has grown at the same rate (23%) as used extraction. While it might be
expected that unused extraction in OECD countries would decrease over time with
improvements in extraction and processing technologies, a number of factors
influence the generation of unused materials. For minerals and metals unused
extraction actually tends to increase over time. Higher grade deposits or those that
are easily accessible are usually found and extracted first. As those deposits are
depleted, more must be extracted or extraction must go deeper in order to get the
same amount of valuable materials from lower grade deposits. This seems to be the
case in the OECD area; since 1980 the volume of unused materials associated with
metals extraction has grown almost 2.5 times faster than used extraction.

3. Material productivity is improving but decoupling remains weak

Productivity Despite continued growth in the volume of
gains have been materials being consumed worldwide and in What is resource productivity? Resource
achieved in OECD countries, there are first signs of productivity refers to the effectiveness
recent years... decoupling from economic growth with which an economy uses materials
(Figure 6). The global economy today extracted from natural resources (physical
generates 50% more economic value with inputs) to generate economic value
one tonne of raw materials than it did in the (monetary outputs). The OECD puts
1980s, rising from USD 0.70 per kilogram “resource productivity” in a welfare
(2005 USD and PPPs) in 1980 to USD perspective, including a qualitative
1.05/kg by 2008. Over the same time dimension (e.g. the environmental
domestic material productivity of OECD impacts per unit of output produced with
economies improved by 70%, rising from a given natural resource input).
USD 1.00/kg to over USD 1.70 USD/kg. Decoupling is breaking the link between
The largest improvements have come in “environmental bads” and “economic
recent years. Relative decoupling has goods”. Absolute decoupling occurs when
occurred overall in the OECD area. across environmental degradation is decreasing
while the economy is growing. Decoupling
all material groups and all regions, but there
is relative when environmental
are only a handful of instances of absolute
degradation is growing, but at a slower
decoupling.
rate than the economy.

Figure 6. Domestic material consumption versus GDP, OECD, 1990-2009

Index 1990=100
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
Material consumption-DMC
40 GDP
20 Material productivity

0
1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010
Source: OECD Material Flow database

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 The strongest decoupling occurred in wood, industrial minerals and
construction minerals, of all which saw consumption decrease between 2000 and
2008. The weakest productivity gains were in metal ores (Figure 7), where extraction
has remained strongly linked to economic growth. This trend is not isolated to OECD
countries; metal extraction is increasing worldwide and is growing particularly rapidly
in the BRIICS.

Figure 7. Material productivity by material group, OECD, 1990-2009

GDP per unit of DMC, Index 1990=100
200 200

100 100
Construction
Fossil fuels minerals
0 0
1990 2000 2010 1990 2000 2010
200 200

100 100
Wood Biomass (food)
0 0
1990 2000 2010 1990 2000 2010
200 200

100 100
Industrial
Metals minerals
0 0
1990 2000 2010 1990 2000 2010

Per capita material consumption in OECD countries remains at high levels. The
...but per capita average person living in an OECD country consumed roughly 50 kg of materials per
material day in 2008, twice the world average of 25kg per day per capita, and over 2.5 times
consumption more than a person living in a non-OECD country. This including 10 kg of biomass (vs.
remains high... 7kg global average), more than 20 kg of construction minerals (vs. 8kg global average),
and about 13 kg of fossil energy carriers (vs. 5kg global average).
Within the OECD area, per capita material consumption is highest in the Americas
(over 21 tonnes per person), followed by the Asia-Pacific (16.5 t) and Europe (15 t)
(Figure 8). Though all regions have witnessed declining per capita consumption in
recent years, OECD Europe is the only region where the decline has been consistent
since 1980.
The amount of material each person consumes on average varies widely across and
within countries.
 In general, per capita consumption tends to be highest in countries that are less
densely populated and rich in natural resources (e.g. Australia, Chile, Ireland, New
Zealand, and Norway). In these countries, per capita material consumption ranges
between 30-50 tonnes per person per year.
The lowest levels of per capita consumption tend to be found in countries that are
densely populated and relatively natural resource-poor (e.g. Japan, United
Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland).

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 By contrast, within the BRIICS, per capita consumption was the lowest in India
(around 4 tonnes/person) and the highest in China (13 tonnes/person) in 2008.

