{"id":641052,"date":"2024-10-08T15:10:02","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T12:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/our-insatiable-appetite-for-materials\/"},"modified":"2024-10-08T15:10:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T12:10:02","slug":"our-insatiable-appetite-for-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/our-insatiable-appetite-for-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"#our insatiable appetite for materials"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2950aa2ac3f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2950aa2ac3f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/our-insatiable-appetite-for-materials\/#Overeating\" >Overeating<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/our-insatiable-appetite-for-materials\/#Cutting_down\" >Cutting down<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/our-insatiable-appetite-for-materials\/#Doing_more_with_less\" >Doing more with less<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F10%2Fmaterial-footprint-circular-economy.jpg&amp;signature=b48751a38b661b3028fced3b5f4dff05\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n                            <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stop for a moment and pay attention to the things around you. The clothes you\u2019re wearing, the device you\u2019re using, what you\u2019re sitting on, the building you\u2019re in. What are they made of?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The simple answer is \u201cstuff from nature\u201d \u2014 woods, metals, rocks, oils, and plants refined into things like furniture, batteries, bricks, plastics, and clothes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2017, humanity\u2019s total material footprint \u2014 which refers to the total amount of raw materials we extract to fuel our economies \u2014 was <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/unstats.un.org\/sdgs\/report\/2019\/goal-12\/#:~:text=The%20global%20material%20footprint%20rose,extraction%20has%20accelerated%20since%202000.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">92 billion tonnes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The UN predicts this will more than double by 2060 without a change to the current patterns of consumption.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our insatiable <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>etite for more stuff threatens to exceed Earth\u2019s limits. True sustainability demands shifting to a circular economy that reuses resources, cuts waste, and restores nature. Slashing carbon is just one piece of the puzzle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Overeating\"><\/span>Overeating<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For one second, imagine the global economy as a giant belching monster. The beast likes to dine on vast quantities of minerals, metals, biomass, and fossil fuels. It devours these materials to fuel its growth \u2014 to build things like roads, buildings, and cars. What the monster doesn\u2019t use becomes waste. Some of this waste comes in the form of farts and burps \u2014 aka greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That metaphor was a bit of fun, but the problem of overconsumption is very serious. The <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.resourcepanel.org\/global-material-flows-database\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">material footprint<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the average person stands at about 12 to 13 tonnes per year, almost <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>le what some scientists <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.1220362110\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">estimate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to be the sustainable limit.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While we often talk about carbon footprint, the impact of our material consumption \u2014 resource depletion, habitat destruction, and pollution \u2014 is just as critical. And ironically, decarbonisation efforts could even be fuelling the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The race to net zero is driving demand for everything from EVs and solar panels to semiconductors and batteries. All of these climate technologies require heaps of materials, including vast amounts of rare earths like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. In the current economic system, this means <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/edited-volume\/38852\/chapter-abstract\/408485226?redirectedFrom=fulltext\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more mining<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, exacerbating ecological <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2022\/02\/01\/south-america-s-lithium-fields-reveal-the-dark-side-of-our-electric-future\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">degradation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2021\/05\/31\/the-dark-side-of-congos-cobalt-rush\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inequality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, particularly in many of the world\u2019s poorest countries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Cutting_down\"><\/span>Cutting down<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In her groundbreaking book <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doughnut Economics<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Kate Raworth presents a vision for a world where humanity operates within a \u201csafe and just space for all.\u201d The outer ring of the doughnut represents the planetary boundaries \u2014 the ecological limits we cannot exceed without damaging Earth\u2019s life-support systems. The inner ring represents the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> foundation, the minimum standards for human well-being. The goal is to live in the \u201cdoughnut\u2019s sweet spot,\u201d where everyone\u2019s needs are met within planetary boundaries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our rush to green the global economy, we are running the risk of breaching Earth\u2019s outer ring. Cutting carbon emissions is critical, but we must ensure that this transition doesn\u2019t exacerbate existing environmental and social crises.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reaching Raworth\u2019s \u201csweet spot\u201d means breaking with our<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> linear take-make-waste consumption habits and making them circular. In a circular economy, products are designed to be reused. When they are no longer useful, instead of becoming waste, they then become a resource for something new, just like in nature. Afterall, \u201cwaste\u201d is just a resource in the wrong place.