Dematerialization as a measure of environmentally-sound use of materials.

One way by which the use of materials may cause environmental impacts is its potential contribution to resource depletion. Dematerialization-that is the decrease in the material intensity of the economy-may, therefore, be considered as a suitable way to a more sustainable use of materials. An objective and quantitative analysis of this phenomenon entails the application of suitable “dematerialization indices”. After a critical review of the most widespread indices in the literature and of their limitations, a new index aggregation approach is here proposed which is intended to give a measure of dematerialization by considering also the relative availability of the materials used. Moreover, in order to identify and quantify the main factors contributing to changes in material use, a simple model of decomposition analysis applied to material use is suggested.