Material Inputs of Copper Exploitation in China

As resources become more and more scarce. Individuals, enterprises and states should all consider how to improve resources efficiency and to reduce resources consumption, so as to reduce environmental impacts from production and consumption. Producing products and providing services all need material input. Sooner or later, all the input materials become output (as waste or emission) flowing back into the environment. So by measuring the input, one can arrive at an estimation of the potential environmental impact. Meanwhile, measuring material input of production processes can help producers see clearly the distribution of resources consumed and identify the key processes. This information provides useful support to decision-making aiming at increasing resources efficiency through changes in the mode and processes of production. Most industrial products contain metal and nonmetal minerals. Therefore, investigating material input of minerals is of great significance. While copper is widely used as a raw material in industrial production, the production of copper itself consumes and moves a large quantity of materials, inducing pressure on the environment. In this study, material inputs and ecological rucksacks of crude copper of China and environment burden shifting of international trade of crude copper were calculated and analyzed. The results of this study have a practical value for constructing the material flow accounts of the Chinese Economy and further calculation on the indirect flow of copper-based products produced in China. The material inputs and their analyses as presented in this paper provide a quantitative indicator and method for estimating the environmental impact of copper production. The results from this kind of study can also help people realize that every unit of product consumed carries a heavy, but directly invisible rucksack, and thus enhance the environmental consciousness of the entire society.