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Doing_more_with_less\"><\/span>Doing more with less<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first step toward a circular economy is ramping up recycling. Currently, the bulk of the critical materials used in clean technologies, as well as the products themselves, <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/statistics-explained\/index.php?title=Waste_statistics_-_recycling_of_batteries_and_accumulators&amp;stable=0\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aren\u2019t recycled<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. However, rising costs and skyrocketing demand for everything from lithium to steel is opening up a burgeoning <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/automotive-and-assembly\/our-insights\/battery-recycling-takes-the-drivers-seat\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new market for recycled materials<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One company cashing in on this boom is German startup Cylib, which recently <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">broke ground<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on its first industrial-scale battery recycling plant. The factory is expected to process 60,000 EV batteries a year once operational, scheduled for 2026. This would make it the largest such facility in Europe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, recycling should only be a final resort. We need to prioritise sharing, maintaining, reusing, redistributing, refurbishing, and remanufacturing. Keeping stuff in circulation for as long as possible will dramatically reduce the need to mine new resources.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take the example of <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bikeflip.nl\/?srsltid=AfmBOorXhSZYwZYbD0KwYXBEQkiVCmJ06mCw77ilg82M8yGmpF-DCGMl\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BikeFlip<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, recently founded by five students from Utrecht University. The startup refurbishes abandoned and neglected kids\u2019 bikes in the Netherlands and then offers them on a subscription model for a fixed monthly fee, including the maintenance and repair of bikes. When the child outgrows the bicycle, the customer chooses a new one and returns the old one, so BikeFlip can deliver it to another customer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transforming waste into new, better products is called upcycling, and it\u2019s a pillar of circularity that companies like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Papershell<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are turning into profits. The Swedish startup sources craft paper made from waste lignin and cellulose from the timber industry and turns it into \u201cwood metal\u201d \u2014 an ultra-strong, fire-resistant material that can replace aluminium, fibreglass, and plastics. Papershell is even<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> experimenting with using mycelium to break down the high-tech wood once it reaches the end of its life \u2014 returning it to the soil and fostering biodiversity.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other ventures are working on reusing entire buildings. Buildings consume about 30% of all the <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0959652620310933\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">natural resources<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> we extract from the environment, so there\u2019s a big push to make them more circular.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Berlin-based startup Concular has developed software that captures and stores information about the components of a building \u2014 from bricks and beams to tiny screws. In this way, when a building reaches its end-of-life, its pieces can be broken up, advertised on a marketplace, and sold for use in the construction of new structures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Dutch architecture firm MVRDV completed <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Matrix One<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a six-storey, energy-efficient, office and laboratory block constructed using over 120,000 reusable components. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Almost everything, from the doors and windows to ceilings and furniture, is fully detachable and reusable. Even the floors are made from prefabricated concrete slabs with no fixed connections \u2014 they can simply be unscrewed and removed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To return to our analogy, instead of acting like a resource-addicted glutton, we need to change our diets. A healthy society uses natural resources efficiently and sustainably, much like a well-functioning body. It extracts resources at a rate that allows nature to replenish them. It minimises waste and reuses materials whenever possible. In this system, waste and emissions are kept low, pollution is controlled, and energy comes from renewable sources. It\u2019s a delicate balance where society thrives without depleting or damaging the environment, ensuring future generations can meet their needs too. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Circularity will be one of the key themes of next year\u2019s TNW Conference. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover the innovations powering the drive towards true sustainability. <\/span>Early birds can now buy 2-for-1 tickets\u00a0for the June event.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/carbon-myopia-insatiable-appetite-for-material-footprint\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stop for a moment and pay attention to the things around you. The clothes you\u2019re wearing, the device you\u2019re using, what you\u2019re sitting on, the building you\u2019re in. What are they made of?\u00a0 The simple answer is \u201cstuff from nature\u201d \u2014 woods, metals, rocks, oils, and plants refined into things like furniture, batteries, bricks, plastics,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":641053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2024%2F10%2Fmaterial-footprint-circular-economy.jpg&signature=40482c606656ca41f4f5bd36c656d821","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-641052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}