china

The scoop: The world uses a lot of materials to produce a lot of waste.

By the numbers:

1. Asia accounts for 60% of mineral extraction and 67% of freshwater use.
2. The world disperses 28.7 billion tons of fossil fuels and biomass energy.
3. Europe, Asia and N. America account for 78% of fossil fuel output.

Key takeaways:

1. It takes <resources to produce >materials.
2. A lot of freshwater, an increasingly scarce resource, turns into wastewater every year.
3. Most raw materials and natural resources end up in the land, air or water.

Bottom line: The current production process outweighs Earth's production capacity. To solve that, we need to maximize the life-cycle of products, treat natural resources carefully, and minimize waste.

Dig deeper → <1 min.