Definition: Total material requirement

National accounts

An overall indicator developed by the Wuppertal Institute to describe, in terms of total tonnage, not only the amount of natural resources contained in the commodities produced by the economy, but also the indirect flows which are involved in such production. These material flows which remain outside of the economy include wood materials which are not used in logging (branches, needles, leaves and roots), earth and stone which is excavated in mining and quarrying along with usable ore and minerals, earthworks necessary in the construction of infrastructure systems (roads and communities) and erosion resulting from human activities (including intensive agriculture).