Addressing the growing global concern for sustainable engineering, _Materials and the Environment_ is the first book devoted exclusively to the environmental aspects of materials. With in-depth coverage of such topics as material consumption and its drivers, the material lifecycle, eco-informed material selection, renewable materials and sustainability, and legislative and regulatory aspects, along with eco-profiles of more than 60 widely used materials, this book will appeal to professional materials engineers and product designers who now, more than ever before, need to consider the environmental implications of materials in their designs. * The first book devoted solely to the environmental aspects of materials and their selection, production, use and disposal, by noted materials authority Mike Ashby. * Introduces methods and tools for thinking about and designing with materials within the context of their role in products and the environmental consequences. * Contains numerous case studies showing how the methods discussed in the book can be applied to real-world situations. * Includes full-color data-sheets for 60 of the most widely used materials, featuring such environmentally relevant information as their annual production and reserves, embodied energy and process energies, carbon footprints, and recycling data. * The tools developed in the text are implemented in the CES EduPack Eco Design Edition software and new Eco Audit Tool available from Granta Design.