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The Virtuous Circle.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Vahanian, Alec |
| Copyright Year | 2017 |
| Abstract | tainties and disruptions — rather than prosperity. Against this backdrop, the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) has recognized this global challenge and formed an Alliance on Resource Efficiency in response. The alliance publicly recognizes that improving resource efficiency and managing materials sustainably throughout their lifecycles are important elements of delivering environmental and climate protection, employment, social benefits, and sustainable, green growth. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency, states, and other stakeholders have adopted sustainable materials management to address the challenge of advancing sustainable use of materials within society. The premise is simple: use materials productively while minimizing the amount of materials and all associated environmental impacts. SMM uses lifecycle analysis and systems thinking as a way to identify adverse environmental and other effects — and then to reduce them. It takes into account the entire lifecycle of material resources flowing through the economy, from extraction or harvest of materials and food (e.g., mining, forestry, and agriculture), to production and transport of goods, provision of services, reuse of materials, and, if necessary, disposal. SMM casts a far broader net than approaches based on traditional end-of-life waste management and pollution management. SMM allows for T he term circular economy is becoming commonplace as we seek to create economic prosperity without compromising human health and the environment. We simultaneously are striving to find a balance between society’s needs and the planet’s capacity to provide. All this is a complicated task, especially when one considers the numerous distinct but interlinking facets of our economy. Despite the difficulties, we need action now if we are to achieve sustainability in the future. Domestically and globally, there is a growing consensus that economic expansion and raw materials need to be decoupled. Data from Accenture indicate that, during the 20th century, global raw material use rose at about twice the rate of population growth, and that for every 1 percent increase in GDP, raw material use has risen by 0.4 percent. Furthermore, much of the raw material used by industrial economies is returned to the environment as waste within one year. Although there has been some attempt at decoupling economic growth and natural resource use, it is insufficient to overcome the even higher demands we face with a projected world population of more than 9 billion people by 2050, not to mention the rapid industrialization in the world’s emerging economies. Ironically, the unsustainable consumption of natural resources and concomitant environmental degradation translates into increased business risks — through higher material costs and supply uncerMathy Stanislaus is the assistant administrator in |
| Starting Page | 2451 |
| Ending Page | 2451 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1093/eurheartj/ehx429 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://web.mit.edu/nse/pdf/spotlights/2016/HardwickSpotlight.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-08/documents/stainislaus_a_virtuous_circle_2016_final.pdf |
| PubMed reference number | 28854693 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj%2Fehx429 |
| Journal | Medline |
| Volume Number | 38 |
| Issue Number | 32 |
| Journal | European heart journal |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
