Consumption

Figure 14. Summary analysis: consumption

Introduction

Europe’s production and consumption systems are closely integrated. The demand for products and services is not only shaped by consumers but also dictated by the available production systems. Consumption patterns significantly affect the amounts, types and characteristics of the products and services produced or offered — as well as how they are managed when they become or generate waste. They are therefore directly linked to production and waste management processes, which are primary sources of pollution within the EU and abroad.

Both the zero pollution action plan and the circular economy action plan contain objectives to reduce Europe’s consumption, and the latter aims to double Europe’s circular material use rate in the coming decade. This section examines consumption patterns that can lead to pollution — from production processes to pollution-induced environmental impacts.

Consumption footprint and material footprint

The consumption footprint indicator maps the aggregated impacts of EU citizens’ consumption. It integrates the environmental and climate impacts caused by different economic sectors that are influenced by demand for goods and services.

The EU’s consumption footprint, illustrated in Figure 15, showed a broadly stable trend over the period 2010-2020. However, the impacts of this footprint are not sustainable: they already significantly exceed Europe’s share of various planetary boundaries (EEA, 2020) (see the zero pollution ‘Signal’ on planetary boundaries).

Housing and food are the most significant consumption domains, accounting for more than half of the impacts caused by EU consumption, both within and outside the EU. Transportation is another area contributing significantly to consumption impacts across the EU (Sala et al., 2019). Shifting to less material-intensive consumption patterns will help Europe to reduce its consumption footprint.

Figure 15. The EU’s consumption footprint (expressed in aggregated millions of points), reflecting the total environmental and climate impacts of consumption, 2010-2020

Notes: The description of the methodology for this indicator can be found here.

Source: EEA (2022a).

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The material footprint in Figure 16 indicates the amount of resources needed to produce the goods and services consumed in the EU, regardless of where in the world these resources are extracted from and processed. Globally, extraction and resource processing is a very polluting economic activity, leading to over 90% of biodiversity loss (IRP, 2019). Other significant, resource-related impacts include eutrophication and toxicity from fertiliser application (IRP, 2019).

Overall, the EU’s material footprint decreased between 2010 and 2020 by 6.1%. However, the reduction until 2019 was insignificant (0.6%) and the (significant) decrease in 2020 is related to the economic downturn in Europe due to COVID-19 measures. Therefore, it is considered a temporary phenomenon. If pollution related to resource use to satisfy EU demand is to be tackled, both the intensity and the type of consumption need to be addressed.

Figure 16. The EU’s material footprint, expressed in millions of tonnes of raw material equivalent, 2010-2020

Source: EEA (2022b); adapted from Eurostat.

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Chemical consumption offers a proxy for assessing the pollution potential of European consumption. Overall, chemical consumption — of chemicals hazardous to both human health and the environment — is now nearly 9% lower than in 2004 (also affected by a sudden drop in 2009 due to the global financial crisis of that time). However, since 2016, consumption has been rising (Figure 17), except for a decrease noted in 2020 which is likely to be related to COVID-19 impacts.

Figure 17. Consumption of chemical groups in the EU, from 2004-2020, indexed to 2004

Note: This indicator is based on a selected number of hazardous and non-hazardous chemicals and often aggregates multiple substances into one category. Therefore, trends should be interpreted with caution.

Source: Eurostat, 2021.

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Figure 18. Indicator analysis — consumption

Note: Link to indicators: Europe’s consumption footprint,  Europe’s material footprint, Chemical consumption in the EU.  

Cover image source: © Mateo Puđa, Well with Nature /EEA