1.2.4 Matter in the economy
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives:
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you, which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems.
Section 1.1.3 Degenerative economies, which explain the problems for people and planet with the way our current economies operate.
Section 1.1.4 Regenerative economies, which explain the characteristics of economies that support and regenerate all life on Earth.
Section 1.2.2 Energy basics, which explains different forms and sources of energy.
Section 1.2.3 Impact of the fossil fuel energy pulse, which explains the role of fossil fuels in accelerating economic and population growth
Section S.1 Systems thinking, which explains what a system is and why systems thinking is useful. (coming soon)
Section S.x Stocks and flows, which explains a type of system with accumulations of energy, matter, information and other things that increase or decrease over time through inflows and outflows. (coming soon)
Section S.x Feedback loops and tipping points, which explains the roles of reinforcing and balancing feedback loops in amplifying or dampening change. (coming soon)
Learning objectives:
explain the role of matter in the economy
distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable material resources
discuss the impacts of extraction of matter and disposal of material waste on ecosystems
discuss strategies to reduce material use and waste production and their barriers
South African artist Dillon Marsh combines photography with digital images in his series "For What It's Worth", to show the fragile human-nature relationship. Marsh photographs large mines, adding symbolic copper orbs to show the small amount of copper extracted compared to the ecological harm (Figure 1).
What do you think the image aims to show?
Figure 1. This volume of copper was extracted from the Palabora Mine in South Africa (© Dillon Marsh, with permission)
What is the role of matter and materials in the economy?
Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Earth has a finite amount of materials like water, soil, minerals, fossil fuels, and biomass. We measure these materials by their volume (the space they occupy) and mass (their weight).
As we do with energy, humans transfer and transform matter to meet our needs and wants. We cut down trees and transform wood into furniture or paper, mine metals for tools and electronics, and transform seeds and soil into food. Factories process raw materials like cotton into clothing. These processes of extracting, transferring and transforming matter are how we create products in our economies. These processes use living matter and materials, and create waste matter (Figure 2).
Figure 2. The embedded economy, with matter inflows and waste matter outflows
(Credit: Kate Raworth and Marcia Mihotich)
What’s the difference between renewable and nonrenewable materials?
Some forms of matter are renewable resources, they regenerate. Biomass, or all living matter, regenerates over time because of solar energy inputs. Some plants regrow in weeks or months, while others may take decades. These forms of matter are flow-limited. They are only renewable if we use them at a slower rate than they regenerate. It is also important that waste products from renewable resources safely recycle back into Earth’s systems, like composting food waste instead of putting it in a landfill.
Humans also use nonrenewable resources, like fossil fuels for energy mentioned in Section 1.2.2. These resources are stock-limited. We mine metals such as iron ore, aluminium, and copper to make machinery, electronics, and vehicles (Figure 3). Iron ore, making up over 90% of all mined metals, is transformed into steel for use in buildings, transport, and appliances.
Sand and gravel are crucial for making cement in construction projects like buildings and roads. While it may seem that we have a lot of sand on the Earth, much of it is not appropriate for construction. According to the United Nations, we dredge about 6 billion tonnes of sand yearly from oceans, rivers and lakes, such as China’s Poyang Lake, the world’s largest sand mine. Sand dredging is expected to increase further due to population growth and urbanisation, as more concrete is used for the built environment.
The Further Exploration section below includes an article and interactive graphics on how sand mining has severely impacted China’s Poyang Lake.
Why are we extracting so many material resources?
United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12 on Responsible Consumption and Production, aims for “sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources.” To reach this goal we need to understand how well (or not) we use material resources to meet human needs and understand the ecosystem impact of material extraction. We quantify a population’s material use through the material footprint, which includes the use of biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores, and non-metal ores, in tonnes per year.
Per capita, the global material footprint was about 12.5 tonnes in 2019, but with significant differences by country. Low-income countries used around 2.5 tonnes per capita, while high-income countries used nearly 24 tonnes per capita.
Figure 14. UN SDG 12 aims to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
(Credit: United Nations)
According to the UN, in 2019, the total global material footprint reached 95.9 billion tons, doubling since 2000. By 2020, human-made products and infrastructure outweighed all living biomass on Earth. Our material footprint continues to grow as our populations and economies expand. We are running into Earth's material limits, rapidly using nonrenewable resources like fossil fuels, sand, and minerals, and extracting renewable resources like fish and forests faster than they can regenerate.
