Resource Efficieny & Criticality

Question 1

What is resource efficiency?

Answer 1

• in the context of sustainability –> intersection of economy & environment
• Resource efficient” does not necessarily mean “environmentally friendly”

–> environmental burden can be outweighed by value added

Question 2

What do you do to be resource-efficient?

Answer 2

• Economic activity (GDP): decoupling resource use from economic growth (more value per kilogram)
• Resource use: better eco efficiency –> more value per impact
• Environmental impact indicators: Decoupling environmental impact from resource use (less impact per kilogram)

–> more VALUE PER RESOURCE INPUT

Question 3

How to measure resource efficiency?

Answer 3

General: Resource efficiency = Added value / resource use

In EU: Resource efficiency = GDP / DMC (domestic material consumption’)

Product assessment: Based on mass (MIPS (material input per service unit); virtual water)

Question 4

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the methods to measure resource efficiency?

Answer 4

Results are easy to communicate, but not scientifically valid
–> No cause-effect-chain to area of protection (e.g., if label says 500 kg of materials has been used you don’t know what materials have been used, how much of which material who have different impacts on environment and resource efficiency)

Question 5

what is criticality?

Answer 5

risk of supply disruption & vulnerability (potential socioeconomic impacts of supply disruption) to it

risk:
• Possible restrictions along the supply chain can lead to limited availability of resources
(e.g., Coltan is extracted in political instable countries e.g. Congo)

Vulnerability:
How severe are the Impacts of supply disruption for a country or company:
(e.g., import dependency (e.g., dependency of Germany on oil & economic importance (e.g., oil, coal, gas..))

Question 6

What is ESSENZ?

Answer 6

• Assessment of resource use in products along the entire supply chaine in the context of sustainable development

– Environmental impacts
– Economic impacts (the more countries have metal reserves or produce the material the lower the supply risk)
– Social (child labor, forced labor)

–> Evaluation beyond the mass of products

• provides characterization factors (analogue to LCA) for 45 mineral resources
• global method
• easy to use for companies

Question 7

What are the results of resource efficiency calculation dependent on?

Answer 7

1) the definition of resource efficiency
2) the definition of “resource input” (raw material consumption vs raw material consumption & environmental pollution)
3) Value added can be expressed in US$ or €

4) Results are easy to communicate, but not scientifically valid
- -> No cause-effect-chain to area of protection (e.g., if label says 500 kg of materials has been used you don’t know what materials have been used, how much of which material who have different impacts on environment and resource efficiency)

Question 8

What is a challenge of calculating resource efficiency?

Answer 8

–> concept of resource efficiency is very helpful for sustainable development but harmonizing terminologies & calculation methods are needed

Question 9

What is a resource?

Answer 9

Material and non-material assets occurring in nature that are at some point in time seemed useful for humans:

• Raw materials
• Biomass
• Environment like water, soil, air
• Land

Question 10

Why can geopolitical factors lead to impacts on human welfare?

Answer 10

can lead to supply disruptions and thus to restricted product functions