"Factor X: Re-source Designing the Recycling Society" explores the role of recycling in efforts to achieve the sustainable world envisioned in the Federal Environment Ministry s Resource Efficiency Programme, known as ProgRess. The chapters build a roadmap to a Recycling Society in which the decoupling of resource consumption and economic growth is accomplished.

The editors of Factor X explore and analyze this trajectory, predicting scarcities of non-renewable materials such as metals, limited availability of ecological capacities and shortages arising from geographic concentrations of materials. They argue that what is needed is a radical change in the ways we use nature's resources to produce goods and services and generate well-being. The goal of saving our ecosystem demands a prompt and decisive reduction of man-induced material flows. Before 2050, they assert, we must achieve a significant decrease in consumption of resources, in the line with the idea of a factor 10 reduction target. EU-wide and country specific targets must be set, and enforced using strict, accurate measurement of consumption of materials. Their arguments are drawn from empirical evidence and observations, as well as theoretical considerations based on economic modeling and on natural science.

Factor X: Re-source-Designing the Recycling Society explores the role of recycling in efforts to achieve the sustainable world envisioned in the Federal Environment Ministry's Resource Efficiency Programme, known as ProgRess. The chapters build a roadmap to a Recycling Society in which the decoupling of resource consumption and economic growth is accomplished.