Material Flows in the United States

This report by the World Resources Institute analyzes material flow datasets across four U.S. economic sectors—metals and minerals, nonrenewable organic materials, agriculture, and forestry—to address the lack of information in conventional economic accounts regarding the long-term societal costs of environmental degradation.

• The report examines material flow trends within four specific sectors of the United States economy: forestry, agriculture, nonrenewable organic materials (which include fossil fuels), and metal and minerals.
• The document asserts that while the U.S. possesses high-quality economic data regarding labor productivity, capital, and employment, traditional economic accounts fail to sufficiently provide information on the long-term societal costs associated with environmental degradation.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Material Flows in the United States. https://www.wri.org/research/material-flows-united-states

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Material Flows in the United States. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/material-flows-united-states.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Material Flows in the United States |url=https://www.wri.org/research/material-flows-united-states |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendmaterial, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Material Flows in the United States}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/material-flows-united-states}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }