Untitled Document

Consumption of Materials in the United States,

1900–1995

By Grecia Matos and Lorie Wagner

KEY WORDS:

materials use, intensity of use

Abstract

The flows of nonfood and nonfuel materials through

the economy have significant impact on our lives and the

world around us. Growing populations and economies

demand more goods, services, and infrastructure. Since the

beginning of the 20th century, the types of materials con-

sumed in the United States have significantly changed. In

1900, on a per-weight basis, almost half of the materials con-

sumed were from renewable resources, such as wood, fibers,

and agricultural products, the rest being derived from nonre-

newable resources. By 1995, the consumption of renewable

resources had declined dramatically, to only 8 percent of

total consumption. During this century, the quantity of

materials consumed has grown, from 161 million metric tons

in 1900 to 2.8 billion metric tons by 1995, an equivalent of

10 metric tons per person per year. Of all the materials con-

sumed during this century, more than half were consumed in

the last 25 years. This paper examines the general historical

shifts in materials consumption and presents an analysis of

different measurements of materials use and the significance

of their trends.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Trends in Consumption of Raw Materials

Consumption Trends in the United States,

1900–1995 2

Consumption Trends in the World, 1970–1995 4

Consumption Measurements 5

Weight and Volume Comparisons 5

Intensity of Materials Use 5

Per Capita 5

Per Unit of Gross Domestic Product 7

Conclusions 8

Introduction

Food, fuel and materials are the three broad categories

of commodities utilized in the economy to support the needs

of society. This paper examines materials, a category that

includes fibers, plastics, feedstock, metals, paper, cement,

and sand and gravel. It also includes resources that supply

our basic needs for producing food, clothing, shelter, trans-

portation, and infrastructure and that maintain and improve

our standard of living. Excluded are materials such as mine

tailings from metal production; overburden (material overly-

ing a mineral deposit) removed to access mineral ores; earth

and stone excavated for the construction of dams, highways,

and buildings (1); and the materials contained within finished

products imported to or exported from the United States (2).

Materials are derived from resources that are classified

as either renewable or nonrenewable. Renewable resources

are those that regenerate themselves, such as agricultural,

forestry, fishery, and wildlife products. If the rate they are

consumed becomes so great that it drives the resource to

exhaustion, however, these renewable resources can become

nonrenewable. Nonrenewable resources are those that are

formed over long periods of geologic time. They include

metals (primary and recycled), minerals, and organic materi-

als. In this paper, food, fuel, water, and air are not taken into

account.

This paper is an overview of materials consumption in

the United States from 1900 to 1995 as measured at the input-

to-manufacturing stage. It includes a discussion of the

changes in the preferences of consumers and industry for dif-

ferent materials and presents different measurements of con-

sumption (weight and volume) as indicators of intensity of

use (see below). As used in this paper, materials consump-

tion is defined as the apparent consumption of raw materials.

This equals domestic primary and secondary (recycled) pro-

duction plus imports minus exports of raw material.

The data collection and analyses presented in this

paper provide the following:

1. Information for materials flow analysis of the U.S. econ-

omy, from extraction through processing, manufac-

turing, dissipation (quantity of the material released

directly to the environment, where no attempt to

Consumption of Materials in the United States, 1900–1995

recapture the material is made or where it is not prac-

tical), recycling, and ultimate disposition.

2. Information to help both the public and private sectors gain

understanding about the use of materials in the econ-

omy, and about the ultimate disposition of materials

into the environment.

3. An overview of shifting patterns in materials use in the

United States and throughout the world. Identifica-

tion of these patterns provides a framework for iden-

tifying future national and global materials

requirements and for understanding the long-term

issues of resource supply-and-waste management.

Trends in Consumption of Raw

Materials

The U.S. government has been tracking the use of mate-

rials since the 1880’s. The data gathered by the U.S. Geolog-

ical Survey, the former U.S. Bureau of Mines, and other

agencies provide a historical perspective on the changing

patterns of materials consumption and are used to illustrate

the long-term trends in materials use (3). The raw materials

consumed in the United States have grown substantially

since the beginning of the 20th century. These changes

reflect alterations in public demand, population growth, and

industrialization.

Potential impacts on the environment are related to the

physical flows that take place within a finite ecosystem. In

this chapter, major emphasis is placed not on monetary value

but physical data, that is, weight and (or) volume measures

[the purpose of the analysis may make one more relevant

than the other—such as analyses involving space issues, for

example, landfill disposal, where volume measurements may

be more relevant than weight (4)].