Figure 8. Domestic material consumption (DMC),

(tonnes per person)
1980 2008
25
21.1 21.3
20 17.8 17.8
16.2 16.5 16.1
15.2
15

10

0
OECD OECD Americas OECD Asia-Pacific OECD Europe

Progress in material productivity can be attributed to policy measures and

... and progress technological change, as well as to structural changes, including the substitution of
is moderate resource intensive domestic production by imported goods.
once “hidden”
material flows As OECD economies become more service-based, their reliance on imports is
in trade are increasing with resource-intensive production often being displaced to non-OECD
considered economies. Imports make up 25% of material inputs in the OECD area (about 30% in
Europe and in Asia-Pacific; less than 15% in the Americas), but only 5% on average in
the BRIICS economies.
This dislocation between production and consumption allows importing countries to
enjoy the consumption of imported goods, while the environmental costs of producing
those goods remain in the exporting country. Total material consumption (TMC)
includes estimates of such indirect or “hidden” flows of materials (e.g. waste and
materials that remain unused in the environment, such as mining overburden or
harvest residues) required to make a product.
If such indirect or “hidden” material flows associated with trade are taken into
account, gains in material productivity in countries that are net resource importers are
more modest (see Figure 9). Including hidden flows, OECD countries account for
roughly half of global material requirements.
Figure 9. Estimated per capita total material consumption (TMC), 2008
(tonnes per person per year)
DMC per capita ~TMC per capita
60
54

50

38 39
40
34
30
21
20 17 18
15

10

0
OECD Americas OECD Asia-Pacific OECD Europe OECD total

Source: OECD material flows data, OECD.stat,

Notes: Figures for TMC are partial estimates and do not include excavated soil from construction,
dredged sediment or erosion from agricultural land.

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4. From waste to resources: Closing the loop in a circular economy
About a fifth of The amount of solid waste generated by economic activity is rising in line with growing
the materials consumption of material resources. Many valuable materials are disposed of as waste
extracted and, if not recovered, are lost to the economy. It is estimated that about one fifth of the
worldwide ends raw materials extracted worldwide ends up as waste. This corresponds to over 12
up as waste billion tonnes (Gt) of waste per year. OECD countries account for about one third (4
Gt) and the BRIICS nearly 60% (7Gt) of global waste generation.
While OECD countries offer a mixed picture on total annual waste generation, with
some countries showing a decrease and others an increase, a generally positive trend
can be observed in municipal waste (representing roughly 10% of total waste).
Since 2000 the amount of municipal waste generated per year has stabilised at
around 650 million tonnes; per capita generation has decreased by almost 4%
(to 540 kilograms per capita in 2009, compared to 560 kg in 2000), but
remains high compared to the rest of the world.
Municipal solid waste is increasingly being diverted from landfills and kept in
Recycling rates the economy through recovery or recycling (Figure 10). The share of material
are high for a being recovered from municipal waste for recycling or composting has
number of high increased from 18% in 1995 to 33% in 2009 (Figure 11).
volume
Markets for secondary raw materials are expanding.
materials but
remain low for Recycling rates have increased for many important materials, such as glass,
many high steel, aluminium, paper and plastics, with some reaching levels over 80%.
value There are however many precious or specialty metals that are not recycled or
materials. for which recycling rates remain very low.

Figure 10. Municipal waste generation versus GDP, Figure11. Municipal waste management, recovery
OECD, 1990-2009 and disposal shares, OECD Countries
180 Material recovery Disposal Energy recovery
160 100%

90% 17% 16% 16% 17%

140
80%
120
70%
100
60%
53% 49%
80 50% 63%
58%

60 40%
GDP
40 Municipal waste generated
30%

20%
20 Municipal waste landfilled 30% 33%
10% 24%
18%
0
1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 0%
1995 2000 2005 2009
Source: OECD Environmental Data.

Raw materials are usually extracted or produced from natural resource stocks.
Urban mines:
Valuable materials can also be gained from the recovery and recycling of solid waste by
an important,
diverting materials from the waste stream before final disposal. They can further be
undervalued
extracted from final waste disposal sites such as landfills. Valuable resources are also
source of raw
found in the built environment and in products and appliances in use. These “urban
materials
mines” are an important source of minerals and metals for industry (e.g. electric and
electronic equipment), and a potentially important source of raw materials in the
future.

Little is currently known about the size and the value of urban mines. Estimates
quantifying the amount of raw material locked in the economy indicate that the size of

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 future urban mines is significant. Reliable estimates have been made for only a few
metals. For example, anthropogenic stocks of iron are estimated between 12 and 18
million tonnes or roughly 15-20% of global iron ore reserves in 2011. These estimates
form a picture of the amount of material that could one day be available for reuse or
recycling, free of technical or economic constraints.

The commercial material cycle and the 3Rs: closing the loop
Reduce

3R and circular economy initiatives aim at

Releases to the environment (pollution, waste), land use, …
closing materials loops and extending the lifespan
of materials through longer use, reuse and
remanufacturing, and the increased use of
Resource Final secondary raw materials.
Processing Manufacture Use
Extraction disposal
These initiatives also aim at material substitution:
using materials with lower environmental impact,
Recycle Re-manufacture Re-use and replacing the environmentally most damaging
materials.

The environmental consequences of the use of natural resources and materials occur at different stages of the resource
cycle and affect the quantity and quality of natural resource stocks and the quality of ecosystems and environmental media.
The type and intensity of these consequences depend on the kind and amounts of natural resources and materials used, the
way these resources are used and managed, and the type and location of the natural environment from where they
originate.

