Definition: raw material consumption (RMC), also referred to as the material footprint, represents the global demand for the extraction of materials induced by consumption of goods and services within a geographical reference area (here Belgium). Data for material footprints comes from material flow accounts, which model the flows of natural resources from the environment into the economy. They include domestic extraction of materials measured in tonnes of gross material (for example, gross ore or gross harvest) as well as imports and exports measured by estimates of the raw material equivalents of the products traded (domestic and abroad extraction required to produce the traded products). RMC shows thus the amount of extraction needed to produce the goods demanded by final users in the geographical reference area, irrespective of where in the world the material extraction took place (Eurostat, 2018). The materials considered are biomass, metal ores, non-metallic minerals and fossil fuels.

The indicator used here is the RMC per capita and is expressed in tonnes per capita. The data comes from Eurostat.

Goal: the total raw material consumption must decrease.

The Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs adopted by the UN in 2015 include the following targets: 12.2 "By 2030 achieve sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources” and 8.4 "Improve progressively through 2030 global resource efficiency in consumption and production, and endeavor to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation in accordance with the 10-year framework of programs on sustainable consumption and production with developed countries taking the lead".

The Federal Long-Term Strategic Vision for Sustainable Development includes the following objectives: “The quantity of non-renewable raw materials used will be significantly reduced. These materials will only be used when recycling offers no alternative to such use (Objective 33) and renewable raw materials (...) will be exploited without compromising the ability of future generations to use them” (Objective 34, Belgian Official Gazette 08/10/2013).

International comparison: the indicator developed quite in the same way in Belgium and in the EU27. In 2022, the RMC per capita in Belgium (15.9/capita) is above the EU average (14.8t/capita). When Member States are divided into three groups, Belgium is part of the group with average performance and lays behind the European average in 2022. In that year, Malta ranked first with 6.6t/capita and Finland last with 46t/capita.

UN indicator: the selected indicator corresponds to indicator 12.2.2 - Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP. This indicator is also used to monitor the SDG targets Decent work and economic growth (indicator 8.4.2).

Sources

• General

  • SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals: United Nations (2015), Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 25 September 2015, document A/RES/70/1.

  • Indicators: United Nations (2017), Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 6 July 2017, document A/RES/71/313.

  • UN Sustainable Development: https://sdgs.un.org/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

  • UN Sustainable Development Goal indicators website: https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/ (consulted on 18/01/2023).

• Specific

  • Belgian Official Gazette: http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/welcome.pl; research on http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/doc/rech_f.htm (consulted on 24/09/2020).

  • Eurostat (2018), Economy-wide material flow accounts handbook – 2018 edition, ISBN: 978-92-79-88337-8.

More information is available in French and Dutch.