TMR measures the mass turnover of all domestic and imported primary materials, except for air and water, that are extracted from nature to support human activities, including all resources required for industrial production, transport, energy and food supply. It indicates the extent of environmental impacts associated with resource extraction, materials and energy use, and generation of emissions and waste. The 37-page study also contains the results of the first calculation of the TMR of the EU comprising both extraction from domestic sources and imports along with their hidden flows, that is, those extractions which are not used further, but nevertheless burden the environment such as extraction waste. The aim of the study is to explore the usefulness of such an indicator to support policy-making by showing elaborated, concrete examples. The study's authors, Stefan Bringezu and Helmut Schtz, found that domestic extraction of resources within the EU declined from 1985 to 1997 by 13 percent.
Domestic extraction tends to use resources with higher resource efficiency.
Conversely, in the most recent period examined, requirements for resources from outside the EU increased by 11 percent from 1995 to 1997. EU countries' predominant material requirements are fossil fuels, metals and minerals. The study shows that the EU's material requirements have increased almost as fast as the economy has expanded. Between 1995 and 1997, the most recent year for which calculations have been made, TMR rose by three percent from 18.1 billion tons to 18.7 billion tons. The increase was due entirely to increased materials imports, particularly of precious metal ores, whose extraction creates large volumes of mining waste.