Economic impact assessment of raw material efficiency

In this chapter, we try to disentangle the theoretical background for assessing the macroeconomic impacts of raw material efficiency strategies. We concentrate our discussion on a case study of copper for Germany and show the reasoning behind the implementation in a macroeconomic assessment framework using a system dynamics model. Resource decoupling is one of the vital strategies for limiting environmental impacts of resource extraction and processing while preserving economic growth. It is therefore important to understand the dynamic complexities related to the possible side effects of resource efficiency strategies. The contribution addresses the concern that the sum of the effects may occur on different scales and accrue to different actors in the system, rendering the policy process increasingly complex. We try to show how an effective policy support system can be constructed for resource efficiency measures, which help to compare the outcome of policy modelling exercises.