Material footprints of EU countries

All man-made environmental pollution is associated with the use of raw materials. Thus, a reduction in the consumption of raw materials contributes to reducing environmental pollution. Efficient use of raw materials also increases competitiveness.

With the Green Deal, the EU is striving for a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and reliable economy. In the European Union, raw material productivity, which is economic output measured as GDP per unit use of raw materials, is a key indicator. The raw material footprint is an indicator for sustainable development (SDG) in the EU and worldwide, in particular for goal 12 "Sustainable production and consumption".

The statistical office of the European Union (Eurostat) creates and publishes raw material indicators for the EU-27, the raw material footprint is calculated by ifeu and project partners . About half of the EU member states report their raw material consumption on a voluntary basis and use, among others, the RME Country Tool developed by ifeu and SSG. However, in order to monitor the progress, a full knowledge of the developments in the European member states is necessary.

The EU countries' RMC project closes this gap. In the project, we calculate the raw material footprint in the EU countries annually. We also analyze relevant influencing factors and compare methodological approaches. We prepare the results for Eurostat - Statistics Explained.

Runtime

February 2022 – February 2025

Client

EUROSTAT

Partner

Sustainable Solution Germany, SSG
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien / Vienna University of Economics and Business

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