Consumption Trends in the United States,

1900–1995

The consumption profiles of renewable (agriculture,

wood products, and primary paper) and nonrenewable (non-

renewable organic, primary metals, industrial minerals, and

construction) materials are illustrated in figure 1. Reusable,

or recyclable, resources (recycled metals and paper) are also

included. This illustration also reflects the consumption pat-

tern of materials associated with major economic and mili-

tary events, including the depression of the 1930’s, World

War I, World War II, the post-World War II boom, the

energy crunch of the 1970’s, and the recession of the 1980’s.

At the beginning of the 20th century, each person consumed

per year approximately 2 t (metric tons) of materials; by

1995, that amount had increased to 10 t (metric tons), a five-

fold increase.

Construction materials include crushed stone and con-

struction sand and gravel (natural aggregates). They do not

include materials such as gypsum for wallboard, copper for

plumbing, wood or steel for construction frames, or asphalt

for roads. Natural aggregates are a major basic raw material

used by the construction, agriculture, and other industries (6).

On the basis of weight, construction materials dwarf all other

materials combined. They have—throughout the cen-

tury—been the most dominant of all types of materials used,

representing as much as three quarters (by weight) of con-

sumed renewable and nonrenewable resources annually.

Consumption of construction materials greatly

increased as a result of infrastructure growth (especially the

interstate highway system) after World War II. In recent

decades, construction materials have been used mainly in the

widening and rebuilding of roads damaged from weather and

heavier traffic loads and in construction of bridges, ramps,

and buildings (6).

The amount of recycled aggregates (crushed cement

concrete) is not included in figure 1. The sparse data avail-

able indicate that use of recycled aggregates has been

increasing, especially in the 1990’s. As the recycling of con-

struction and demolition debris increases, aggregate produc-

ers are starting to recycle concrete and asphalt. Because

much recycling of aggregates occurs in place at highway

construction sites without going through a market transac-

tion, precise data are not available.

An evident, major shift in the U.S. consumption is the

increased use of nonrenewable resources (fig. 2). At the

beginning of the 20th century, about 41 percent (by weight)

of the materials consumed domestically were renewable; by

1995, only 8 percent were renewable.

In the early 20th century, the U.S. economy moved

rapidly from an agricultural to an industrial base. In the

1950’s and 1960’s, it began a shift toward a service econ-

omy. This trend has caused a change in the mix of materials

consumed and has provided more extensive processing, min-

iaturization, sophisticated technology, electrification, com-

puterization, automation, and high-speed transport. At the

same time, increased transportation and new technologies

have led to increases in energy consumption (7).

Figure 3, which excludes construction materials, illus-

trates trends in the other categories. Industrial minerals

account for a large component of materials consumption,

almost equivalent, on a per-weight basis, to all of the remain-

ing materials. Industrial minerals include cement for ready-

mix concrete; potash and phosphate for fertilizer; gypsum for

drywall and plaster; fluorspar for acid; soda ash for glass and

chemicals; and sulfur, asbestos, abrasives, and various other

minerals for use in chemicals and industry. The proportion

of industrial minerals to total materials consumption used in

the economy increased until about 1960 and has been

roughly constant since.

Materials derived from agriculture (such as cotton,

wool, and tobacco), fishery products (such as fish meal), and

Trends in Consumption of Raw Materials

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980

1995

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

MILLION METRIC TONS

Construction materials

Industrial minerals

Recycled metals

Primary metals

Nonrenewable organics

Recycled paper

Primary paper

Wood products

Agriculture

Great Depression

WW I

WW II

Oil crisis

Recession

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980

1995

100

PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL,

ON A PER-WEIGHT BASIS

Renewable materials

Nonrenewable materials

wildlife (primarily fur) are so light in weight that they repre-

sent only a small part of the total materials consumed by

weight (4). In 1900, the United States used 3 million t of

agricultural material; by 1995, it used more than 6 million t.

Consumption of paper (as a primary product) showed

a slight increase from 1960 through 1995. Prior to 1960, the

consumption of paper was included in the wood products

category. Consumption of wood products (lumber, ply-

wood, and veneer) remained essentially unchanged through-

out the same period, thus representing about 6 percent of the

total materials used.

