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HANDBOOK OF
MATERIAL FLOW
ANALYSIS
For Environmental, Resource,
and Waste Engineers
Second Edition
HANDBOOK OF
MATERIAL FLOW
ANALYSIS
For Environmental, Resource,
and Waste Engineers
Second Edition
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
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1. Introduction......................................................................................................1
1.1 Objectives and Scope.............................................................................1
1.2 What Are Material Flow Analysis and Substance Flow Analysis?....3
1.3 History of MFA.......................................................................................5
1.3.1 Santorio’s Analysis of the Human Metabolism....................6
1.3.2 Leontief’s Economic Input–Output Methodology...............9
1.3.3 Analysis of Urban Metabolism...............................................9
1.3.4 Regional Material Balances................................................... 11
1.3.5 Metabolism of the Anthroposphere..................................... 13
1.3.6 Recent Developments in the Field of MFA.......................... 15
1.4 Application of Material Flow Analysis............................................. 19
1.4.1 Environmental Management and Engineering..................22
1.4.2 Industrial Ecology................................................................... 23
1.4.3 Resource Management........................................................... 25
1.4.4 Waste Management................................................................ 28
1.4.5 Anthropogenic Metabolism..................................................30
1.4.5.1 Unprecedented Growth..........................................30
1.4.5.2 Anthropogenic Flows Surpass Geogenic Flows.... 33
1.4.5.3 Linear Urban Material Flows.................................34
1.4.5.4 Material Stocks Grow Fast..................................... 36
1.4.5.5 Consumption Emissions Surpass
Production Emissions............................................. 37
1.4.5.6 Changes in Amount and Composition
of Wastes................................................................... 40
1.4.6 Combination of MFA with Other Approaches................... 40
1.4.7 Policy Evaluations and Decisions.........................................43
1.5 Objectives of Material Flow Analysis............................................... 46
vii
viii Contents
References............................................................................................................ 401
Index......................................................................................................................425
Preface to the Second Edition
A dozen years after the first edition was put on the market, the question of
whether a second edition of the Handbook of Material Flow Analysis (MFA) is
justified seems appropriate. From a pure numerical standpoint, the increase
from a few hundred papers per year in 1975 to more than 5000 publica
tions in 2015 proves that MFA is of growing interest to a rising number of
researchers, readers, and writers. And from a content point of view, the
range of important fields where MFA is applied and further developed is
still expanding. More recently, MFA methodology has been extended and
refined, particularly with respect to including dynamic MFA, uncertainty
considerations, and supporting software. Hence, we hope that this second
edition serves an even larger readership of engineers and natural scientists
than the first one.
Originally, MFA was developed to describe and analyze single processes,
e.g., in chemical production or in waste management. However, during the
last two decades, there was rapid progress toward assessment of complex
systems such as regional material balances, substance flows through large
watersheds, and material flows and stocks in national and global economies.
Today, the greatest challenge is to analyze the entire interaction of anthro
pogenic and natural systems, covering several scales and comprising many
subsystems. Thus, MFA has become one of the core methodologies of sci
entific fields such as industrial ecology, resource management, and waste
management. The second edition of the handbook takes into account all
these new developments. In particular, newly added citations point to recent
and relevant literature, additional case studies demonstrate the potential of
MFA to solve industrial ecology challenges, and the new chapter on STAN
software allows a uniform, standardized approach to establishing MFA.
Compared to the first edition, the discussion of a few methods that are usu
ally subsumed under MFA methodology such as materials accounting and
input–output analysis has not been expanded. The reason is that, first, the
MFA field, as mentioned previously, expanded rapidly, making it impossi
ble to include all developments comprehensively in one handbook. Second,
there are excellent books that cover materials accounting and input–output
analysis that we recommend in the corresponding chapters. And third, the
particular feature of this book is to combine the levels of material flow and
substance flow analysis, to include uncertainties, and to present powerful
software that is capable of combining goods, substances, and energy. In addi
tion, we provide electronic materials to support readers, such as the home
page of the handbook containing the solutions to the problems at http://
www.MFA-handbook.info and the STAN website that comprises additional
case studies (http://www.stan2web.net/).
