Chapter 14: Strategic Planning of Urban Mining Material Flows as an Element of Circular Economy

The world’s population has more than tripled in only 70 years from 2.5 billion in 1950 to 7.68 billion people in 2019 (United Nations, 2015). According to the averaged scenario, an additional 2 billion population growth is expected by 2050 and more than 11 billion by 2100. Despite the fact that industrial countries consume 80% of all resources and only 20% of the world population lives there (see Lexicon of Sustainability, 2020), the requirements of the conditions of life are rising around the world, including in developing countries. These are the main two reasons for the sharp increase in global consumption of natural resources, especially mineral resources.