The economy relies on the movement and use of physical materials. They collectively make up our possessions and environment. All of these originally came from the earth, having been mined, quarried, extracted or harvested.

Society uses these materials for a time and then discards them. It could be centuries in the case of buildings or just a few minutes in the case of a free newspaper picked up at a station. Sometimes they are reused by someone else but ultimately they end up back in the environment – either buried in the ground or dispersed in air or water.

The Need to Manage Resources

Our ever-increasing consumption is giving rise to global as well as local impacts. For example, greater consumption is linked to higher energy use and our dependence on fossil fuels is increasing CO₂ emissions, which are affecting our climate. Oil is also a finite resource and some predictions indicate that existing reserves may be depleted by the middle of this century. Even renewable resources such as forests and fish stocks can be over-exploited, reducing biodiversity.

The challenge at a global level is about breaking the link between natural resource consumption and economic growth. It is estimated that between a four and ten times improvement in efficiency and productivity is required to achieve this goal. The problem was highlighted by a recent study that assessed consumption in South East England. It concluded that each person in the South East needs an area equivalent to ten football pitches to support current lifestyles. The problem, as the developing world aspires to our standards, is that we would need the equivalent of three and a half planets if everyone consumed at our levels.

Aggregates are the main material resources sourced locally. We are dependent on other parts of the UK and overseas for other consumables. Much of the impact of satisfying our consumption needs is therefore on other communities, often in the developing world, since most consumer products originate outside our area. Many products are recycled, often with poor attention to environmental standards, in the same communities.

Waste is one of the undesirable by-products of our consumption and historically volumes increase with growth in the economy.

Good management of natural resources and improving resource productivity is central to achieving wider sustainable development goals. To this end, the European Commission is due to publish a new Thematic Strategy on Natural Resources in Summer 2005.

The change that is required for more sustainable material resources management is shown is illustrated below. The first diagram illustrates the current situation which is heavily reliant on new raw materials and waste disposal. The second diagram sets out the long-term objective. This involves implementing more sustainable design, production, management and consumption so as to reduce the need for primary raw materials and reduce the amount of waste being disposed.

 

Historical Approach:

 

 

‘More from Less’ Approach:

 

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