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Eight Tons of Material Footprint—Suggestion for a Resource Cap for Household Consumption in Finland

Author

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  • Michael Lettenmeier

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, Wuppertal 42103, Germany
    Ltd., Purokatu 34, Lahti 15200, Finland
    Department of Design, Aalto University, Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki 00760, Finland)

  • Christa Liedtke

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, Wuppertal 42103, Germany
    Folkwang University of the Arts, Industrial Design, Klemensborn 39, Essen 45239, Germany)

  • Holger Rohn

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, Wuppertal 42103, Germany
    Faktor 10—Institut für nachhaltiges Wirtschaften gemeinnützige GmbH, Alte Bahnhofstraße 13, Friedberg 61169, Germany
    Institute of Refrigerating and Biotechnology Lomonosov, ITMO University, Ulitsa 9, St. Petersburg 191002, Russia)

Abstract

The paper suggests a sustainable material footprint of eight tons, per person, in a year as a resource cap target for household consumption in Finland. This means an 80% (factor 5) reduction from the present Finnish average. The material footprint is used as a synonym to the Total Material Requirement (TMR) calculated for products and activities. The paper suggests how to allocate the sustainable material footprint to different consumption components on the basis of earlier household studies, as well as other studies, on the material intensity of products, services, and infrastructures. It analyzes requirements, opportunities, and challenges for future developments in technology and lifestyle, also taking into account that future lifestyles are supposed to show a high degree of diversity. The targets and approaches are discussed for the consumption components of nutrition, housing, household goods, mobility, leisure activities, and other purposes. The paper states that a sustainable level of natural resource use by households is achievable and it can be roughly allocated to different consumption components in order to illustrate the need for a change in lifestyles. While the absolute material footprint of all the consumption components will have to decrease, the relative share of nutrition, the most basic human need, in the total material footprint is expected to rise, whereas much smaller shares than at present are proposed for housing and especially mobility. For reducing material resource use to the sustainable level suggested, both social innovations, and technological developments are required.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Lettenmeier & Christa Liedtke & Holger Rohn, 2014. "Eight Tons of Material Footprint—Suggestion for a Resource Cap for Household Consumption in Finland," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-28, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:3:y:2014:i:3:p:488-515:d:37967
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kristin Leismann & Martina Schmitt & Holger Rohn & Carolin Baedeker, 2013. "Collaborative Consumption: Towards a Resource-Saving Consumption Culture," Resources, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Lettenmeier, Michael & Gobel, Christine & Liedtke, Christa & Rohn, Holger & Teitscheid, Petra, 2012. "Material Footprint of a Sustainable Nutrition System in 2050 – Need for Dynamic Innovations in Production, Consumption and Politics," 2012 International European Forum, February 13-17, 2012, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 144983, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    3. Susan Handy & Kelly Clifton, 2001. "Local shopping as a strategy for reducing automobile travel," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 317-346, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryu Koide & Lewis Akenji, 2017. "Assessment of Policy Integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production into National Policies," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Johannes Buhl & Christa Liedtke & Katrin Bienge, 2017. "How Much Environment Do Humans Need? Evidence from an Integrated Online User Application Linking Natural Resource Use and Subjective Well-Being in Germany," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Felix Müller & Jan Kosmol & Hermann Keßler & Michael Angrick & Bettina Rechenberg, 2017. "Dematerialization—A Disputable Strategy for Resource Conservation Put under Scrutiny," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-32, December.
    4. Christa Liedtke & Katrin Bienge & Klaus Wiesen & Jens Teubler & Kathrin Greiff & Michael Lettenmeier & Holger Rohn, 2014. "Resource Use in the Production and Consumption System—The MIPS Approach," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-31, August.
    5. Jingru Liu & Haotong Wu & Xin Tian & Heming Wang & Yinglei Wu, 2022. "Materials footprint of household consumption in China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1504-1513, August.
    6. Johannes Buhl & Christa Liedtke & Sebastian Schuster & Katrin Bienge, 2020. "Predicting the Material Footprint in Germany between 2015 and 2020 via Seasonally Decomposed Autoregressive and Exponential Smoothing Algorithms," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Hickel, Jason & Sullivan, Dylan, 2024. "How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124460, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Stefan Bringezu, 2015. "Possible Target Corridor for Sustainable Use of Global Material Resources," Resources, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, February.

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