Transmaterialization: technology and materials demand cycles
Recently concern has risen worldwide regarding the issue of declining materials demand which has been termed dematerialization. A summary of the issues involved appears in the proceedings of the recent conference on metals demand published in Materials and Society (1986). Dematerialization refers to the constant decline in use of materials as a percentage of total production. Dematerialization implies a structural change in an economy, indicating a reduced demand for materials and, therefore, a decline in overall industrial growth. This paper proposes that, instead of dematerialization in the US material markets, the demand change that has been occurring can be more aptly described as transmaterialization. Transmaterialization implies a recurring industrial transformation in the way that economic societies use materials, a process that has occurred regularly or cyclically throughout history. Instead of a once and for all structural change as implied by dematerialization, transmaterialization suggests that minerals demand experiences phases in which old, lower-quality materials linked to mature industries undergo replacement periodically by higher-quality or technologically-more-appropriate materials. The latter, as of recent, tend to be lighter materials with more robust technical properties than those being replaced.
- Research Organization:
- West Virginia Univ., Morgantown (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 7010152
- Journal Information:
- Mater. Soc.; (United States), Vol. 12:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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