Use of Minerals and Materials in the United States From 1900 Through 2006

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the types and quantities of raw materials used by U.S. manufacturers and consumers have changed significantly as the economy has moved from one that is predominantly agricultural to one that is primarily industrial. This fact sheet quantifies the materials (other than food and fuel) input into the U.S. economy from 1900 through 2006. Previous studies have tracked the flow of minerals and materials by monetary value as a way of determining their effect on the U.S. economy. This information is the first attempt to document the flow of these materials in physical terms, which can help in assessing their potential adverse effect on the physical environment. This fact sheet presents the amounts (by weight) of raw minerals and materials used in the four categories of physical goods that support the U.S. economy. These four categories are agriculture, forestry, metals and minerals, and nonrenewable organics. Table 1 is a listing of the amount of minerals and materials used, and figures 1 and 2 are graphical representations of these data. Figure 3 is a listing of those minerals and materials used in the United States from 1900 through 2006. Note that the data in the table are only for materials that are ready for use or manufacture in products that were actually made in the United States, not for materials contained in finished goods that were imported into or exported out of the country. These data represent the annual apparent inputs to the use phase (domestic production plus imports plus recycling minus exports) aggregated by category. For example, even though a significant amount of cadmium metal is contained in electronic goods imported into the country, the cadmium data provided in this study are only for the cadmium used in products that were produced in the United States. In an industrial economy such as that of the United States, where the volume of goods flowing into and out of the country is large, tracking the flow of materials embedded in imported products is not only difficult but virtually impossible. The data provided are for the first point of consumption; ultimate consumption in the form of manufactured products could be significantly different. Throughout the lifecycle of any material, the potential exists for losses to and adverse effects on the environment through emissions, losses, wastes, or dissipation of materials into the environment. Many sources were used to compile the data for this fact sheet. The following is a list of the primary ones used: