Perspectives for a Resource Efficient Industrialized Society

Besides the widely discussed limited fossil energy resources some metal and mineral resources are quite finite as well. Basically the resource and material efficiency can be increased at all steps of the supply chain. A systematic analysis identifies possibilities at the raw material exploitation, the base material production, the goods production, the products usage and the waste management. The last three mentioned levels of the supply chain offer the best potentials. Concrete measures to reduce the resource demand like optimized production processes, leasing models or urban mining require a harmonized, integrated policy as well as a changed consumer behaviour.