2012 Volume 8 Issue 2 Pages 151-160
Objective. The objective of this paper is to specify the technological challenges of strategic materials development.
Results and Discussion. In order to derive the challenges, historical backgrounds since late 1980s have been discussed and summarized: 1）New direction towards environmental conscious products in 1990s is shown with examples of LCA, LCC, and TMR. 2）Basic Act for the Promotion of the Recycling-Oriented Society has become enacted in 2000, and a series of Recycling Laws for various products have been effective following to the Basic Act. These laws were triggers for the public to focus on the Recycling-Oriented Society. In the mid 2000s, risks in shortage of natural resources have become obvious and a lot of discussions have been made. Science and technologies can provide real answers to solve those resource risks.
Conclusions. The most essential answer to the resource risks is to utilize rich elements from the earth, such as Si, Ca, Al, Fe, O… and C. Collateral answers, reducing the consumption of critical elements and recycling, should be implemented earlier. In order to accomplish the answers, new “Materials Science” must be restructured by cooperation among scientists and engineers from various fields.
