UMI – Urban Mining Index

Raw materials are the basis for a functioning economy. So far, one was used to draw on unlimited resources. But times have changed. The never-ending flow of products, the throwaway society and the shortsightedness of mankind contribute that certain raw materials draw to a close. Europe has hardly own raw material stocks and is therefore dependent on imports. It is this aspect can cause major problems in the coming years. The only way that Europe can go to stock up on raw materials themselves is to build a functioning recycling system. This paper tries to find out whether it is possible to calculate an index which provides assistance to identify the date from which recycled compared to the purchase of primary raw materials is more advantageous and which raw materials are considered critical to deeming as one as these must make available to increased attention. To select from the high amount of required raw materials in Europe those who should be integrated into the index, two screening methods are presented, which combine a number of indicators to assess. The following research questions will be discussed at the beginning: Research question 1: What raw materials can be in the future for Europe of high relevance? Research Question 2: Which of these raw materials are recyclable according to current options? Research Question 3: Is it possible to display based on an index, all raw materials in order to recognize the right time for recycling? Research Question 4: Does it make sense to represent all raw materials by means of a single index, or is it beneficial to create multiple indexes for each commodity or commodity groups? work.