TOO4TO Module 5 / Sustainable Resource Management: Part 2

TOO4TO MODULE
Sustainable Resource
Management (SRM)
PART 2
2

ANALYSIS OF RESOURCE FLOWS AND
MANAGEMENT
Data; Indicators; Methodologies; Visualization and evaluation
3

Analysis is the base of management
„You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure“ (Peter Drucker)
Analysis of the state of the art, gaps, trends (past and future) and
identification of the interlinkages between different indicators and
factors is essential for the resource management and improvements
towards sustainability.
This part of the module will introduce main methodologies, indicators
and data sources which would be useful for the material flow analysis.
4

Methods and tools
This presentation will describe shortly few of the bellow mentioned methodologies and will
provide the links to the additional references in order to develop a deeper evaluation
competences.
There are various methodologies for
analysis of resources and their
management activities
- Material Flow Analysis
- Material Flow Cost Accounting
- Life Cycle Analysis
- Sustainability Assessment
- Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Input-Output (IO) models
- Sankey Diagram Methodology
and additional methodologies oriented
towards different application scales and
objects and objectives, like:
- Circularity analysis
- Industrial Ecology
- Environmental Impact Analysis
- Impact of sectors on materials flows
(Mass), climate change (Carbon)
and value creation (Value) MCV
Scoreboard
- Risk analysis
- Energy flow analysis
- and etc.
5

Material flow analysis –
method to describe, investigate, and evaluate the metabolism of
anthropogenic and geogenic systems
MFA is one of assessment tools for exploring
resource sustainability.
• MFA connects the sources, the pathways, and
the intermediate and final sinks of material.
The results of MFA can be controlled by a simple
mass balance comparing all inputs, stocks and
outputs of the process, based on the law of
conservation.
• MFA – attractive as a decision-support tool in
resource management, waste& environmental
management and policy assessment.
Material flow analysis is quantification
and assessment of
materials (water, food, excreta,
wastewater) and
substances (nitrogen, phosphorus,
carbon, ...)
mass flows (primary natural resources)
in a (human) system (city, country...)
during a defined period.
6

The objectives of MFA
• Delineate a system of material flows and
stocks by well-defined, uniform terms
• Reduce the complexity of the system as far
as possible while still guaranteeing a basis for
sound decision making
• Assess the relevant flows and stocks in
quantitative terms, thereby applying the
balance principle and revealing sensitivities
and uncertainties
• Present results about flows and stocks of a
system in a reproducible, understandable, and
transparent way
• Use the results as a basis for managing
resources, the environment, and wastes, in
particular for:
o Early recognition of potentially harmful or
beneficial accumulations and depletions of
stocks, as well as for timely prediction of future
environmental loadings
o The setting of priorities regarding measures
for environmental protection, resource
conservation, and waste management (what
is most important; what comes first?)
o The design of goods, processes, and systems
that promote environmental protection,
resource conservation, and waste management
(green design, ecodesign, design for recycling,
design for disposal, etc.)
7

8
The following slides will present
MFA methodology developed by
P.H Brunner and H.Rechberger,
Technical University of Viena
(TU Wien)
The material flow analysis is based
on the so called
“principle of mass conservation”:
input = output ± stock changes
MFA defines terms and
procedures to establish material
balances of systems
Concept of material flow analysis

9
Based on: Practical Handbook of Material Flow Analysis. P.H. Brunner, H. Rechberger.
1. Identification of the relevant
material flows
2. System analysis (selection of the
relevant matter, processes,
indicator substances and system
boundaries)
3. Quantification of mass flows of
matter and indicator substances
4. Identification of weak points in the
system
5. Development and evaluation of
scenarios and schematic
representation, interpretation of
the results
Methodology of MFA - procedures:

