materjalijälge

Material footprint, known in some contexts as materjalijälge, is a sustainability indicator that measures the total amount of natural resources required to meet the final demand for goods and services consumed by a population. It covers materials embedded in products throughout their life cycle, from extraction and production to transportation, use, and end-of-life disposal, accounting for imports and exports in a consumption-based perspective.

The metric is often expressed in tonnes of material or as material intensity per unit of economic activity. It distinguishes consumption-based measures from production-based ones by focusing on what a society actually consumes, including materials embedded in imported goods. Common methods for estimating the material footprint include input-output analysis and material flow analysis, frequently using environmentally extended input-output tables to link economic activity with physical material flows.

Applications of the material footprint include tracking resource use, informing policy for resource efficiency and the circular economy, and benchmarking progress across regions or countries. It helps identify high-material sectors and stages in supply chains where material intensity could be reduced, and it supports scenarios for decoupling economic growth from material consumption.

Limitations and debates surround scope and data quality. Definitions vary on which materials are included (often abiotic resources like minerals, metals, and fossil fuels; biomass is treated differently in some studies), and results depend on methodological choices such as system boundaries and data sources. Ongoing work seeks harmonization of methods, improved data coverage, and integration with other environmental indicators.