TOO4TO MODULE

Sustainable Resource
Management (SRM)
PART 1

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NATURAL RESOURCES AND
SOCIO-INDUSTRIAL METABOLISM
Resource use, trends and examples

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PART 1 CONTENTS
Natural resources Analysis of the additional literature
• Definition and case studies and preassignment
• Classification for the group coaching session

Socio-industrial metabolism
• General idea
• Overconsumption, resource depletion
and criticality of raw materials
• Tendencies and trends

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Natural resources – resources, which we obtain
from nature / environment
Humans cannot produce more natural
resources, but a significant part of them
is renewable

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Natural resources

• The backbone of every economy is

resources:
• Natural
• Human
• Capital

This course will mostly deal with

Sustainable management of natural
resources
- ensuring that the consumption of
resources and their associated impacts do
not exceed the carrying capacity of the
environment.

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The Embedded
Economy model
Society is eembedded within Earth system,
and embedded within both society and the
environment is the economy.
In this way, the economy is conceptualized as
an open system, dependent on and shaped by
environmental and social factors.
The economy itself is subdivided into four
different provisioning systems:
• the market,
• state,
• household, and
• commons.
These systems are all different ways of
obtaining, using, and distributing the
Earth's resources. Reproduced from diagram by Marcia Mihotich in Raworth “Doughnut Economics”

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 Various classification of natural resources exist:
Biotic resources are obtained from living and organic material (flora and fauna, and the materials that can be obtained from
Biotic vs abiotic them: grains and beans, but also fossil fuels).
Abiotic resources come from non-living, non-organic material (fresh water, gold, silver, land)

Ubiquitous vs Ubiquitous natural resources can be found everywhere (sunlight, wind)

localized Most resources are localized they only exist in specific areas.
Renewables: elements that can be replenished naturally - these elements are constantly available and their quantity is not
Renewable vs noticeably affected by human consumption. Moreover, their recovery exceeds human consumption. (sunlight, wind and
non-renewable geothermal energy)
Non-renewable resources are resources that form extremely slowly and those that do not naturally form in the environment.
(minerals such as petroleum and uranium). These minerals can be re-used by recycling, while fossil fuels cannot be recycled.
Actual resources are those that are at a further stage of development. They are currently actually being produced
and used.
Actual, potential Technology and costs are extremely relevant for production. If the costs of producing a resource are currently too
& stock high, but may be attractive in the future, then it is referred to as a reserve resource.
Potential resources are those that exist and are known of, but which are not being produced (yet).
Stock resources are those that have been identified, but cannot be used (yet) due to lack of technology.

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 McKelvey-diagram (1967) for classifying resources
Identified Undiscovered
Visualization and description of a natural resource, Proven
based on the geologic certainty of its presence and Hypo-
Anticipated Theoretical
its economic potential for recovery. Measured Indexe thetical

It helps to estimate the uncertainty and the risk d

associated with availability of a natural

Economic

Increasing level of cost effectiveness

resource:
Reserves
- As geological assurance of a resource's
occurrence decreases, the risk increases.
- As economic recoverability of a resource

Marginal
decreases, the risk also increases. Transition area –
Reserves - are already discovered and

Non-economic
conditional resources
commercially-viable mineral deposits.
Transition area defines conditional resources,

Submarginal
whose existence is known but which are not
commercially viable at present. Undiscovered resources
Undiscovered resources that might exist but have
not been found.

Increasing level of geological probability

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Anthropogenic metabolism
Exchange of materials, energy, organisms and information within
Environment and Anthropospher

M, E, GO, I

Anthroposphera Environment
„human created“ “created by nature”

M – materials,
E – energy,
GO – organisms,
I - information

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 Anthropogenic metabolism
trends and main changes in consumption patterns

Global Material Resources Outlook to 2060.

Economic drivers and environmental
consequences

Brunner, P.H., & Rechberger, H. (2016). Handbook of

Material Flow Analysis: For Environmental, Resource,
and Waste Engineers, Second Edition (2nd ed.). CRC
Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315313450

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The socio-industrial metabolism
Using the concept of the socio-industrial
metabolism allows for a more
comprehensive analysis and helps to
detect shifts between material flows and
related environmental pressures between
countries, environmental media, over time.
Analysis of the socio-industrial metabolism
can be used for revealing problems of
unsustainability, which may be related to the
quality or the quantity of material flows.
• This sets the basis for developing strategies for
healing of unhealthy metabolism
• The concept can be used in support of preparing
adequate policy measures for sustaining the
metabolism, and Source: Bringezu, 2009
• to evaluate the effectiveness of these.

