Decomposing the decoupling of plastics consumption and economic growth in G7 and China: Evidence from 2001 to 2020 based on China's import ban.

Plastic recycling is critical for dematerializing of plastics. It has a profound implication on decoupling economic growth from environmental pressure and advancing waste plastic governance domestically and internationally while identifying drivers that might improve decoupling. In this study, plastic consumption and recycling patterns are presented, and the factors influencing the acceleration of dematerialization subsequent to the ban were investigated in the G7 countries and China. The results show that plastic consumption increases from 7.60 million metric tons (mt) to 12.60 mt between 2017 and 2019, and subsequently rapidly decreases to 6.84 mt in 2020. The plastic recycling rate drastically decreased by 21.3% in 2017, and decreased slightly from 2017 to 2020, at an annual rate of 2.9% on average. China's ban shocked the decoupling trends, which showed resilience and motivated the development of robust plastic recycling, and the global recycling transformation pattern accelerated the dematerialization of plastics. Decoupling performances of the G7 and China gradually stabilized in 2019, and all the countries were strongly decoupled in 2020, although decoupling index (DI) fluctuates from 2017 to 2020. Among the recycling-trading drivers, the improvement of waste plastic quality in recycling contributes more to decoupling, the recycling rate shows a more negative decoupling effect on China before the ban, and the population effect is weak relative to other influencing factors. The factors revealed the mechanism of decoupling of plastic consumption in the recycling-trading process, and the recyclability improvement in terms of plastic quality is important for dematerialization.

Dynamics of economy-wide resource flow and consumption in China, South Korea, and Vietnam-a pan-regional analysis.

The transformation of natural resources across the economy in China, South Korea, and Vietnam has been studied to give a comparative regional perspective based on trends in resource efficiency, bilateral trade dynamics, and progress on regional economic and environmental policy. Consumption of raw materials has been decomposed into economic dynamics and dematerialization, if any, has been tested based on material flow accounting approaches. As per the results, domestic material consumption (DMC) continues to increase in China and Vietnam but has stabilized in South Korea. China and South Korea have become main net importers of raw materials while Vietnam is about to enter this phase. With relatively lower material efficiency in China and Vietnam compared to South Korea, a higher reliance on intensive production and export of raw materials has been identified. As DMC has soared in all three countries, economic affluence is seen as the main driver with marginal contribution from population growth. However, technological improvements have helped reduce material usage with South Korea and China making significant progress. As South Korea has begun to dematerialize, China and Vietnam face the strong challenge of dematerializing economic growth-a reversal that could take several years if resource productivity is not significantly improved. Factors that inhibit better resource efficiency in China and Vietnam include the production and trade of low-end items, energy, and raw materials. However, the increasing economic affluence in China and Vietnam has brought significant environmental improvements from both institutional and technological perspectives-through multiple policy actions. Moreover, as more countries import net resources, regional and global supply chain competition is expected to intensify-making resource efficiency a fundamental economic objective. The results of this study provide important lessons for emerging economies to accelerate resource productivity and reduce the physical intensity of materials for sustainable economic development.

Regional disparities in decoupling economic growth and steel stocks: Forty years of provincial evidence in China.

Human-made material stocks promote the economic prosperity, while the consumption, maintenance, and operation of them have led to adverse environmental impacts. Decoupling materials stocks from economic growth is a key strategy for relieving environmental pressures and achieving sustainable development. China's unprecedented development offers a unique opportunity for uncovering the relationship between in-use stocks and economic growth. In this study, we analyzed the regional disparity of in-use steel stocks estimated by bottom-up accounting method during 1978-2018 in 31 provinces in mainland China, explored the stocks productivity on provincial and regional scale, and conducted a decoupling analysis of in-use steel stocks with economic growth. The results showed that there was a huge disparity among the provincial total steel stocks, per-capita steel stocks, and stocks density. Some provinces, e.g. Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, that had the highest stocks density had comparatively lower per-capita steel stocks and total steel stocks, indicating higher share of in-use steel stocks and lower material intensive economic structure. In-use steel stocks in China showed no clear signs of saturation or flatten off pattern although their growth rate declined recently. An increase in steel stocks productivity was found during 1978-2018, which means relative decoupling of in-use steel stocks from economic growth, but still far away from absolute decoupling. The dematerialization pattern revealed in this study deepens our understanding of material-economy interactions. Policy implications for dematerialization transition should focus on developing compact cities, prolonging the lifespan of products, and advancing technological development.

From resource extraction to outflows of wastes and emissions: The socioeconomic metabolism of the global economy, 1900-2015.

The size and structure of the socioeconomic metabolism are key for the planet's sustainability. In this article, we provide a consistent assessment of the development of material flows through the global economy in the period 1900-2015 using material flow accounting in combination with results from dynamic stock-flow modelling. Based on this approach, we can trace materials from extraction to their use, their accumulation in in-use stocks and finally to outflows of wastes and emissions and provide a comprehensive picture of the evolution of societies metabolism during global industrialization. This enables outlooks on inflows and outflows, which environmental policy makers require for pursuing strategies towards a more sustainable resource use. Over the whole time period, we observe a growth in global material extraction by a factor of 12 to 89 Gt/yr. A shift from materials for dissipative use to stock building materials resulted in a massive increase of in-use stocks of materials to 961 Gt in 2015. Since materials increasingly accumulate in stocks, outflows of wastes are growing at a slower pace than inputs. In 2015, outflows amounted to 58 Gt/yr, of which 35% were solid wastes and 25% emissions, the reminder being excrements, dissipative use and water vapor. Our results indicate a significant acceleration of global material flows since the beginning of the 21st century. We show that this acceleration, which took off in 2002, was not a short-term phenomenon but continues since more than a decade. Between 2002 and 2015, global material extraction increased by 53% in spite of the 2008 economic crisis. Based on detailed data on material stocks and flows and information on their long-term historic development, we make a rough estimate of what a global convergence of metabolic patterns at the current level in industrialized countries paired with a continuation of past efficiency gains might imply for global material demand. We find that in such a scenario until 2050 average global metabolic rates double to 22 t/cap/yr and material extraction increases to around 218 Gt/yr. Overall the analysis indicates a grand challenge calling for urgent action, fostering a continuous and considerable reduction of material flows to acceptable levels.

