Global distribution of material consumption: Nickel, copper, and iron

摘要: Economic growth and sometimes the use of green technologies have been associated with a rapid rise in the use of metals and minerals. In today’s globalized economy, natural resource consumption influences environmental impacts far removed from the place of consumption. Knowledge about the flow of substances is fundamental to reducing natural resource consumption and controlling the material cycle. Economy-wide material flow analysis (MFA) is an excellent tool to quantify material balances in specific areas for resource and waste management. The goal of this study was to identify the worldwide material flow of nickel, copper, and iron in global trade among 231 countries and regions, and to examine the apparent consumption of the materials as a global systematic phenomenon. Here, apparent consumption means the mathematical sum of production plus imports minus exports, including products with …