This astounding level of material use has been powered by the fossil fuel energy pulse discussed in Section 1.2.3. When fossil fuels were combined with machines, this boost in work and production used enormous amounts of material resources to create products to meet human needs and wants. This increase in production required even more energy and more resources to build machines.
The reinforcing feedback loops associated with fossil fuel use cause a similar dynamic with material extraction because the two are so closely related in our economies (Figure 5).
Why do our economies create so much material waste?
When we use and change matter to meet our needs, we cannot avoid some waste because:
disorder, or entropy, increases over time, leading to decay or breakdown of materials unless more energy is added to maintain order (Second Law of Thermodynamics). For example, a pair of socks eventually wears out and becomes waste unless energy and matter are used to repair or repurpose the socks.
waste is a byproduct of production, when there are unused or unusable materials, often due to poor product design.
Though some waste is unavoidable, our current linear economies produce far too much (Figure 6). This is because of our disconnection from nature and mental models that do not understand where resources come from and where waste goes. In addition, our economic models do not consider the impact of use of material resources and waste.
Figure 6. Our current linear economy
What types of waste do we produce and where does it go?
There are many types of material waste from different sources, causing varied levels of damage to Earth systems:
organic waste: includes food scraps, yard waste like leaves and grass, and other natural materials that can decompose;
solid waste: common material items thrown away every day, such as paper, plastics and glass;
chemical waste: dangerous synthetic chemicals and and substances found in old batteries, industry effluent, and household cleaners and other materials;
e-waste: electronic waste from old computers, TVs, phones and other devices. These contain valuable metals, but also harmful substances;
construction waste: waste materials from constructing buildings and infrastructure; about 30% of global waste comes from the construction industry.
Understanding different types of waste helps us reduce and manage waste to protect human and ecosystem health. Through circular design and recovery systems, we can significantly reduce, but not eliminate, waste.
As we produce and consume more, waste increases and re-enters Earth's life-support systems. Waste is returned to:
soils (lithosphere) as it is buried in landfills (Figure 7)
air (atmosphere) as it is burned in incinerators
water bodies (hydrosphere) as it is carried by runoff and rivers
living organisms (biosphere) as it is absorbed by plants or consumed by animals and carried up the food chain.
Waste becomes pollution when it enters these systems faster than those systems can decompose or assimilate it.
Figure 7. Landfill in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Credit: GRID-Arendal CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
How does material use and waste impact ecosystems?
Extracting and using Earth’s material resources and the excessive waste from human economic activity severely harms Earth's life-support systems. Since 1970, there has been a 69% decline in biodiversity, with much of the loss occurring in biodiversity hotspots, areas of the world rich in unique plant and animal life as well as material resources. Our use of matter and the resulting waste causes water and air pollution, climate change, soil degradation, and habitat destruction. These impacts endanger all life, including human life, especially vulnerable and marginalised groups of people.
What can we do?
Because our use of matter is closely related to the production of goods and services in the economy, the most effective action we can take is to reduce production and consumption of material goods, particularly in wealthy Global North countries where human needs are largely met. This involves buying and producing less and moving to circular economy strategies (Section 1.4.2) to cycle products and materials many times in the economy to reduce the use of new materials and reduce waste.
Governments can pass laws requiring circular strategies, like France’s Anti-waste law. They can also provide financial support to businesses to invest in new processes and materials involving circular strategies. Businesses can focus on providing goods and services that people actually need, rather than producing and promoting products that do not add to human wellbeing. They can also design products that use fewer material resources, and can be cycled again and again in the economy to produce less waste.
Individuals like you can also lower material resource use and waste through the six Rs, in order of importance:
refuse: say no to things you do not need
reduce: consume less
reuse: use things you already have, buy used products
repair: fix broken products rather than buying new ones (Figure 12)
rot: compost organic waste
recycle: recycle glass, plastic, metals, and paper
By lowering consumption and production and circulating materials and products, we can work to regenerate, rather than deplete, Earth’s material resources.
Figure 12. Repairing your clothes and other household products can reduce material resource use and waste
(Credit: Sherri Lynn Wood CC BY-NC 2.0)
What are the barriers to reducing material use?
