Trained as a biologist, Ester van der Voet has vast experience as a lecturer, researcher and editor in the field of Industrial Ecology. She is full professor of Sustainable Resource Use at the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Leiden University.
“Comprehensive systematic view of resource use and the resource transition towards circularity we need to go through.” - Ester van der Voet

Ester van der Voet is full professor of Sustainable Resource Use at the Department Industrial Ecology of the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) at Leiden University. Within the field of Industrial Ecology, she specialises in methodology development (life-cycle assessment, material flow analysis, substance flow analysis, natural resource accounting, and indicator development). These methodologies she applies to different topical areas, specifically resource use and resource management, resource efficiency, metals, critical materials, and the circular economy, as well as agriculture and the biobased economy.

She has initiated three MSc programs in Industrial Ecology and circular economy: a joint degree program between Leiden University and TU Delft, and two international programs with partners from EU, US, China, Japan and Australia. She has been the head of CML’s Department Industrial Ecology for 4 years. She has conducted and led many research projects for the EU and in other international consortia.

She is a member of UNEP’s International Resource Panel. Her present activities mainly focus on circular economy and urban mining, specifically scenario development at different scale levels and building up information systems to support local, national and international policies on sustainable resource use. Ester currently contributes to the scenarios work stream of the IRP, which feeds into the Global Resources Outlook. She focuses on detailed modelling of the material requirements of provisioning systems.

Selected Publications

Deetman, S.P., S. Marinova, E. van der Voet, D.P. van Vuuren, O. Edelenbosch & R. Heijungs (2020). Modelling global material stocks and flows for residential and commercial service sector buildings towards 2050. Journal of Cleaner Production 245 (2020) 118658 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118658

Marinova, S., S.P. Deetman, E. van der Voet & V. Daioglou (2020). Global construction materials database and stock analysis of residential buildings between 1970-2050. Journal of Cleaner Production 247 (2020) 119146 DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119146

Voet, E. van der, L. van Oers, M. Verboon & K. Kuipers (2019). Environmental Implications of Demand Scenarios for Metals, Methodology and Application to Seven Major Metals. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 23(1) pp 141-155, DOI: 10.1111/jiec.12722

Dong, D., A. Tukker & E. van der Voet (2019). Modelling copper demand in China up to 2050: a business-as-usual scenario based on dynamic stock and flow analysis. Journal of Industrial Ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12926

Bleischwitz, R., C. Spataru, S.D. VanDeveer, M. Obersteiner, E. van der Voet, C. Johnson, P. Andrews-Speed, T. Boersma, H. Hoff & D.P. van Vuuren (2018). Resource nexus perspectives towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability volume 1, pages 737–743

Bleischwitz, R., H. Hoff, C. Spataru, E. van der Voet & S.D. VanDeveer (eds.) (2018). Routledge Handbook of the Resource Nexus. Earthscan, Routledge, London/New York, ISBN 978-1-138-67549-0 (hbk) and 978-1-315-56062-5 (ebk)

Schippers, B.W., H.-C. Lin, M.A. Meloni, K. Wansleeben, R. Heijungs & E. van der Voet (2018). Estimating global copper demand until 2100 with regression and stock dynamics. Resources, Conservation and Recycling Vol 132, May 2018, pp 28-36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.01.004

Deetman, S., S Pauliuk, D van Vuuren, E Van Der Voet, A Tukker (2018). Scenarios for demand growth of metals in electricity generation technologies, cars and electronic appliances. Environmental Science & Technology 52 (8), pp 4950–4959.

Kuipers, K.J.J., LFCM van Oers, M Verboon, E van der Voet (2018). Assessing environmental implications associated with global copper demand and supply scenarios from 2010 to 2050. Global Environmental Change 49, 106-115

Font Vivanco, D., E. van der Voet & R. Kemp (2016). How to deal with the rebound effect? A policy-oriented approach. ENERGY POLICY, Volume: 94, Pages:  114-125

Zijp, M.C., R. Heijungs, E. van der Voet, D. van de Meent, M.A.J Huijbregts, A. Hollander & L. Posthuma (2015). An Identification Key for Selecting Methods for Sustainability Assessments. Sustainability 03/2015; 2015(7):2490-2512. DOI:10.3390/su7032490

I.Y.R. Odegard & E. van der Voet (2014). The future of food  - Scenarios and the Effect on Natural Resource Use in Agriculture in 2050. Ecological Economics, 97 (2014) 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.10.005

Kleijn, R., E. van der Voet, G.J. Kramer, L. van Oers and C. van der Giesen (2011). Metal requirements of low-carbon power generation. Energy 36 (2011) 5640-5648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.07.003

Hu, M., S. Pauliuk, T. Wang, G. Huppes, E. van der Voet and D.B. Müller (2010). Iron and Steel in Chinese Residential buildings: a dynamic analysis. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(9):591-600 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2009.10.016

Van der Voet, E., R.J. Lifset and L. Luo (2010) Life-cycle assessment of biofuels, convergence and divergence. Biofuels1(3):435 https://doi.org/10.4155/bfs.10.19

Van der Voet, E. & T.E. Graedel (2010). The emerging importance of linkages. In: Graedel, T.E. & E. van der Voet (eds.), Linkages of Sustainability (Strüngmann Forum Reports), pp. 461 – 470, 2010

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