• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.253-265
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• 2008

Sustainable resource management(SRM) is regarded as the core strategy to achieve Dematerialisation and Decoupling of economic growth from the use of natural resources and environmental degradation. This paper presents status SRM policy and research in worldwide, and analyzes decoupling of economic activity from energy consumption of domestic manufacturing, using decoupling factor. Also This paper suggests methodologies and strategies of SRM in Korea. SRM is established through various analysis and survey as following; forecasting of resource demand, material flow analysis and value chain analysis, resource market structure analysis. Through these analysis, we can obtain hot-spot and solution of environmental burden, recycling market management, recycling technology and best-optimal supply rate of primary and secondary resource. In Korea, resource management system must be linked with national and regional material flow analysis, and it is necessary to make SRM-law of national dimension for effective run of sustainable resource management system.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.43-49
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• 2011

This study calculated the three indices of Korea's resource productivity (and raw material productivity), material circulation rate and decoupling factor to evaluate the sustainability of domestic economic activities and resource consumption and examine the extent of dematerialization. Korea's resource productivity improved 22% from 1.32 million KRW/ton in 2000 to 1.61 million KRW/ton in 2007, with the annual average growth of resource productivity during the period standing at 2.88%. Raw material inputs accounted for 73-76% of domestic material consumption (DMC); raw material productivity for the year 2007 was 2.11 million KRW/ton, growing 3% on annual average from 2000 through 2007. The wastes released are circulated into the economic system through recycling and energization. Korea's material circulation went up from 10.9% in 2000 to 15.6% in 2007, growing by an annual average of 5.3% during the period. The rate of change in year-on-year growth, however, was found to be on the gradual decrease. This study also showed that Korea's economic activities were decoupled with its resource consumption as the country heads toward dematerialization through sustainable resource management.