Resource depletion, peak minerals and the implications for sustainable resource management

Prior, Timothy J.; Giurco, Damien; Mudd, Gavin Mark; Mason, Leah; Behrisch, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.08.009

Cited by 331 publications

(177 citation statements)

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“…Even with some successes in improving recycling uptake and systems, as well gains in energy efficiency measures (Sioshansi, 2013), demand for resources are set to continue increasing into this century alongside rising global population, increased urbanisation and proliferating consumerism (Lee et al, 2013;Prior et al, 2012). As such, ideas of the CE are both timely and arguably necessary, if we are to circumvent what some see as a looming (and indeed, already commenced) resource and ecological crisis (e.g.…”

Section: Introduction: the Rise Of The Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: Radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world

Hobson

Lynch

2016

Futures

354

233

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Programmes and policies for a Circular Economy (CE) are fast becoming key to regional and international plans for creating sustainable futures. Framed as a technologically driven and economically profitable vision of continued growth in a resource-scarce world, the CE has of late been taken up by the European Commission and global business leaders alike. However, within CE debates and documentation, little is said about the social and political implications of such transformative agendas. That is, whilst CE proponents claim their agenda is 'radical', this paper outlines its inability to address many deeply embedded challenges around issues of consumption and the consumer, echoing as it does the problematic (and arguably failed) agendas of sustainable consumption / lifestyles. Using the Sharing Economy as an example, we argue here that the ontological and sociological assumptions of the CE must be open to more 'radical' critique and reconsideration if this agenda is to deliver the profound transformations that its advocates claim are within our collective reach.

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Section: Introduction: the Rise Of The Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: Radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world

Hobson

Lynch

2016

Futures

354

233

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“…Joan This trend overlaps with other environmental pressures, such as larger requirements of chemical inputs and larger amounts of waste (Mudd, 2007a(Mudd, , 2007bGiurco et al, 2010;Prior et al, 2012).…”

Section: Fossil Fuels Construction Minerals Biomassmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The decline in the quality of ores has direct implications in terms of land intervention of mining activities, as larger mines (open-pit mining) have to be built and larger quantities of waste rock -especially sensitive in the case of sulphidic material that has the potential to generate acid drainages 2 -are generated Giurco et al, 2010;Mudd, 2010). For instance, recent studies conducted in the gold-mining sector in Australia indicate that, as ore quality decreases, the amount of water and energy used in the mining process increases significantly.Joan This trend overlaps with other environmental pressures, such as larger requirements of chemical inputs and larger amounts of waste (Mudd, 2007a(Mudd, , 2007bGiurco et al, 2010;Prior et al, 2012).The significance of these trends grows as we consider the expansion of the mining frontier to sensitive and critical ecosystems, such as tropical and cloud forests, or the very high mountains next to pasturelands and glaciers. These are also the homes of indigenous people.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

Rights, Pressures and Conservation in Forest Regions of Mexico

Merino¹

2016

Environmental Governance in Latin America

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Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world.Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Contents List of Figures and Tables viiPreface viii List of Contributors xi PrefaceThis book is the result of the collaborative research project Environmental Governance in Latin America (ENGOV) funded by the European Union (EU). For four years, a team of experts from ten Latin American and European academic institutions investigated how environmental governance is currently being shaped in Latin America. In this joint effort, we were driven by our concerns about widespread ecological degradation, poverty and injustice, as well as by our curiosity about the ways in which the emergence of new political regimes and elites, and innovative steps by communities and social organizations, affects governance practices and nature-society relations. To understand the possibilities and obstacles for sustainable and equitable natural resource use, a range of case-studies were carried out in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico. Although some of the research topics and cases are not included in this volume, their findings have contributed to the discussions and theoretical reflections in the overall analysis. The ENGOV project has been simultaneously challenging and inspiring. The theme of environmental governance is a huge academic enterprise because it addresses complex social relations, practices and views influencing how societies perceive nature and use natural resources. Combining methods and theories from different fields of the social sciences is a prerequisite which in practice is fairly demanding. Furthermore, by encompassing political, economic, cultural and environmental changes, formal as well as informal arrangements, and cross-scale connections, the study of environmental governance can easily become a 'mission impossible'. Arguably this is even more the case for contemporary Latin America, with its variety of local and national conditions facing rapid-paced changes. Finally, collaborating in an international research consortium of ten institutional partners and more than 25 researchers from different disciplines, schools of thought and generations has also proved to be both daring and rewarding. The fact that we spoke in different academic languages and idiom accents was not only a hurdle to tackle during our group discussions, but also forced us to learn from each other's approaches and convictions, and the foundations on which these are based. As a typical governance process, next viii Preface ix to misunderstandings, dissonances and unbridgeable differences, the exchange of different insights and perspectives proved to bring ab...

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“…(Allwood, Ashby et al 2011, Lee, Preston et al 2012, Prior, Giurco et al 2012, Gutowski, Sahni et al 2013, Kagermann, Wahlster et al 2013, Lavery, Penell et al 2013 Table 1, three conclusions may be drawn about these Global Drivers;…”

Section: An Outline Of the Global Driversmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Secondly, as we pass the point of 'peak availability' for a number of metals (copper being one of these; zinc is another), the cost is likely to rise considerably more (Prior, Giurco et al 2012). Recycling is much less costly in environmental terms, and in economic terms too, since the materials remain in the circular economy.…”

Section: Extraction and Utilisation Of Mineralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global drivers, sustainable manufacturing and systems ergonomics

2015

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This paper briefly explores the expected impact of the 'Global Drivers' (such as population demographics, food security; energy security; community security and safety), and the role of sustainability engineering in mitigating the potential effects of these Global Drivers. The message of the paper is that sustainability requires a significant input from Ergonomics/ Human Factors, but the profession needs some expansion in its thinking in order to make this contribution.Creating a future sustainable world in which people experience an acceptable way of life will not happen without a large input from manufacturing industry into all the Global Drivers, both in delivering products that meet sustainability criteria (such as durability, reliability, minimised material requirement and low energy consumption), and in developing sustainable processes to deliver products for sustainability (such as minimum waste, minimum emissions and low energy consumption). Appropriate changes are already being implemented in manufacturing industry, including new business models, new jobs and new skills.Considerable high-level planning around the world is in progress and is bringing about these changes; for example, there is the US 'Advanced Manufacturing National Program' (AMNP)', the German 'Industrie 4.0' plan, the French plan 'la nouvelle France industrielle' and the UK Foresight publications on the 'Future of Manufacturing'.All of these activities recognise the central part that humans will continue to play in the new manufacturing paradigms; however, they do not discuss many of the issues that systems ergonomics professionals acknowledge. This paper discusses a number of these issues, highlighting the need for some new thinking and knowledge capture by systems ergonomics professionals. Among these are ethical issues, job content and skills issues.Towards the end, there is a summary of knowledge extensions considered necessary in order that Systems Ergonomists can be fully effective in this new environment, together with suggestions for the means to acquire and disseminate the knowledge extensions.

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Resource depletion, peak minerals and the implications for sustainable resource management

Cited by 331 publications

References 44 publications

Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: Radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world

Diversifying and de-growing the circular economy: Radical social transformation in a resource-scarce world

Rights, Pressures and Conservation in Forest Regions of Mexico

Global drivers, sustainable manufacturing and systems ergonomics

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