ABSTRACT
The concept that mineral resources are finite and irreplaceable is relatively modern, probably expressed for the first time by Georg Bauer in the sixteenth century. In a more general sense, the idea that all natural resources are finite seems to have appeared for the first time in economics with the work of Thomas Malthus, "An Essay on the Principle of Population", published from 1798 to 1826. The term biosphere indicates the ensemble of the living creatures and it is composed by a wide variety of organisms occupying mainly the land areas of the continents and shallow water bodies. The entity that we may call the technosphere is the ensemble of industrial structures that have been created by human beings, mostly during the past few centuries. The subject of recycling and reusing the materials used by the technosphere is currently discussed in the context of the concept of "circular economy".
