Despite increased rates of recycling, total bauxite use more than doubles as aluminium increasingly substitutes for other materials in construction, in automobiles, and in other fabricated products. In the rich economies, demand for lead and iron actually falls and demand for nickel and copper is nearly flat. But the use of all of these metals, and of other materials not shown such as plastics and paper, will increase steeply in the developing economies even on a per capita basis. In terms of the use of all primary materials, such a scenario will clearly put more, not less, pressure on the environment over the next several decades because the combined effects of population increase and improving the material standard of living in the developing countries will more than offset the savings in primary materials associated with the substitutions among materials, recycling, and other technological changes. The results of this analysis provide the motivation for a more radical agenda for eco-restructuring.
Fuels are in millions of tons of coal equivalent.
See table 8.1 for region names. The growth in per capita consumption for the world as a whole is in several cases lower than growth for all component regions. Although the result may appear counter-intuitive, it is readily confirmed using the figures in table 8.1 and reflects the rapid growth of population in the regions with the lowest per capita consumption.