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Material loss through the supply chain

ISO 14052:2017
Environmental management
— Material flow cost
accounting — Guidance for
practical implementation in a
supply chain

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The metabolism of cities
The flow of natural resources into cities and
the waste produced (recovering waste
streams) represents one of the largest
challenges to urban sustainability.
Circular, looping metabolisms are more
sustainable, compared to linear ones. This also
has economic advantages. Recycling will
continue to be an essential part of responsible
materials management, and the greater the
shift from a ‚river‘ economy (linear
throughput of materials), towards a ‚lake‘
economy (stock of continuously circulating
materials), the greater both the material gains
and greenhouse gas reductions are.

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 1. Resource
extraction
Socio-industrial 2. Processing &
Refining
metabolism 3. Manufacturing
4. Retail and
The European economy is based on global distribution
resource use. Material commodities are sourced
from various regions in the world. At the same 5. Recovery
time, European resources – raw materials and 6. Dismantling
know-how – are used to supply other countries
with products and services. 7. Remanufacturing
In a globalized world, process chains from
resource extraction and refining to manufacturing,
use, recycling and final disposal are becoming
increasingly complex.
At the same time, all material flows constitute the
physical basis of our societies – called the ‘socio-
industrial metabolism’. Roland Clift, University of Surrey
Different stages of the value chains (see figure) and related activities
contribute to the environmental impact and added value, with the different
Sustainable Resource Management: Global Trends, share.
Visions and Policies 1st Edition, 2009. by S.
Bringezu, R. Bleischwitz It describes very well the situation that countries rich in natural resources,
but oriented to low added value activities, have a negative environmental,
social and economic impacts.

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Socio-industrial metabolism
Various problems relate to the
usage of resources:
• Environmental degradation
• Over-consumption
• Resource curse
• Resource depletion
• Tragedy of the commons
• Myth of superabundance
Various benefits can result from
the wise usage of resources:
• Economic growth
• Ethical consumerism
• Prosperity
• Quality of life
• Sustainability
• Wealth
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Rapid growth of resources use

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Great acceleration defines unsustainable usage of resources (1)

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Great acceleration defines unsustainable usage
of resources (2)
• All economies depend
on using natural
resources in intelligent
ways that maximize
well-being without
hampering the
capacities of life
supporting ecosystems.
• Understanding the
multifaceted roots of the
current crisis is a key to
turning it into
opportunities.

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Global consumption of resources and decoupling
Global economic development has come along with a steady increase in global material
use reaching a level that threatens the sustainable functioning of the earth’s
ecosystems.
Contradictory, societies keep on striving for economic growth as the main driver for
development. A discussion about this momentous issue has begun on various political
levels and has also been taken up into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
calling for a harmonization of economic and environmental goals (e.g. SDG 8).

The most prominent concept to harmonize economic and environmental goals is to

decrease the requirement of natural resources for ongoing economic performance. In
other words, to break the link between “environmental bad” and the “economic good”
(OECD, 2015).
This “decoupling” process would allow economic prosperity while reducing
environmental pressures and impacts and, furthermore, would enable human
development in accordance with planetary restrictions.

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Resource and Environmental Decoupling

The concept of decoupling is

differentiated into:
• resource decoupling -
breaking the link between
economic growth and
resource use
• impact decoupling -
breaking the link between
economic growth and
environmental pressure.

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The planetary boundaries
• Proposed in 2009 by 28 earth system and environmental scientists led by Johan Rockström
(Stockholm Resilience Centre) and Will Steffen (Australian National University)
• to define a "safe operating space for humanity“
• for the international community, including governments at all levels, international organizations,
civil society, the scientific community and the private sector, as a precondition for sustainable
development

The framework is based on scientific evidence that human actions since the Industrial
Revolution have become the main driver of global environmental change.

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Resource Use within 9 planetary boundaries
Exchange of materials, energy, organisms and
information within Environment and Antroposphera
Ambitious resource efficiency strategies leads to a
significant reduction of material consumption, in
order to avoid trespassing “Planetary Boundaries”:
1. Stratospheric ozone depletion
2. Loss of biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss and
extinctions)
3. Chemical pollution and the release of novel
entities
4. Climate Change
5. Ocean acidification
6. Freshwater consumption and the global
hydrological cycle
7. Land system change
8. Nitrogen and phosphorus flows to the biosphere
and oceans
9. Atmospheric aerosol loading
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Ecological footprint
Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s
population lives in countries that are running
ecological deficits, using more resources than
what their ecosystems can regenerate.
Is your country operating in the red?

Humans use as much

ecological resources as if
we lived on 1.7 Earths.

The Ecological
Footprint is the only
metric that compares
the resource demand of
individuals, governments,
and businesses against Passionate about data?
the Earth's capacity for Check out Ecological Footprint Explorer open data platform.
biological regeneration.

