Ongoing reduction in the amount of energy and materials consumed in producing a given amount of value. Dematerialization is increasingly referred to in the discussion on sustainable production and consumption patterns. The term dematerialization refers to the need for a radical decrease in the material intensity of industrialized economies. Sustainability requires that the rate of materials use (including land, energy and water) is considerably slowed down. A further reason for focusing on dematerialization is the growing rate of global environmental resource use, due to intensive economic and population growth.