the interest of domestic extraction on European soil. Although still relevant in Europe, production from European countries that have maintained or developed a mining supply remains marginal in comparison with their needs. This inevitably results in a significant dependence of European industries on imports of mineral resources. As the author reminds us, however, there are inherent gains from the domestic extraction of existing and wellcharacterized resources: environmental gains linked to short circuits, the stimulation of local employment and the substitution of imports sometimes extracted under disastrous conditions. Nevertheless, major obstacles remain, such as a lack of professional skills (after training that has fallen into disuse since the 1990s) and above all local opposition generated by an often negative public perception (NIMBY syndrome). This is not inevitable and the author looks at the leverage action likely to reduce these dissensions.
Through the analysis of another unavoidable leverage action, Florian Fizaine (Chapter 5) proposes to explore the standard theory underlying intra-material substitution. In particular, he returns to the notions of the demand curve, price elasticity and cross-price elasticity of demand while underlining their shortcomings and limitations when applied to mineral resources. In particular, he sheds light on this lack by evoking the heterogeneity of situations according to the different scales of material sub-constitution. Lastly, he concludes by explaining the multiple technical, economic, socio-cultural and legal constraints that limit material substitution.
Thierry Lefèvre (Chapter 6) reviews empirical studies analyzing the decoupling (dematerialization) between GDP and the various indicators of raw material consumption. He shows that decoupling is at best relative and not absolute, as would be desired by international organizations promoting sustainable development and energy transition. These decoupling indicators also leave aside several important issues, such as inequality and the quality of life of populations. These other dimensions must be taken into account in the future to achieve true sustainable development.
A little further on, Alain Geldron (Chapter 7) describes how recycling activities have been gradually implemented in different countries. Although there are some similarities, traditional mining and urban mining are different in terms of logic and economic model. The author then examines the main factors for the efficiency of recycling through its successive stages (collection, transport, etc.). Finally, he also discusses the most important constraints on recycling and whether they are related to the recycling stage or to the type of metal recycled.
In the final chapter, Philippe Bihouix (Chapter 8) argues that it is impossible to achieve a complete circular economy through recycling and dematerialization. Therefore, frugality and a particular form of ecodesign should be favored, namely the concept of low-tech. He also insists on the importance of choosing the right scale to implement these, on the primary role of humans in their reparability and finally on the need to pursue a new utopia with positive results expected for people in order to achieve this necessary ecological transition.
To conclude, we discuss the main lessons established by these contributions and also the other questions they left open. While the various contributions have shown that the limits to growth no longer lie in the depletion of mineral resources and fossil fuels but in the impact of their exploitation on the environment, all the proposed solutions have their limits, whether it is technical progress, recycling or the circular economy. What remains is the use of greater frugality in our behavior, on the condition that this frugality is not suffered by the most disadvantaged. In any case, we hope that the insights provided by this collective work will call to others on the long road that remains to be traveled to reach sustainability.
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