Page 106 - Çevre Şehir İklim İngilizce - Sayı 2

Industrial Decarbonization:
The Role Of Material Efficiency Strategies
2. Strategies that will Provide Material Efficiency

The increased demand for goods and services means an increase in the
demand for materials needed to provide these goods and services in various
industries.Increasing material demand means that this material is met by
extracting it from nature.. Thus, the increased demand for materials and
products also brings about environmental problems such as greenhouse gas
emissions and the exhaustion of resources.
Throughout their life cycles, materials are not managed effectively.For
example, through appropriate planning during the product design and
manufacturing phase, it will be possible to reuse and recycle the material
contained in the product when it comes to the end of life stage.. Therefore,
raising awareness of material efficiency in all life cycle stages of the product
will play an important role in protecting resources and reducing emissions.
This can be achieved by applying the right strategies at the right stages. (Ho
et al, 2019: 1-2; Allwood et al, 2011).
Material efficiency strategies are measures, plans and applications aimed
atreducing the need for material in the supply of goods that providethe same
or higher performance. Material efficiency strategies will not only decrease the
need for emission-intensive materials, but also reduce energy consumption
for climate action if combined with clean energy strategies (IRP, 2020a: 11).
Thus, it will contribute to environmental sustainability in addition to increasing
competitive power through its cost-effectiveness. Examples of material
efficiency include designing smaller, lighter and more durable products,
preventing extreme material supply, repairing the existing products, more
intensive use of products, applying many re-use methods, and recycling.
Studies in literature mentions many material efficiency strategies, from the
use of low-emission materials to recycling. These studies can be classified
under two groups:(i) focus on a specific product (building, car, etc.) or a sector
(Hertwich et al, 2019; Ho et al, 2019; Pauliuk et al, 2021; Ho et al, 2021; Wolfram
et al, 2021), and (ii) comprehensively discuss strategies towards product life
cycle stages including the material supply chain processes (Allwood et al.,
2011; Lifset and Eckelman, 2013; IRP, 2020a; IEA, 2019; Marrone and Montella,
2021). In order to understand material efficiency strategies, first of all, the
stages of product life cycle must be understood. Then, it is beneficial to
analyze the IRP (2020a) and IEA (2019) studies focusing on strategies to be
adopted according to stages in detail.
Evaluating the product life cycle is a systematic approach that identifies
the energy, materials and waste used throughout the life cycle, and evaluates
the environmental burdens concerning the product, process or activity (Ding,

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