xiii
xiv Preface to the Second Edition
In spite of these changes, the book is still written for a general audience,
guiding inexperienced as well as experienced engineers and scientists toward
mastering the fine art of MFA from the very beginning to an advanced state
of material balances of complex systems. The main purpose of the book is
unchanged: to offer and promote a transparent and reproducible methodol
ogy as a basis for analysis, assessment, and improvement of anthropogenic
systems. We hope that the methodology presented here will be widely applied,
generating new knowledge, understanding, and data that can be used by the
growing MFA community. After all, the task ahead of us, to utilize materi
als in a way that neither jeopardizes future generations nor puts at risk the
environment and the availability of resources, requires a huge global effort.
We are particularly grateful for the support of our colleagues from
Technische Universität Wien who dedicated their time and enthusiasm to
the handbook: Oliver Cencic authored Sections 2.3 and 2.4, and David Laner
contributed substantially to Chapters 2 and 3. The valuable backing of
Rudolf Frühwirt in the statistical part of Chapter 2 is also acknowledged. We
are thankful for contributions to the case studies by Dana Vyzinkarova. We
appreciate the work on tables, graphs, bibliography, and copyright by Inge
Hengl and Maria Gunesch. The initiative for this second edition came from
Taylor & Francis senior editor Irma Shagla Britton, and we acknowledge her
great support.
About 40 years ago, Abel Wolman coined the term “metabolism of cities” in
an article for the Scientific American. His pioneering view of a city as a liv-
ing organism with inputs, stocks, and outputs of materials and energy has
since inspired many others. Today, studies describing metabolic processes of
companies, regions, cities, and nations are becoming more abundant. While
the phenomenology of the anthroposphere is described in books and papers,
the methodology lags behind. It is the purpose of this handbook to contrib-
ute to the establishment and dissemination of a rigid, transparent, and use-
ful methodology to investigate the material metabolism of anthropogenic
systems.
Both authors have been using and developing material flow analysis (MFA)
for many years. We experienced the great value of this method in various
fields such as environmental management, resources management, waste
management, and water quality management. And we decided to fill the
gap and to produce a book to share our experience with engineering stu-
dents, professionals, and a wider audience. The aim is to promote MFA and
to facilitate the use of MFA in a uniform way so that future engineers have
a common method in their toolbox for solving resource-oriented problems.
The hidden agenda behind the handbook comprises two objectives:
resource conservation and environmental protection, or “sustainable materi-
als management.” We believe that man-made activities should not destroy
or damage natural resources and systems. Future generations must be able
to enjoy resources and the environment as we do. We also believe that this
goal can be achieved if technology and social sciences are developed further.
The case studies presented in this book exemplify the potential of MFA to
contribute to sustainable materials management.
This is a handbook. It is directed toward the practitioner. The 14 case stud-
ies demonstrate how to apply MFA in practice. The “Problems” sections
following each chapter serve to exercise and deepen comprehension and
expertise. The tool MFA is not perfect yet: it is still subject to further refine-
ment. If the reader finds the handbook useful for better understanding and
for designing anthropogenic systems, we have accomplished our goals. Since
this book is not the endpoint yet, we appreciate any comments and sugges-
tions you may have. We hope that the handbook encourages application of
and discussion about MFA, and we are looking forward to your comments
on the website http://iwr.tuwien.ac.at/ressourcen/mfa-handbook/home.
You will also find the solutions to the problems on this site.
We are grateful to Oliver Cencic, who wrote Sections 2.3 and 2.4 about data
uncertainty and MFA software. The support of the members of the Waste
and Resources Management Group at the Vienna University of Technology
xv
xvi Preface to the First Edition
xvii
1
Introduction
1
2 Handbook of Material Flow Analysis
will soon become well acquainted with the techniques needed for successful
application of material flow analysis (MFA).
