Global Resources Outlook 2019

Abstract

ForewordGlobal gross domestic product has doubled since 1970, enabling immense progress, and lifting of billions of people out of poverty. At the same time, this economic growth has been fueled by a relentless demand for natural resources. At no point in time nor at any level of income, has our demand for natural resources wavered.Our consume and throwaway models of consumption have had devastating impacts on our planet. This report finds that 90 per cent of biodiversity loss and water stress are caused by resource extraction and processing. These same activities contribute to about half of global greenhouse gas emissions.Moreover, the benefits of this type of resource use remain limited to but a few. Inequalities in the material footprint of countries, i.e. in the quantity of materials that must be mobilized globally to meet the consumption of an individual country, are stark. High-income countries maintain levels of per capita material footprint consumption that are 60 per cent higher than upper-middle income countries and more than thirteen times the level of the low-income countries.Economic growth which comes at the expense of our planet is simply not sustainable. Our challenge is to meet the needs of all people within the means of our planet. Realizing this ambitious but critical vision calls on governments, business, civil society and people to reshape what we understand by progress and innovate to change people's choices, lifestyles and behaviours.Through a combination of resource efficiency, climate mitigation, carbon removal, and biodiversity protection policies, this report finds that it is feasible and possible to grow our economies, increase our wellbeing and remain within our planetary boundaries. But action must begin now. While the report highlights some progress, it is clear that much more needs to be done. Scientific findings such as those by the International Resource Panel and other global assessments, presented at the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly, provide us an opportunity to take a close look at the global use of natural resources and importantly, identify action that can have the maximum impact on our planet and ensure we sustainability manage natural resources for generations to come.

E-waste circular economy decision-making: a comprehensive approach for sustainable operation management in the UK

“…Moreover, the current material footprint consumption is about 14.7 tonnes per person. In comparison, this factor is about 27 tonnes per person for highincome countries which is 13 times higher than for lowincome countries [15], (iii) Critical Raw Materials (the goal of reducing global emissions and mitigating climate change by developing low-carbon technologies will increase the consumption of certain raw materials by 2030, while the recovery rate of the vast range of raw materials is meager [16]), (iv) An E-waste tsunami (''UK has been identified as the highest e-waste producer per person among world countries with the lowest recycling rate of e-waste in Europe corresponding to the Global E-waste Monitor [13]''), (v) Materials in E-waste (the infrastructure of materials recovery in the UK is in few numbers, and there is no central government funding source for it [17]), and (vi) Exportation and toxic chemicals (e.g., recycling infrastructure and high-quality treatment are essential for electric appliances after turning to waste [13]).…”