[Implementation of the dematerialization of the patient file in the context of COVID in the ONCORAD radiotherapy units: Transition to "paperless"]. / Mise en place de la dématérialisation du dossier patient dans un contexte de COVID dans les services de radiothérapie de l'ONCORAD : passage « au sans papier ¼.

Paper patient file sharing has clearly been identified as a risk behavior for the COVID-19 virus transmission in radiotherapy units. In order to overcome this, the ONCORAD radiotherapy units worked on total dematerialization of the paper patient file, within 3 weeks. The methodology is based on a quality approch. This work has led to a convincing improvement in the management of risks a priori and a smoother patient care workflow.

Unmasking decoupling: Redefining the Resource Intensity of the Economy.

Interest in investigating the complex link between resources and developments has revived recently following studies which support striking "dematerialized" growth over the last hundred years or so. This so-called decoupling effect is defined as the declining quantity of resources required for producing one unit of GDP. Decoupling studies adopt aggregate GDP as the measure of the outcome of the economy. However, this outcome is contributed by the total population which differs over time and between countries. A valid comparison should use a comparable, standardized indicator that adjusts for population size. GDP per capita, the income index, defines in monetary terms the ultimate outcome of the economy and is adopted by international organizations as the standard index for comparing economies. The income index approximates, in monetary terms, the welfare produced by the economic system and enjoyed by individuals. Recently developed alternative indexes of welfare lack broad data coverage and have limited empirical application as yet. For this reason and for ensuring direct comparison with the standard decoupling estimates, our study remains within the monetary context. The present paper re-evaluates the resources-economy link from the perspective of "the resources required for the production of one unit of GDP per capita (Income)" and hence evaluates the efficiency of turning resources into the actual outcome of the economic system. Our estimates suggest that the dependence of global economic growth on natural resources has increased by over 60% in the last 110years (1900-2009), contrasting with the prevailing decoupling estimates which suggest a reduction by 63%. We find that the actual decoupling, which began in the mid-1970s in post-industrial economies, is counterbalanced by the intensified resource intensity of several developing economies. Accordingly, in the pursuit of sustainability, the dematerialization target needs to be more clearly incorporated into environmental policies and pervade contemporary economic thinking.

Radical dematerialization and degrowth.

The emission targets agreed in Paris require a radical reduction of material extraction, use and disposal. The core claim of this article is that a radical dematerialization can only be part and parcel of degrowth. Given that capitalist economies are designed to grow, this raises the question of whether, and under what circumstances, the inevitable 'degrowth' can become socially sustainable. Three economic policies are discussed in this direction: work-sharing, green taxes and public money.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'.

Who is reducing their material consumption and why? A cross-cultural analysis of dematerialization behaviours.

The environmental and economic imperatives to dematerialize economies, or 'do more with less', have been established for some years. Yet, to date, little is known about the personal drivers associated with dematerializing. This paper explores the prevalence and profile of those who are taking action to reduce consumption in different cultural contexts (UK and Brazil) and considers influences on dematerialization behaviours. We find that exemplar behaviours (avoiding buying new things and avoiding packaging) are far less common than archetypal environmental behaviours (e.g. recycling), but also that cultural context is important (Brazilians are more likely to reduce their material consumption than people in the UK). We also find that the two dematerialization behaviours are associated with different pro-environmental actions (more radical action versus green consumption, respectively); and have distinct, but overlapping, psychological (e.g. identity) and socio-demographic (e.g. education) predictors. Comparing a more traditional value-identity model of pro-environmental behaviour with a motivation-based (self-determination) model, we find that the latter explains somewhat more variance than the former. However, overall, little variance is explained, suggesting that additional factors at the personal and structural levels are important for determining these consumption behaviours. We conclude by outlining policy implications and avenues for further research.This article is part of the themed issue 'Material demand reduction'.

The Physical Economy of the United States of America.

The United States is not only the world's largest economy, but it is also one of the world's largest consumers of natural resources. The country, which is inhabited by some 5% of the world's population, uses roughly one-fifth of the global primary energy supply and 15% of all extracted materials. This article explores long-term trends and patterns of material use in the United States. Based on a material flow account (MFA) that is fully consistent with current standards of economy-wide MFAs and covers domestic extraction, imports, and exports of materials for a 135-year period, we investigated the evolution of the U.S. industrial metabolism. This process was characterized by an 18-fold increase in material consumption, a multiplication of material use per capita, and a shift from renewable biomass toward mineral and fossil resources. In spite of considerable improvements in material intensity, no dematerialization has happened so far; in contrast to other high-income countries, material use has not stabilized since the 1970s, but has continued to grow. This article compares patterns and trends of material use in the United States with those in Japan and the United Kingdom and discusses the factors underlying the disproportionately high level of U.S. per capita resource consumption.