Consumption of raw materials in Europe: any improvement on resource efficiency?

For Europe to meet the 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, a key requirement is to significantly decrease the consumption of raw materials. The extraction and processing of natural resources have a considerable environmental impact, being responsible for around 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions and having a significant effect on water and air pollution, soil degradation and biodiversity loss. Thus, a more sustainable and resilient economy is directly linked to the efficient use of resources. We analyze in this report the current state of raw material consumption (RMC) in Europe. We present the consumption patterns by type of material and by consumption category and we assess recent progress in resource efficiency. We find that, although the level of RMC has remained stable since 2012 and the material intensity decreased in most consumption categories, efforts to reduce RMC should primarily target housing, food, and personal mobility, with a particular focus on their key associated materials, biomass and fossil energy.