Australia's circular economy metrics and indicators

Alessio Miatto, Nargessadat Emami, Kylie Goodwin, James West, Mohammad Sadegh Taskhiri, Thomas Wiedmann and Heinz Schandl

Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2024, vol. 28, issue 2, 216-231

Abstract: This article presents a comprehensive economy‐wide material flow analysis of the Australian economy in 2019, examining the domestic extraction, trade, end‐of‐life flows, and recycling for all materials. The results highlight Australia's role as a natural resource supplier, with metals and fossil fuels being primary contributors. Through material flow analysis, we found that in 2019 Australia extracted 2587 Mt of natural resources, exported a substantial fraction (1459 Mt), and used 917 Mt to fulfill domestic needs. The recycling flows and circularity metrics are also explored, with an end‐of‐life recycling rate of 51.1% and an overall circularity rate of 5.1%. An additional assessment of Australia's consumption‐based material footprint highlights mobility and housing as the dominant material‐using sectors. These results contribute to understanding Australia's material consumption patterns, indicating significant reliance on foreign semifinished and finished products, and provide insights into the potential for enhancing economic circularity.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13458

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:inecol:v:28:y:2024:i:2:p:216-231

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=1088-1980

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Industrial Ecology is currently edited by Reid Lifset

More articles in Journal of Industrial Ecology from Yale University
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().