5. Better policies for greener growth

OECD countries will need to make significant additional efforts
–both domestically and in the international context– to further Sustainable materials management
improve the resource efficiency and material productivity of (SMM) is defined as an approach to
their economies at all stages of the material life-cycle, to avoid promote sustainable materials use,
waste of resources, and to shift to a circular economy. integrating actions targeted at reducing
negative environmental impacts and
Decisions and actions taken to pursue these objectives typically preserving natural capital throughout the
cut across many policy areas, ranging from economy, trade, life-cycle of materials, taking into account
innovation and technology development, to natural resource economic efficiency and social equity.
and environmental management, and to human health. They
include measures and investments to support technological The key principles that should be used
change and innovations, and to promote integrated life-cycle- when developing SMM policies and
oriented approaches, such as 3R policies, and sustainable strategies are: the preservation of natural
materials management. capital, the life-cycle perspective, the use
of the full range of policy instruments and
They also include efforts in trade policies –including policies multi-stakeholder approach
that regulate the trade of certain wastes or affect trade in raw
materials–, international cooperation and capacity
development. Some of the key challenges are linked to the transboundary dimension and complexity of
most supply chains and the large number of economic actors that need to be involved in such policies.

6. Better information for better policies: Filling knowledge gaps

Countries will need to make additional efforts to monitor progress with regard to resource productivity and
sustainable use of natural resources and materials, to measure natural resource stocks and flows, and to
improve their knowledge on the associated environmental impacts.
A considerable amount of work has been carried out over the past ten years to develop the methods to
analyse material flows and to develop appropriate indicators to monitor progress. About two-thirds of
OECD countries have developed initiatives in this area. In Europe, reporting on materials flows has become
mandatory. This is supported by work on natural resource accounts, that generally focus on countries’

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economically and environmentally most important resources and materials, as well as by the adoption at
UN level of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) as an international standard.
There is however considerable scope for deeper analysis of particular resources and materials, and the
interactions between these resources. Future work will need to strengthen the analysis of trade related
flows and flows of secondary raw materials, their links with commodity prices and recycling markets, and
their links with natural and anthropogenic stocks of materials.
The most important information gaps relate to the following:
Material flows that do not enter the economy as transactions, but that are relevant from an
environmental point of view, including unused materials and indirect flows associated with
trade. One of the challenges in estimating the indirect flows stems from gaps in physical data on
international trade.
Flows of waste, recyclable materials and secondary raw materials. Distinguishing between primary
and secondary raw materials is crucial for assessing resource productivity and decoupling
trends.
Urban mining is an area of growing interest, but with the exception of the some of the most
common industrial metals, there are insufficient estimates of the size of anthropogenic stocks to
form a reliable picture of their potential to contribute to future supply, and how it evolves over time
and in relation to virgin stocks.
Future work will also need to further explore the environmental consequences of material resource use, as
well as the economic and environmental opportunities provided by improved resource productivity. This
implies:
Developing methods to assess the environmental impacts of resource use throughout the life
cycle of materials and the products that embody them, including impacts from resources that have
been traded.
Providing industry-level and material-specific information to indicate opportunities for
improved performance and efficiency gains in production and consumption processes.
Developing compatible databases for key materials and substances, including critical raw
materials, environmentally harmful substances and substances that play a role in global
biogeochemical cycles.
Continued efforts are being undertaken by the OECD to assist in the further development and use of
material flow data and resource productivity indicators. This is done in collaboration with UNEP and its
International Resource Panel, Eurostat and several research institutes.

Key contact for further information: Myriam Linster (mailto: [email protected])

The report Material Resources, Productivity and the Environment (OECD, forthcoming 2013) is being prepared to
provide data and indicators as a knowledge base for policy makers. It should be read in conjunction with Sustainable
Materials Management - Making Better Use of Resources (OECD, 2012) which outlines policy principles and
instruments for sustainable materials management and makes policy recommendations.

1 The OECD material flows database covers all 34 OECD countries and the BRIICS. The Sustainable Europe Research Institute’s
(SERI) material flows database (available at materialflows.net) has data on domestic extraction used (DEU) and unused domestic
extraction (UDE) for 188 countries from which world totals were estimated. For consistency, OECD and BRIICS countries’
global shares were calculated based on SERI data.
2 Projection by Wuppertal Institute based on business as usual scenario.
3 Figures do not include Slovenia or Estonia as historical data on the material flows of these countries prior to the early 1990s is
limited.
4 Precious metals include gold, silver and the six platinum group metals (iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, and
ruthenium).
5
By the early 1990s China had overtaken the United States as the world’s largest extractor of material resources. China’s DEU
was estimated in excess of 17 Gt in 2008.

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BETTER POLICIES FOR BETTER LIVES DES POLITIQUES MEILLEURES POUR UNE VIE MEILLEURE

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