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Pablo Alonso Fernández
Grupo de investigación de Economía Ecológica y de los Recursos Naturales, Departamento de Economía Cuantitativa. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela , Avenida do Burgo das Nacións, s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, España
Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2704-8181
Rosa María Regueiro Ferreira
Grupo de investigación de Economía Ecológica y de los Recursos Naturales, Departamento de Economía Aplicada. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida do Burgo das Nacións, s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, España
Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4048-7824
Xoán Ramón Doldán García
Grupo de investigación de Economía Ecológica y de los Recursos Naturales, Departamento de Economía Aplicada. Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida do Burgo das Nacións, s/n, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, España
Spain
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5986-1855
Vol 33 No 2 (2024): Special Issue. Circular economy, sustainability and degrowth, Articles, pages 1-20
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15304/rge.33.2.9281
Submitted: 28-06-2023 Accepted: 24-01-2024 Published: 14-03-2024
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Abstract

This paper investigates how the consumption of material resources has evolved over the last 20 years in the member states that make up the European Union-15, with the aim of analyzing whether there is dematerialization in these countries and which sectors are leading the way. The material footprint is used as an indicator of material consumption, since it indicates all the resources required by an economy. Using data from the material footprint and GDP, a model has been proposed to allow dematerialization in the EU-15 to be studied. The main results show that dematerialization has only occurred conjuncturally since the 2008 crisis, with the GDP-material-footprint coupling subsequently being restored.