What do we see?
Flemish material consumption has a declining trend in the period 2010-2016. From 2017 the material consumption increases, with the exception of the COVID year 2020. Over the whole time range, DMC has decreased by 11%, from 27.6 to 24.7 tonnes per inhabitant. Non-metallic minerals account for most of the DMC, followed by fossil fuels, biomass and metal ores.
What’s the aim?
In a circular economy, global material consumption decreases. The DMC includes only part of this consumption: a decrease in DMC can come from reduced consumption, but also from outsourcing material-intensive production steps abroad. The Flemish materials footprint captures the entire consumption by taking into account the indirect raw materials that were needed. The efficiency with which the Flemish economy handles materials is reflected through material productivity.
