Drivers for the use of materials across countries

This paper analyses drivers for resource use and material productivity across countries. This is not only relevant in light of soaring raw material prices but also because EU policies, such as the ‘Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources’ (COM 2005] 670), the EU Raw Materials Initiative (COM 2008] 699) and various similar policies internationally, seek to better manage materials along their life-cycle and across economies. In order to better understand the system dynamics of material use, our paper applies methodologies of material flow analysis and regression analysis to identify the major drivers for resource use and decoupling from GDP. Drivers are understood as those factors that exert influence on human activities to use resources. A panel data set is taken for the European Union for the years 1980-2000 (EU-15) and 1992-2000 (EU-25). The main drivers of resource use were found to be energy efficiency, new dwellings and roads construction activities. Shortcomings of the methodology are also discussed.