In addition to serving as a practical handbook, this volume also contains
directions for those readers who are looking for sustainable resource man-
agement. The authors share the opinion that economic and technologi-
cal progress will be most beneficial to mankind if long-term protection of
the environment is assured, and if resources are used in a careful, little-
dissipative way. In this book, we give evidence that current management
of the anthroposphere may result in serious long-term burdens and that
changes are needed to improve opportunities of today’s and future genera-
tions. Such changes are already taking place, they are feasible, and they will
eventually improve the quality of life. The authors are convinced that if deci-
sions for changes are based, among others, on MFA, they will yield better
results. They see the need for balance not only for technical systems but also
for social and economic systems. However, this book has been written for a
technical readership. Since the authors are engineers and chemists, social
and economic science issues are sometimes mentioned in this volume but
are never discussed to the necessary depth.
This book is directed toward engineers in the fields of resource manage-
ment, environmental management, and waste management. Professionals
active in the design of new goods, processes and systems will profit from
MFA-based approaches because they facilitate incorporating environmen-
tal and resource consideration into the design process. The potential audi-
ence comprises private companies and consulting engineers operating in the
aforementioned fields, government authorities, and educational institutions
at the graduate and postgraduate level. In particular, the book is designed
as a textbook for engineering students who are looking for a comprehensive
and in-depth education in the field of MFA. It is strongly recommended to
focus on the case studies and problems: they show best how MFA is applied
in practice and how to interpret and use the results. At the end of each chap-
ter, a problem section allows readers to exercise the newly acquired knowl-
edge, to learn application of MFA, to gain experience, and to check one’s
ability to solve MFA problems.
The book is structured into four chapters: In the introductory chapter, a
short overview of MFA is given in order to facilitate understanding of the
main body of this chapter, the history, objectives, and application range of
MFA. From a methodological point of view, Chapter 2 is the most impor-
tant: it explains comprehensively the terms, definitions, and procedures of
MFA, and discusses the software STAN best suited for MFA. Case studies
are given in Chapter 3. They are essential in enabling the reader to expe-
rience the application range of MFA (STAN, 2016; Cencic, Rechberger, and
Kovacs, 2006). The case studies make clear that the concept of MFA goes
beyond simple input and output balances of single processes, and that ana-
lyzing flows and stocks of a complex real-world system is a challenging and
often interdisciplinary task. The book ends in Chapter 4 with an outlook to
Introduction 3
M, E, LO, I
Anthroposphere Environment
driven by man driven by nature
FIGURE 1.1
The two systems anthroposphere and environment exchange flows of materials (M), energy (E),
living organisms (LO), and information (I).
4 Handbook of Material Flow Analysis
these other factors are needed to interpret and make use of the MFA results.
Thus, MFA is frequently coupled with the analysis of energy, economy, urban
planning, and the like.
A common language is needed for the investigation into anthropogenic
systems. Such commonality facilitates comparison of results from differ-
ent MFAs in a transparent and reproducible way. In this handbook, terms
and procedures to analyze, describe, and model material flow systems are
defined, enabling a comprehensive, reproducible, and transparent account
of all flows and stocks of materials within a system. The methodology, pre-
sented in greater detail in Chapter 2, is completely employed in the software
STAN (see Chapter 2, Section 2.4).
The term material stands for both substances and goods. In chemistry, a
substance is defined as a single type of matter consisting of uniform units
(Atkins and Beran, 1992). If the units are atoms, the substance is called an
element, such as carbon or iron; if they are molecules, it is called a chemical
compound, such as carbon dioxide or iron chloride. Goods are substances or
mixtures of substances that have economic values assigned by markets. The
value can be positive (car, fuel, wood) or negative (municipal solid waste,
sewage sludge). In economic terms, the word goods is more broadly defined
to include immaterial goods such as energy (e.g., electricity), services, or
information. In MFA terminology, however, the term goods stands for mate-
rial goods only. Nevertheless, the link between goods as defined by MFA and
other goods as used by economists can be important when MFA is applied,
for example, for decisions regarding resource conservation.
A process is defined as a transport, transformation, or storage of materials.
The transport process can be a natural process, such as the movement of
dissolved phosphorous in a river, or it can be man-made, such as the flow
of gas in a pipeline or waste collection. The same applies to transformations
(e.g., oxidation of carbon to carbon dioxide by natural forest fires versus man-
made heating systems) and storages (e.g., natural sedimentation versus man-
made landfilling).
