Metals and their compounds are part of the fabric of modern society due to their unique properties, such as their conductivity, mal¬leability, hardness, lustre, or recyclability. These properties impart a variety of func¬tionality in various present products as well as future sustainability enabling solutions. Most of the highly-valued products of modern technology, such as computers, MRI scan¬ners, aircraft engines, and satellites would be impossible without metals. Nonetheless, their production and use, as is true for all re-sources that we extract and use, are associ¬ated with potential environmental impacts. In this report, an assessment is made of the literature on metals flows and cycles in na¬ture and in society, the way they are connect¬ed, and the potential impacts related to them. Four areas of attention emerge from this as¬sessment as important information for a sus¬tainable metals management.