Disconnect between causes and impacts
The regions consuming the most resources are different from those that feel the ecological impacts. Material resources tend to flow from low-middle income countries in the Global South to wealthier countries in the Global North. Those people in the Global North that use the most material resources do not (yet) feel the ecological effects, nor are they paying the true price of the resources they use. The negative impacts are felt mainly by those in the Global South. So the delays in the feedback to consumers and businesses in the Global North are a barrier to action.
Economic and population growth
Governments and businesses aim for continuous economic growth, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), which involves increased material use and waste. In addition, the Earth’s population at over 8 billion people, continues to grow and is expected to peak around the 2080s at around 10 billion. More people will use more material resources to meet their needs.
Figure 12. Endless growth on a finite planet isn’t possible
(Credit: Yuri Samoilov CC BY 2.0)
Techno-optimism in decoupling
Many people hope that improving efficiency, using fewer material resources to produce the same amount of goods, can reduce material use even as GDP increases. This is called absolute decoupling and relies on new technologies.
But there is no evidence that this decoupling is occurring. Meeting human needs often requires materials, making it difficult to avoid using them, especially if we aim to grow our economies endlessly. In addition, we often see a rebound effect, where greater efficiency leads to more economic growth with even more material use. So technological efficiency can backfire if the goal is lower material use. Earth’s matter is finite, so our production of physical goods cannot grow forever, despite the claims otherwise.
Activity 1.2.4
Concept: Regeneration
Skills: Research (information literacy)
Time: 30 minutes
Type: Individual, pairs, or group
Option 1 - How efficiently are you using material resources to meet your needs?
Write down ten things that you do to satisfy a need or make you happy.
Rank them in order with the things that are most important to you at the top.
Now put a number beside each that indicates a low (1), medium (2), or high (3) use of materials and production of waste.
Are there any patterns?
Which things use the least material resources, but also meet your needs or make you happy?
Brainstorm things you can do in your own life to reduce the amount of resources you use and the waste you create to meet your needs and be happy. You can use the list of individual actions from the text to help you. Discuss these with a partner or with your classmates in a group.
Option 2 - Global material footprint - data interpretation practice
Examine Figure 14 below. Use a data interpretation strategy suggested by your teacher or your course to form some conclusions about the relationship between energy use per capita and GDP per capita.
Figure 14. Material footprint per capita
(Credit: Our World in Data)
Data interpretation strategy (if you do not have one)
What is the title of the data? Clarify any questions you have about it
If a graph, what are the axis labels? Clarify any questions you have about them.
Make sure you understand the labels, colours, or other descriptive information provided.
Identify one fact from the data. Identify a second fact from the data.
Is there a pattern in the data? What story does that pattern tell?
If the data has dates, is there a trend over time? What story does that trend tell?
Are there any anomalies in the data? What might explain the anomaly?
Ideas for longer activities, deeper engagement, and projects are listed in Subtopic 1.5 Taking action
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
The story of Stuff - a 20 minute film about our use of matter in the economy and what we can do about it. Difficulty level: easy
Dead River podcast - true crime podcast about Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, the 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam, which stored the toxic byproducts of iron ore mining. Difficulty level: medium
Interactive case study of sand dredging at Lake Poyang in China + news article. Difficulty level: medium
Explore the concept of ecological footprint, learning about countries’ ecological deficits or surpluses at the Global Footprint Network. You can also calculate your own ecological footprint. Difficulty level: medium
Andy Goldsworthy - artist exploring the use of natural materials in visual art. Difficulty level: easy-medium
World Resources Institute - a rich source of data to explore global natural resources. Difficulty level: high
Podcast with Ed Conway: Material World: The Key Resources Underpinning Modern Economies - long (1 hr, 45 minutes) interview podcast with author Ed Conway about the role of sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium in our modern economies. Difficulty level: medium
Sources
Conservation International (n.d.). Biodiversity hotspots. https://www.conservation.org/priorities/biodiversity-hotspots.
Daly, H., Farley, J. (2011). Ecological Economics (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: Island Press.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. It’s time for a circular economy. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/.
Marsh, D. (n.d.). Palabora Mine - 4.1 million tonnes of copper. For What it’s Worth. https://dillonmarsh.com/copper07.html.
Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. London: Penguin Random House.
Sharma, M. and Scarr, S. (2021, July 19). Devoured: How sand mining devastated China's largest freshwater lake. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/reuters-graphic-devoured-how-sand-mining-devastated-chinas-largest-freshwater-2021-07-19/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data (2023, August 26). “12.2.1 - Material footprint per capita, by type of raw material (tonnes) - EN_MAT_FTPRPC” [dataset]. United Nations Environment Programme [original data].
