As the world’s second most consumed resource, sand is being depleted at an alarming rate. China accounted for nearly half of the world’s sand consumption in 2012. Here we present a material flow... Show moreAs the world’s second most consumed resource, sand is being depleted at an alarming rate. China accounted for nearly half of the world’s sand consumption in 2012. Here we present a material flow analysis of sand from 1995 to 2020 that shows China’s overall sand supply surged by approximately 400% over the study period, yet the proportion of natural sand dropped from ~80% to ~21% due to the increasing use of manufactured sand. From 2010 to 2020, China’s natural sand supply nearly halved due to the strict policies on natural sand mining and the promotion of manufactured sand. This shift demonstrates a possibility for mitigating impacts on natural sand resources during industrialization and urbanization. Show less
Improving resource efficiency (RE) is an important objective of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this study we find a strong exponential relationship between economic complexity index (ECI)... Show moreImproving resource efficiency (RE) is an important objective of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this study we find a strong exponential relationship between economic complexity index (ECI) and RE of countries. ECI measures the level of accumulated knowledge of a society enabling the products it makes. The relationship between ECI and RE is stronger for primary material importers and countries with stable institutions. Assessing a country's level of ECI also allows the outlook of future RE trends. We explain how ECI influences RE at the product level by establishing the product space for each country and by defining core products that contribute to a high product complexity index, high RE (i.e., unit price) and promising expansibility (i.e., core number), which indicates the potential to produce more advanced products in the future. Policies that improve economic complexity and invest in core products seem to be a priority to achieve sustainable development. Show less