Stocks are defined as material reservoirs (mass) within the analyzed sys-
tem, and they have the physical unit of kilograms. A stock is part of a process
comprising the mass that is stored within the process. Stocks are essential
characteristics of a system’s metabolism. For steady-state conditions (input
equals output), the mean residence time of a material in the stock can be cal-
culated by dividing the material mass in the stock by the material flow in or
out of the stock. Stocks can stay constant, or they can increase (accumulation
of materials) or decrease (depletion of materials) in size.
Processes are linked by flows (mass per time) or fluxes (mass per time and
cross section) of materials. Flows/fluxes across system boundaries are called
imports or exports. Flows/fluxes of materials entering a process are named
inputs, while those exiting are called outputs.
A system comprises a set of material flows, stocks, and processes within
a defined boundary. The smallest possible system consists of just a single
Introduction 5
1.3 History of MFA
Long before MFA became a tool for the management of resources, wastes,
and the environment, the mass-balance principle has been applied in such
6 Handbook of Material Flow Analysis
(a)
(b)
FIGURE 1.2
The experimental setup of Santorio Santorio (1561–1636) to analyze the material metabolism of
a person. (a) The person is sitting on a chair attached to a scale. The weight of the food and the
person are measured. (b) Despite the fact that all human excreta were collected and weighed,
input A and output B do not balance. What is missing? (Continued)
8 Handbook of Material Flow Analysis
(c)
research questions. And fourth, analytical tools are often not appropriate or
precise enough to measure changes in material balances with the necessary
accuracy.
The first author to use the term metabolism of cities was Abel Wolman in
1965 (Wolman, 1965). He used available US data on consumption and pro-
duction of goods to establish per capita input and output flows for a hypo-
thetical American city of 1 million inhabitants. He linked the large amounts
of wastes that are generated in a city to its inputs. Other authors have been
fascinated, too, by the complex urban metabolism. They developed more spe-
cific methods to quantify the urban turnover of energy and materials, and
investigated the effects of the large flows on resource depletion and the envi-
ronment. Two prominent examples are the study of Brussels by Duvigneaud
and Denayeyer-De Smet (1975) and of Hong Kong by Newcombe, Kalma, and
Aston (1978).
In 1975, Duvigneaud and Denayeyer-De Smet analyzed the city of Brussels
using natural ecosystems as an analogy (Duvigneaud and Denayeyer-De
Smet, 1975). They assessed the total imports and exports of goods such as
fuel, construction materials, food, water, wastes, sewage, emissions, etc.,
in and out of the city, and established an energy balance. The authors con-
cluded that Brussels was highly dependent on its hinterland, the global
economy surrounding the city of Brussels: all energy is imported. Since
solar energy theoretically available within the city equaled all of Brussels’s
energy demand, this dependency could be reduced by shifting from fossil
fuels to solar energy supply. Water produced within the city by precipitation
is not utilized; all drinking water is imported. Materials such as construc-
tion materials and food are not recycled after their use; they are exported
as wastes. The linear flows of energy and materials result in high pollution
loads that deteriorate the quality of water, air, and soil of the city and its sur-
roundings. The authors point out the necessity to change the structures of
cities in a way that improves the utilization of energy and materials, creates
material cycles, and reduces losses to the environment. As does Santorio, for
the health of a person, they conclude that for continual welfare of a city, it is
necessary to know the metabolism of the city. They recognize that only an
interdisciplinary approach will succeed in analyzing, defining, and imple-
menting the necessary measures of change.
Around the same time in the beginning of the 1970s, Newcombe and col-
leagues started their investigation into the metabolism of Hong Kong. This
Asian city was experiencing a rapid transition period of high population
growth and intense economic development due to its privileged position
at the interface between Western trade and Eastern production and man-
ufacturing. Hong Kong was an ideal case for metabolic studies, since city
limits coincide more or less with state boundaries. Thus, in contrast to the
Brussels case, economic data from state statistics were available for an
accurate assessment of the import and export goods of Hong Kong. Also,
Hong Kong differs from Brussels in its high population density, and lower
per capita income and material throughput. The authors found that the
material and energy used for Hong Kong’s infrastructure was about one
order of magnitude smaller than in more developed cities. They conclude
Introduction 11
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