Terminiology (in order of appearance)
Link to Quizlet interactive flashcards and terminology games for Section 1.2.4 Matter in the economy
matter: anything that takes up space and has mass
mass: the weight of matter
First Law of Thermodynamics: matter cannot be created or destroyed in the universe
biomass: organic matter that is burned for energy
volume: the space that matter occupies
energy: the ability to do work or cause change
transfer: to move something from one place to another
transform: a change in the state, energy or chemical nature of something
raw material: a basic material that is used to produce goods
extraction: taking something away from somewhere else, especially using effort or force
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs
waste: unwanted or unusable materials
renewable resource: natural resources that can be regenerated in a human timescale
regenerate: the process of restoring and revitalising something
flow-limited: a situation where matter is only renewable if we use it at a slower rate than it regenerates
composting: the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil
landfill: the place where waste is disposed of by burying it
nonrenewable resource: natural resources that cannot be regenerated in a human timescale
fossil fuel: a non renewable energy source including coal, oil, and natural gas, formed over millions of years in the Earth's crust from decomposed plants and animals
stock-limited: a situation where matter is absolutely limited, as there is a finite amount
dredge: to remove sand, silt, mud, or other materials from the bottom of a body of water
urbanisation: the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities, along with the built environment
built environment: human-made structures or conditions in an area
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
material footprint: the use of biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores, and non-metal ores, in tonnes per year
per capita: per person
reinforcing feedback: a situation where change in a system causes further changes that amplify the original change which can lead to tipping points in a system
Second Law of Thermodynamics: the total entropy or disorder in a system will increase over time
entropy: gradual decline into disorder
closed system: a system that can exchange energy (or information in social systems) with its surroundings, but do not exchange matter.
byproducts: an unintended product made during the production of something else
linear economy: an economic system where resources are extracted to make products that eventually end up as waste
mental models: a way of representing reality within one's mind
model: simplified representations of our world used to communicate ideas, understand complex processes and make projections or predictions
lithosphere: the solid, outer part of Earth
atmosphere: the gases surrounding the Earth
incinerator: a machine that burns waste at high temperatures until it is reduced to ash
hydrosphere: all the waters on Earth
runoff: the draining away of water and the substances carried in it from the surface of land, or structure
biosphere: all the living organisms on Earth
food chain: a series of organisms, each one dependent on the one before it as food; shows the transfer and transformation of energy and matter through living organisms in an ecosystem
pollution: the presence of a substance that has harmful effects on the environment
decompose: to break something into smaller parts, especially organic materials
assimilate: to take in and incorporate something into something else
organic waste: any material that easily breaks down in nature and comes from either a plant or an animal
solid waste: any discarded or unwanted materials
chemical waste: any discarded or unwanted chemical, especially those that cause damage to human health or the environment
synthetic: any material made artificially by chemical reaction
effluent: liquid waste discharged into a body of water
e-waste: electronic products that are unwanted, broken or at the end ofo their useful life
circular: having the form of a circle; in this course, closing the loop on linear economic systems
biodiversity: the variety of living organisms on Earth
biodiversity hotspot: an area of the world with a very high level of biodiversity
climate change: a change in the temperature and precipitation patterns in an area, in recent times due to human economic activities
degradation: the process of breaking down or disintegrating
habitat: the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
Global North: a group of countries with high incomes and more industrialisation and service-based economies; these countries bear most responsibility for exceeding planetary boundaries
circular economy: an economic system where nature is regenerated and materials are kept in circulation through maintenance, reuse, recycling, composting, and other processes
Global South: a group of countries with low-middle incomes and less industrialisation; most of the global population lives in these countries, but these countries bear little responsibility for exceeding planetary boundaries
feedback: when outputs of a system circle back to impact inputs to the same system
economic growth: an increase in the total value of goods and services produced in a period of time
gross domestic product (GDP): the total value of all goods and services produced in an economy in a time period
efficiency: the ratio of resource inputs compared to outputs
absolute decoupling: a situation where economic growth increases, but resource use or some other environmental variable declines
rebound effect: a situation where efficiency gains in an input are counteracted by increased consumption and production, resulting in even greater use of the input