Promoting Resource Efficiency in Small & Medium size ... - UNEP

Detailed assessment: Materials efficiency
6.1 WHAT:
The challenge of sourcing raw materials for
SMEs
Currently industrial countries around the world use between 31 –
74 tonnes of materials per capita per year; as future access to such
resources becomes more difficult, efficient use of materials will be
recognised as an important factor in competition and innovation. 44
Figure 35 shows the overall material basis of the global economy
(including only used materials) between 1980 and 2005. Four
material categories are separately shown: fossil fuels, metal
ores, industrial and construction minerals and biomass (from
agriculture, forestry and fishery). The figure illustrates that
global resource extraction grew more or less steadily over the
past 25 years, from 40 billion tons in 1980 to 58 billion tons in
2005, representing an aggregated growth rate of 45%. However,
growth rates were unevenly distributed among the main material
categories. The extraction of metal ores showed the largest
increase (by more than 65%), indicating the continued importance
of this resource category for industrial development. The increase
in biomass extraction was below the upward curve of the other
categories. The share of renewable resources in total resource
extraction is therefore decreasing on a global level. 45
Material efficiency in industrial production focuses on the amount
of a particular material needed to produce a particular product.
Mathematically it is the ratio of the product divided by the raw
materials used – so the number is never smaller than one. Material
efficiency can be improved either by reducing the amount of the
material contained in the final product (‘light weighting’), or by
reducing the amount of material that enters the production process
but ends up in the waste stream. In a slightly broader sense, taking
into account the industrial production-consumption cycle, material
efficiency can refer to the amount of virgin natural resources
required for producing a given amount of product, with recycling of
post-consumption waste material back into production contributing
to material efficiency.
Three components of material efficiency can therefore be identified:
• Light weighting in the production process
• Waste reduction in the production process
• Recycling of material in the production-consumption
cycle 46
Some facts and figures
Development of steel consumption
The world steel industry has entered a new phase. The finished
steel consumption in the five years since the beginning of 2000
increased by 233 million tonnes – an average annual rate of
around 6%. This compares with a 1.2% average yearly rise in the
three decades previous to the year 2000.
Steel prices have increased substantially and the industry is
profitable; however, margins have been reduced due to the
dramatic increase in prices of raw materials and transportation.
There are also some risks of shortages for scrap and coke. 47
44) Wisions, Corporate Energy and Material Efficiency, 2006.
45) Material Flows, Global resource extraction my material category, 2008.
46) Peck, M. and Chipman, R., Industrial energy and material efficiency: What role for policies?, undated
47) OECD, Recent Steel Market Developments, 2004.
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