Knowledge Agora

Title	The Role of Material Efficiency in Environmental Stewardship
ID_Doc	66767
Authors	Worrell, E; Allwood, J; Gutowski, T
Title	The Role of Material Efficiency in Environmental Stewardship
Year	2016
Published
Abstract	Materials production requires a large amount of energy use and is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, producing approximately 25% of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions. It produces large volumes of waste both in production and at end-of-life disposal. More efficient use of materials could play a key role in achieving multiple environmental and economic benefits. Material efficiency entails the pursuit of technical strategies, business models, consumer preferences, and policy instruments that would lead to a substantial reduction in the production of new materials required to deliver well-being. Although many opportunities exist, material efficiency is not realized in practice to its full potential. We evaluate the potential for material efficiency improvement, highlight the drivers to realize material efficiency, and anticipate ways forward to realize the potential of dematerializing our lives and the economy to limit the impacts of climate change and remain on a sustainable development path.
PDF	https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-085737

Similar Articles

ID	Score	Article
22643		Hertwich, EG; Ali, S; Ciacci, L; Fishman, T; Heeren, N; Masanet, E; Asghari, FN; Olivetti, E; Pauliuk, S; Tu, QS; Wolfram, P Material efficiency strategies to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings, vehicles, and electronics-a review(2019)Environmental Research Letters, 14.0, 4
26658		Lifset, R; Hertwich, E; Makov, T Policy for material efficiency in homes and cars: Enabling new climate change mitigation strategies(2024)Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews-Climate Change, 15, 3
14947		Titirici, M; Baird, SG; Sparks, TD; Yang, SM; Brandt-Talbot, A; Hosseinaei, O; Harper, DP; Parker, RM; Vignolini, S; Berglund, LA; Li, YY; Gao, HL; Mao, LB; Yu, SH; Díez, N; Ferrero, GA; Sevilla, M; Szilágyi, PA; Stubbs, CJ; Worch, JC; Huang, YP; Luscombe, CK; Lee, KY; Luo, H; Platts, MJ; Tiwari, D; Kovalevskiy, D; Fermin, DJ; Au, H; Alptekin, H; Crespo-Ribadeneyra, M; Ting, VP; Fellinger, TP; Barrio, J; Westhead, O; Roy, C; Stephens, IEL; Nicolae, SA; Sarma, SC; Oates, RP; Wang, CG; Li, ZB; Loh, XJ; Myers, RJ; Heeren, N; Grégoire, A; Périssé, C; Zhao, XY; Vodovotz, Y; Earley, B; Finnveden, G; Björklund, A; Harper, GDJ; Walton, A; Anderson, PA The sustainable materials roadmap(2022)Journal Of Physics-Materials, 5, 3
13150		Shahbazi, S; Wiktorsson, M; Kurdve, M; Jönsson, C; Bjelkemyr, M Material efficiency in manufacturing: swedish evidence on potential, barriers and strategies(2016)
27118		Cordella, M; Alfieri, F; Sanfelix, J; Donatello, S; Kaps, R; Wolf, O Improving material efficiency in the life cycle of products: a review of EU Ecolabel criteria(2020)International Journal Of Life Cycle Assessment, 25.0, 5
19333		Pauliuk, S; Heeren, N Material efficiency and its contribution to climate change mitigation in Germany : A deep decarbonization scenario analysis until 2060(2021)Journal Of Industrial Ecology, 25.0, 2
22896		Cullen, JM; Cooper, DR Material Flows and Efficiency(2022)
12998		Vink, K Sustainable life cycle design aspects: how aware are material scientists?(2020)Sn Applied Sciences, 2.0, 8
23130		Schoenung, JM; Olivetti, EA Sustainable development of materials: Broadening stakeholder engagement(2023)Mrs Bulletin, 48, 4