The field of metamaterials has yet to embrace sustainability as a metric.
A survey of the literature (including a Google search) produced no reports of life-cycle assessments for metamaterials. But increased sustainability may actually be the byproduct of the development work in metamaterials, as their inherent properties allow for increased performance per unit mass.
Engineered nanomaterials may actually be more "sustainable" than those found in nature.
Read the entire article on the SPIE website here.