10
The exact definition of terms and
procedures is a prerequisite for
generating reproducible and transparent
results and for facilitating
communication among users of MFA.
Main terms of MFA

https://www.stan2web.net/support/mfa-basics/terms#Stoff
• transfer function
• transfer coefficient kx,j
• materials accounting
• activity
• anthroposphere
• anthropogenic substance flow
• geogenic substance flow
• regional substance flow
• source
• sink
• final sink
• substance
• good
• material
• process
• system
• system boundaries
• flow
• stock
• substance flow analysis (SFA)
• material flow analysis (MFA)
• balance (balance of goods and materials)
• input-output-analysis
Terms of MFA

A substance is any (chemical) element or compound composed of uniform
units.
All substances are characterized by a unique and identical constitution and are
thus homogenous (e.g. N, C, Cu, NH4
+, CO2).
In MFA, chemical elements asd compounds both are correctly addressed as
substances.
Using this definition makes clear that “drinking water” is not a substance. It is
composed of substances such as pure water, calcium, and many trace elements.
Even “PVC” is not a substance, because it consists of polyvinyl chloride and
some additives.
Main terms of MFA (1)

Goods are defined as economic entities of matter with a positive or negative
value (e.g. drinking water, fuel oil, and solid waste, sewage, respectively).
The term good describes merchandise and wares.
The opposite of good is not a bad, meaning that waste meaterials are also
goods (noun).
Some goods have no economic value, i.e. they are neutral in their values,
e.g. air, exhaust or precipitation.
Main terms of MFA (2)

The term material serves as an umbrella term for both substances and
goods. Therefore it includes raw materials as well as all physically or
chemically modified substances.
The term material is used in cases where goods and substances are
considered, or when it is not yet clear at which level (goods or substances)
an analysis will take place.
So carbon as well as wood can be addressed as a material.
Terms of MFA (1)

15
https://www.stan2web.net/support/mfa-basics/goods-vs-substances
Flow of good consist substances

Terms of MFA (2)
A process is defined as the
• transformation,
• transport, or
• storage of goods and substances.
Processes are:
• the metabolism of a city, human, or animal
• an activity in a household (e.g. waste
separation), or plant (e.g. waste incineration
furnace, paper mill, landfill)
• an activity in an environmental medium (e.g.
atmosphere, hydrosphere, or soil)
• a service (e.g. collection of residual waste)
Usually, processes are defined as black box
processes, meaning that processes within the
box are not taken into account. Only the inputs
and outputs are of interest.
If the internal processes are of interest, the
process must be divided into two ore more sub-
processes.
note that
some authors prefer the term reservoir
instead of process.
It is not the same!
Reservoir is merely synonym for stock.

process
stock +/-
The total amount of materials stored in a process is designated as the „stock of
materials“.
There are two different types of stocks:
• e.g. the waste in an incineration plant – new waste results in an increase of the stock,
incineration leads to a decrease of the stock
• e.g. the building as part of the infrastructure – a new building results in an increase of
the stock, the demolition of a building makes a decrease of the stock
Terms of MFA (3)

A flow is defined as a “mass flow rate”, i.e. the ratio of mass per time that flows
through a conductor, e.g. a water pipe.
The physical unit of flow might be given in units of kg/sec or t/yr.
A flux is defined as a flow per “cross section”. In MFA, commonly used cross
sections are a person, the surface area of the system, or an entity such as a
private household or enterprise.
The flux might be given in units like kg/(sec.m²).
good /
substance
Terms of MFA (4)

The system is the actual
object of an MFA
investigation
A system is defined by a group of
elements, and the interaction between
these elements.
In MFA, the elements of a
system are named processes and flows.
A system might be an enterprise (e.g.
waste incineration plant), a region, a
nation, or a private household.
In an MFA-system every good
is clearly identified through a process of
origin and a target process.
Terms of MFA (5)