Nonrenewable organic material is today a major com-

ponent of materials consumption. The category emerged

gradually in the early part of the century, accounting for

approximately 2 million t in 1900. It has subsequently

undergone rapid growth, to 131 million t in 1995. The use of

nonrenewable organic material has increased as a result of

the development of new products and markets and material

replacements in established markets. In some applications,

synthetic fibers have replaced natural fibers, plastics have

replaced wood, and synthetic oils have replaced natural oils.

These replacements were the result of more desirable prop-

erties or cost advantages. Nonrenewable organic material

used in the production of asphalt, plastics, feedstock, syn-

thetic rubber, fibers, and petrochemicals exceeded 130 mil-

lion t in 1995. This quantity is approximately equal (on a

per-weight basis) to all primary and recycled (secondary)

metals consumed.

Use of metals declined slightly relative to other

materials during the last few decades. Reasons for this

Figure 1. Measurement of

the amount of raw materi-

als consumed in the United

States. WWI, World War I;

WWII, World War II (5).

Figure 2. Measurement of

the amount of renewable

and nonrenewable materi-

als consumed in the United

States.

Consumption of Materials in the United States, 1900–1995

include the need for lighter weight materials (such as alumi-

num), the introduction of high-strength steel alloys in vehi-

cles, and the availability of lower cost substitute materials

(such as plastics).

Improvements in recycling technologies, costs, and

increased consumer preferences for environmentally sound

products have resulted in the growth of recycled material use,

both in metal and paper (fig. 3). The sudden emergence of

recycled materials in the 1960’s is more reflective of data

desegregation, because prior to that time, recycled material

was accounted for in total materials values. The data (3)

show that in 1995, recycled metals accounted for 47 percent

of metals consumption, up from 31 percent in 1970. This

resulted in a decline in the percentage of primary metals used

during the last few decades, even as total metal consumption

has increased (4). According to 1996 estimates, 63.5 percent

of all aluminum beverage cans, 58.2 percent of all steel cans,

37.9 percent of all glass containers, and 38.6 percent of all

polyethylene terephthalate soft-drink bottles were recovered

for recycling (8). As reported by the U.S. Geological Survey

in 1995, recycling is a significant factor in the supply of

many of the key metals used in our society; it provides envi-

ronmental benefits in terms of energy savings, reductions in

the volume of waste, and reductions in emissions associated

with the energy savings (3). For example, recycling alumi-

num saves about 95 percent of the energy needed to make

primary metal from ore (9).

Paper recycling has increased to 30 million t in 1995

from approximately 8 million t in 1960, almost a fourfold

increase. This increase is a result of improvements in paper

technologies, increased supplies of paper collected and

recovered for recycling, and changes in government policies

concerning the use of paper with recycled content.

Consumption Trends in the World, 1970–1995

As a basis for comparison, a consumption data set was

constructed for the world by using the same commodity

groupings as was used for the United States. The complete-

ness and standards of data reporting vary from country to

country, but world data are important as a point of reference.

As shown in figure 4, U.S. consumption rose from 2

to 2.8 billion t from 1970 to 1995. Over the same period,

world materials consumption rose from 5.7 billion t to 9.5

billion t. Thus, world consumption grew at a rate nearly dou-

ble that of the United States (1.8 percent vs. 1 percent).

Nonetheless, the United States still consumed about one-

third by weight of the reported world total materials con-

sumed, even though it accounts for approximately 5 percent

of the global population.

The increased U.S. and world consumption levels raise

issues related to resource adequacy and the impact on the

ecosystem. Further work is needed in this area to provide a

holistic approach to global issues in material consumption.

For many countries, the existing data are not as com-

prehensive as those from the United States. To provide a

comparative analysis on a per-capita basis, further work to

account for data not reported by some countries and informal

activities not accounted statistically is essential.

Although the United States consumes a lot of material,

future shortages are not necessarily inevitable, for several

reasons. Advances in technology and management increase

efficient materials use, reducing the need for resources.

There is also greater efficiency in materials extraction.

Recycling and materials substitution are also occurring. Not

every nation will necessarily repeat the American pattern of

development. The lessons learned about efficient materials

use in industrialized nations like the United States, if taught

Figure 3. Measurement of

the amount of raw materials

(excluding crushed stone

and construction sand and

gravel) consumed in the

United States.

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1995

200

400

600

800

MILLION METRIC TONS

Industrial minerals

Recycled metals

Primary metals

Nonrenewable organics

Recycled paper

Primary paper

Wood products

Agriculture

Intensity of Materials Use

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

BILLION METRIC TONS

World

United States

and applied in developing countries, could usher in more

efficient global consumption of materials. The sooner indus-

trialized nations develop better technologies to use materials

more efficiently and diffuse this knowledge, the less we risk

future global materials scarcity.