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Earth over shoot day –
Ecological footprint
Earth over shoot day demonstrates the human behavior and impact in time of the
Anthropocene.
The Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when the humanity’s demand for ecological
resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In
2021, it fell on July 29. (check for annual updates and Explore Solutions to #MoveTheDate
@ the website of Earth over shoot day

To determine the date of Earth

Overshoot Day for each year, Global
Footprint Network calculates the number
of days of that year that the Earth’s
biocapacity suffices to provide for
humanity’s Ecological Footprint. The
remainder of the year corresponds to
global overshoot.
 Earth over shoot day
Earth Overshoot Day is computed by
dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount
of ecological resources Earth is able to
generate that year), by humanity’s
Ecological Footprint (humanity’s demand for
that year), and multiplying by 365, the
number of days in a year:

(Planet’s Biocapacity
/
Humanity’s Ecological Footprint)
x
365
=
Earth Overshoot Day
 Resource Rucksack
• An Ecological Rucksack is the total quantity (in kg) of
materials moved from nature to create a product or service,
minus the actual weight of the product. That is, ecological
rucksacks look at hidden material flows. Ecological rucksacks
take a life cycle approach and signify the environmental
strain or resource efficiency of the product or service.
• Ecological rucksacks measure the amount of materials not
directly used in the product, but displaced because of the
product. That is, ecological rucksacks represent the materials
necessary for production, use, recycling and disposal of a
product, but not the materials used in the product.
• The ecological rucksack of some materials will change over
time as they become rarer or as technology makes extraction
or processing more efficient. For example, copper has moved
from an ecological rucksack of 1:1 when copper nuggets
were easy to find to 500:1 where copper is being extracted
from sulphide ores.
Source: Global Development Research Centre
Source: Ecological Rucksacks and Material Flows

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The increasing
use of mineral
raw materials

Mineral raw
material
consumption
grows much
faster than
global
population

© BRGM, 2019

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The increasing use of mineral raw materials

population growth +
emergence of
consuming class

Consuming classes
defined as - people
with daily disposable
income above $10 at
Power Purchasing
Parity (PPP).
Population below
consuming class
defined as individuals
with disposable
income below $10 at
PPP
Source : McKinsey and BRGM; World Materials Forum, June 2016

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Other drivers for increase of consumption and
resource scarcity
• Chinese metal consumption. China has been a major driver of the
World’s economy and has consumed enormous amounts of
mineral raw materials to fuel its growth
• Diversification of elements in products:
• during the 18th century, energy-producing technology used about 6
elements of the Mendeleyev Table,
• in the 21st century the technology uses about 50 elements.
• Currently nearly all the elements of Mendeleyev's Table are involved in the
production of energy.
• Not only the amount is necessary but the critically of some rare
elements, which have a tendency to be depleted and the supply
risk increase … Critical Raw Materials

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Critical Raw Materials
A critical mineral or raw material is important for one or several
industrial sectors and is at risk of supply shortage.

In 2000 the term “Mineral Criticality” mentioned in US documents; e.g.:

National Research Council report 2007 “Minerals, Critical Minerals and
the U.S. Economy”
In the latter, criticality assessment is performed in a 2-dimensional
(2D) matrix:
• Supply risk
• Impact of Supply Restriction

A mineral is considered “critical” if it scores high in this matrix in a

relative sense: mineral A is considered more critical than mineral B

Most methods adopt a 2-D matrix

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Suppliers of Critical Raw Materials for Europe

Critical raw
materials
factsheets,
September 2020

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Critical Raw Materials
Non-critical MRM Critical MRM
EU method tends to be dichotomous:
a Mineral Raw Materials (MRM) is either
“critical” or “non-critical”, according to a High supply risk, low
economic importance
High supply risk, high
economic importance
threshold.

Supply risk
EU list of Critical Materials is reviewed Non-critical MRM Non-critical MRM
periodically:
1st in 2011 – 14 Critical raw materials Low supply risk, low
economic importance
Low supply risk, high
economic importance
2nd in 2014 – 20 CRM
3rd in 2017 – 27 CRM
4th in 2020 – 30 CRM Economic importance

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The assessment
of Critical Raw
Materials 2020,
Raw materials
information
system.

The risk for

increase of Critical
Raw Materials list
and relevance of
(un)sustainability
in resource flows

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 Resource use – trends and tendencies
Preparation for Coaching session
2 options:
The students who have already seen film Review the report
Anthropocene - prepare for the discussion Natural Resource Nexuses in the ECE
and share your insights regarding region, UNECE, 2021

• Facts and trends of recourses’ (un)sustainability Prepare for the discussion:

• Waste ≠ Resources ?
• The message which you would share with your • What are the main regional
colleagues megatrends for (un)sustainable
• Any other recommendations for the film preview, resource use?
related to Sustainable Resource Management • Why is the nexus of natural
• What are critical raw materials? What is their resources important?
impact for the
• Environment
• Which of SDGs are closely related
• Economy
to sustainable resource use?
• Society

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