UK tops EU resource league

Eurostat has ranked the UK and Luxembourg as the most resource-productive countries in the EU

Dividing gross domestic product by material consumption (domestic raw material extraction and raw material imports minus raw material exports), the first resource efficiency scoreboard from the statistical service at the European commission reveals that, in 2011, the UK and Luxembourg generated €3.22 and €3.21 of economic value respectively per kilogramme of raw material.

The scores reflect the countries’ more service-based economies, which consume relatively few raw materials, says Eurostat.

Member states whose economies have a larger manufacturing component score less well. The resource productivity of Germany, for example, was €1.82 per kilogramme of raw material in 2011.

The resource productivity indicator is one of 30 covering natural resource consumption that make up Eurostat’s resource efficiency scoreboard. Also included are indicators for waste production and emissions from buildings and transport, for example.

Another is the eco-innovation index, which focuses on the inputs and outputs from research and innovation activities, as well as associated environmental outcomes, in each member state.

The Scandinavian trio of Denmark, Finland and Sweden scores highest in this area, with an average score of 139.85. By contrast, the UK scores 100.88, only slightly above the 28-bloc average of 100.

Eurostat says that the scoreboard supports the implementation of the commission’s resource-efficient Europe initiative.