Umweltbundesamt
Click to enlargeGerman raw material consumption totaled 1,328 million tons in 2019, or 16 tons per capita. This represents only a slight change in the trend up to 2018. In 2019, raw material consumption in Germany will fall slightly. And preliminary calculations for 2020 also indicate a decline.
Since 2016, the Federal Environment Agency has published a report on the use of natural resources in Germany. Following the years 2016 and 2018, a new "Resource Report for Germany" has been prepared and published in 2022.
The UBA resource report examines statistical key figures and trends in the "thematic field of resource and raw material use", analyzes and discusses the diverse interrelationships between resource extraction, resource consumption and economic development, and summarizes individual sub-topics. In the current report, around 30 resource-relevant subtopics are dealt with in a modular fashion.
The content focus is on the consideration and analysis of renewable and non-renewable raw materials. The four main raw material groups "non-metallic minerals", "biomass", "metal ores" and "fossil fuels" are distinguished. Further chapters deal with the use of the natural resources "water" and "land", the consideration of the interfaces between individual resource categories ("nexus") and the "environmental impacts of raw material extraction".
The resource report is addressed to a specialist audience and to technically interested persons from the fields of economy, civil society including education as well as politics and administration. On the one hand, the report is intended to serve as a source of data information and a reference work; on the other hand, it provides arguments for scientific policy advice and the development of measures for ecologically sustainable resource management.
The preparation of the resource report is accompanied by research work in which important scientific foundations are being laid.
Research project „Resource use in Germany“
Period: October 2014 – December 2022
Research number: FKZ 3714 93 105 0, 3719 31 1050
Contractor: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Institute for Ecological Economics, ifeu Heidelberg GmbH, Gerda Palmetshofer
There has been an overall decline in the domestic extraction of raw materials since 1994. Two opposing trends are apparent: a long-term decrease of 35 % in the extraction of abiotic raw materials, and an increase of 15 % in that of biotic raw materials.
Germany benefits from global trade: although it imports, both directly and indirectly, more raw materials and goods than it exports, there is a considerable surplus in its monetary trade balance.
The raw material input of the German economy barely altered between 2010 and 2019, and stabilised at a high level in 2019, at 2,536 million tonnes. By 2018, total raw material productivity had risen by 12 % (calculation according to Destatis: 8 %).
In 2019, Germany’s raw material consumption amounted to 1,328 million tonnes, or 16.0 tonnes per capita. The consumption of raw materials by private households was largest in the areas of food, housing and mobility.
The extraction and use of raw materials is often associated with negative environmental impacts. In Germany, 40 % of greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the extraction and initial processing of raw materials.
There is a nexus (latin for connection) between the use of raw materials and other natural resources. Due to its international supply chains, Germany shares responsibility for the utilisation of resources in other parts of the world.
With an ambitious raw materials policy, there is every possibility of considerably more sustainable raw material use in the future. By 2030, Germany could potentially reduce its raw material consumption by more than a third of the amount in 2019.
The UBA’s motto, For our environment (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”), sums up our mission pretty well, we feel. In this video we give an insight into our work.