Consumption Measurements

Different measurements—such as weight, volume, or

value—provide different perspectives on consumption.

Depending on the purpose of the analysis, one form of mea-

surement may be preferable, although a comprehensive anal-

ysis that encompasses all perspectives may be the more

appropriate.

Historically, mineral feedstocks have been valued by

weight; agricultural and fishery products by weight and vol-

ume; forest products by volume; and organic fuels by

weight, volume, and energy content. The data presented in

this paper have been standardized in terms of weight and vol-

ume. An accounting of consumption trends in monetary

terms would be valuable, but data for the commodity group-

ings were not available.

Weight and Volume Comparisons

A group of commodity categories were selected for

analyses over the period 1960 through 1995. As shown in

figures 5 and 6, the commodity groupings are wood products

(lumber, plywood, veneer, and other forestry products), pri-

mary paper, recycled paper, primary metals, recycled metals,

and plastics.

Primary metals have the highest apparent consump-

tion in terms of weight (fig. 5), but this picture changes when

viewed in terms of volume (fig. 6), where lower density

materials are given more emphasis.

In absolute values, both by weight and volume, recy-

cled metals and paper have gained market share during this

period. Although metals have faced strong competition

from other materials, demand has been strong, reflecting

the U.S. economy.

Plastics have shown an interesting growth pattern

during the same period. Since 1976, the population of the

United States consumed more plastics than recycled paper

on a per-weight basis and more than metals on a per-

volume basis.

Intensity of Materials Use

Long-term trends in materials consumption can also be

analyzed by examining the consumption per capita or per

unit of gross domestic product (GDP) because consumption

levels are heavily tied to the growth of population and the

economy. Intensity of materials use is defined as the amount

of materials used per year with respect to population or eco-

nomic output, often measured as total GDP. Intensity of use

measures may help gauge developmental status, economic

growth, and environmental quality, which is determined by

an efficient use of natural resources that minimizes depletion

and reduces pollution (11).

Per Capita

Figures 7 and 8 show the apparent consumption per

capita in the United States of selected materials in terms of

weight and volume, respectively. On a per-weight basis, pri-

mary metals show a declining trend in apparent consumption

Figure 4. Measurement of the

amount of materials consumed in

the United States and the world

(10).

Consumption of Materials in the United States, 1900–1995

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

100

MILLION METRIC TONS

Wood

Primary paper

Recycled paper

Plastics

Primary metals

Recycled metals

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

100

120

140

160

MILLION CUBIC METERS

Wood

Primary paper

Recycled paper

Plastics

Primary metals

Recycled metals

per capita from 1970 through 1991. Recycled metals, how-

ever, present a consistent upward trend. On a per-volume

basis, trends remained steady during the same period and

indicate a consumer preference for lighter materials, such as

plastics.

The use of primary and recycled paper products per cap-

ita increased. In the last decade, recycled paper use has

steadily risen, as a result of improvements in paper recycling

technologies and in increased supplies of paper collected and

recovered. Some increases in the volume consumed per cap-

ita reflect increases in the velocity of consumption of goods

(the frequency with which materials are used and discarded

or expended in a year). This velocity increases when con-

sumers replace durable goods such as automobiles or appli-

ances more frequently or when they consume disposable

products instead of longer lived substitutes.

Plastics consumption per capita shows an upward

trend, mainly owing to the development of new products and

markets and material substitution in established markets. In

fact, in many cases, plastics have become the material of

choice, displacing metals, paper, leather, glass, and wood in

a range of common products (12).

Figure 5. Measurement (by

weight) of the amount of select-

ed materials consumed in the

United States.

Figure 6. Measurement (by

volume) of the amount of

selected materials consumed

in the United States.

Intensity of Materials Use

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

METRIC TONS PER CAPITA

Wood

Primary paper

Recycled paper

Plastics

Primary metals

Recycled metals

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

CUBIC METERS PER CAPITA

Wood

Primary paper

Recycled paper

Primary metals

Recycled metals

Plastics

Per Unit of Gross Domestic Product

When the trends of the apparent consumption of mate-

rials per unit of GDP are analyzed on a per-weight and per-

volume bases, a slightly different trend emerges (figs. 9 and

10). On the basis of a per-ton unit of GDP, slightly more

recycled (metals and paper) products were consumed in the

economy per unit of GDP in 1995 than in 1960. Conse-

quently, primary metals and paper declined. The recycled

products contribute to the overall supply of metals and paper,

thereby reducing the demands on virgin metals and wood

products.

