The global resource consumption of material, energy (carriers) and area, which is connected with the economic activities of the Ruhr area, is quantified. Through functional and spatially differentiated and actor-related analyzes, framework conditions, priorities and starting points for measures to increase resource productivity are shown. The global net land use of agricultural land in 1991 by the Ruhr region suggests that the material supply can only be increasingly put on a renewable basis if the material demand decreases in the sense of dematerialization. In 1990 a sustainable flow weight between the removal of substances from the environment and the release of substances to the environment as well as the physical imports, exports, purchases and deliveries has not yet been reached. A significant part of the annual (primary) material input is associated with the provision of imports and purchases from the Ruhr area and pollutes the environment in other regions. The energy source productivity of the industry in the districts and cities of the municipal association Ruhrgebiet (KVR) shows a non-energetic purpose, the iron and steel industry, the non-ferrous metal industry, the construction industry and the trade show a particularly high material intensity. In terms of global material input (excluding water and air), the Ruhr area (similar to North Rhine-Westphalia) had a material productivity of around two thirds of the national average in 1990. This is mainly due to the fact that more goods are sold in the Ruhr area for the same added value.