1
Compiled by Dr. Joe Herbertson
June 2001
Sustainable Resource
Processing
A
Sense of Perspective and a Sense of Urgency
•To meet human material needs within
the limits
of the earth’s carrying capacity may require a decrease in environmental impacts [and a similar decrease in resource
intensity] by a factor of around 10 over the
coming decades,
hence “Factor X” 2
•Without major change, our options
are to share
growing poverty or inevitably sharpen the ‘have-have not’ divide
•Sustainable Development therefore
requires tremendous innovation in the supply chains and life cycles, or the production
and consumption
systems, in which minerals and energy resource processing take part
Hectares per person 1
USA 9.6
Australia 9.4
Singapore 6.6
Japan 4.4
Malaysia 3.2
South Africa 3.0
Thailand 1.9
India 1.0
Bangladesh 0.6
Current Average 2.3
2050 available 1.3
“Ecological Footprint”
1. ‘Sharing Nature’s Interest,
Ecological Footprints as an Indicator of Sustainability’, N. Chambers et al, Earthscan
2. Various studies suggest
Factor 4, Factor 10 or even more; eg. ‘Sustainable Technolgy Development’
P.Weaver et al, Greanleaf Publishing 2000; see also the work of theFactor X
pioneers, the Wuppertal Group
www.wupperinst.org