Plastics show an upward trend in terms of weight and

volume per unit of GDP. This reflects the increasing role

that plastics play in the economy.

The data from the analysis of materials consumption

neither confirm nor deny the notion that the economy is in

the process of dematerialization or is less material intensive.

They do, however, indicate that increases in consumption

and changes in the composition of materials have been sig-

nificant, especially for low-density materials. Furthermore,

taking into account that quantities of post-consumer waste

will increase as population and GDP increase, new technol-

ogies will be required, and consumer preferences may have

to change.

Figure 7. Measurement (by

weight per capita) of the

amount of selected materials

consumed in the United

States.

Figure 8. Measurement (by

volume per capita) of the

amount of selected materials

consumed in the United

States.

Consumption of Materials in the United States, 1900–1995

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

METRIC TONS PER UNIT OF GDP, IN

1992 THOUSAND DOLLARS

Wood

Primary paper

Recycled paper

Plastics

Primary metals

Recycled metals

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

CUBIC METERS PER UNIT OF GDP, IN

1992 THOUSAND DOLLARS

Wood

Primary paper

Recycled paper

Primary metals

Recycled metals

Plastics

Environmental impacts can be mitigated to the extent

that flows of materials are reduced by more efficient product

design, which will result in source reduction to the waste

stream or to where waste materials are recovered and recy-

cled. Reducing the amount of materials used per unit of pop-

ulation or GDP can contribute to the alleviation of

environmental stress and to greater economic and industrial

productivity.

Conclusions

As shown by the data presented in this paper, consump-

tion of raw materials in the United States has increased dra-

matically throughout the 20th century and has changed its

composition substantially. The data underscore the need to

understand better our natural resources so that adequate sup-

plies of materials will be available to meet future demands,

Figure 9.

Measurement [by

weight per unit of gross do-

mestic products (GDP)] of

the amount of selected ma-

terials consumed in the

United States.

Figure 10. Measurement [by

volume per unit of gross do-

mestic products (GDP)] of

the amount of selected ma-

terials consumed in the

United States.

9References Cited

improve efficiency of materials use, and limit negative

impacts from the ultimate disposition of materials. There is

also a need to analyze materials use from all perspectives.

Further efforts are needed to develop consistent stan-

dardized information for accounting of resources and the

impact of resource use on the environment, the economy,

and, ultimately, the human population. The U.S. govern-

ment has a long history of tracking the flow of materials

through the economy. The basic data-collection and data-

analysis functions provided by Federal agencies are key ele-

ments to the understanding of materials use and shifts in

materials production and demand. It is crucial for future

studies that academia, policy makers, and business people

have ready access to a consistent set of statistics on material

extraction, use, disposal, and recycling/reuse.

In addition, understanding the flows of materials and

monitoring materials consumption trends provide the infor-

mation to assist the United States in determining how it can

satisfy its material needs at acceptable economic and envi-

ronmental costs. This is an important function because

materials, as well as food and energy, support the U.S. econ-

omy. The shifts in materials use during the last 95 years have

created a number of questions about the long-range impacts

of these trends in the domestic economy, the international

marketplace, and the environment.

As we approach the 21st century, we have challenges

to face. Using a materials flow approach to materials usage

can lead to improvements in product design, to technological

innovation that increases the efficiency of resource use, to

better waste-management practices, and to more-effective

policies. Furthermore, the awareness of materials choices

and consumption behavior can help us avoid activities that

degrade the environment and encourage activities that con-

serve ecosystems for the future.

Two basic issues need to be addressed: potential scar-

city (the continued availability of material resources both

regionally and globally) and the environmental impacts of

the extraction, processing, use, and disposal of this material.

This will require (a) monitoring changes in domestic con-

sumption levels and the reciprocal changes needed to sup-

port these levels by the ecosystem and the economy, (b)

analyzing the factors that are causing changes in current and

future demand for materials, and (c) supporting effective

policy alternatives, such as government procurement poli-

cies and labeling about environmental effects.

Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Donald G. Rogich, formerly with

the U.S. Bureau of Mines, for his insightful ideas, and to

Iddo Wernick, Columbia Earth Institute, and Thomas

Gunther, U.S. Department of the Interior, for their comments

and review.

Visit the Annual Reviews home page at

<http://www.AnnualReviews.org>

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