Steel
4,7
5,3
0,8
3,8
3,3 1
<0,1
0,1
0,3
1,4
44 +2,8
100 -1,4 ? +0,2
0,8
0,2
7,2
System boundary “Austria, 2000”
Produc-
tion of
steel
Produc-
tion of
goods
Iron flows [m t/a]
Iron stocks [m t]
Con-
sumption
Products
Steel
Scrap metals
Ore
Waste
mgmt.
Exports
Imports
Consumption
waste
Production waste
Production waste
Scrap metals
Scrap
metals
Steel
Residual
materials
ore
Ore mine Landfills,
dumps
S Imports = 9,4 S Exports = 8,0
Stocks = 140 + 1,4
Example of a system

The system boundaries are defined in time and space (temporal and spatial system
boundaries).
Commonly applied temporal boundaries for anthropogenic systems such as an
enterprise, a city, or a nation, periods of 1 year are chosen for reasons of data
availability. It also could be 1 s for consumption process, to 1000 years for landfills.
The spatial system boundary is usually fixed by the geographical area in which the
processes are located.
Flows into a system are called imports,
flows leaving a system are exports.
Terms of MFA (6)

Delivered waste
Rejected waste
Waste for landfill
Residues
Light fraction
Iron scrap
Waste for recycling
Waste
collector
Delivery
Magnetic
separator,
sifter
Sorting Shredding
Recycling
Incineration
Landfill
System boundary ”waste disposal firm"
Sccepted
waste
Waste to shredder
Shredded
waste
Exhaust
Spatial system boundary

Delivered waste
Rejected waste
Waste for landfill
Residues
Light fraction
Iron scrap
Waste for recycling
0,2
1,3
10
0,5
9,3
3,6
2,1
3,2
0,9
0,6
2,5
<0,01
3,6
Waste
collector
Delivery Magnetic
separator,
sifter
Sorting Shredding
Recycling
Incineration
Landfill
System boundary ”waste disposal firm"
Accepted
waste
Waste to
shredder
Shredded
waste
Exhaust
Flows: 1000 t/yr
Stocks: 1000 t
Temporal system boundary

http://www.stan2web.net/
STAN (short for subSTance flow
ANalysis) is a freeware that helps to
perform material flow analysis according
to the Austrian standard ÖNorm S 2096
(Material flow analysis - Application in
waste management).
More information: manual, examples,
key points of MFA methodology, video
tutorials and the software STAN could
be found at the website:
MFA – software
STAN

• STAN enables the building of graphical models by using predefined components
(processes, flows, system boundary, text fields). After the input or import of known
data (mass flows, stocks, concentrations, transfer coefficients) for different layers
(good, substance, energy) and periods, unknown quantities can be computed. All
flows can be displayed in Sankey-style, i.e. the width of a flow is proportional to its
value. The graphical picture of the model can be printed or exported. For data import
and export, Microsoft Excel is used as an interface.
• Specialists have the possibility to consider data uncertainties. The calculation
algorithm uses mathematical statistical tools such as data reconciliation and error
propagation.
• STAN is available in German and English.
• Note, that STAN works on Windows operating systems only.
MFA – software STAN

Rivers
ARA
Forest
soil
Top
soil
Settlem.
area
Imports 340 Exports 280
Regional system boundary “Lower Bünztal“
Landfills
Sewer
system
Water
Consumer goods
Car wrecks
House-
hold
Atmos-
phere
Industry
D Stocks ~ 1 000 + 60
water
Filter dust &
construction steel
Solid waste
0.5
0.6
0.2
150+0.6 240+0.9 30+0.2
7
~600+60
5.6
>330
0.6 0.5
2
0.6
0.05
0.9
1.6
60
0.3
0.14
0.15 0.45 >270
Lead [t/yr]
Example of a
regional MFA (1)

Raw products
Consumption waste
Imported raw materials
imported products
Imported raw products
Recycling material
Exported products
Exported raw products
Exported ore
Production waste RP1
Products
ore waste
production waste
RP2
Production waste GP
Exported waste
* Stocks of waste dumps: not estimated
19
4,9
5,3
7,8
2,3
5,5
5,1
3,0
0 1
10
Flows [kg Cu/cap.yr]
Stocks [kg Cu/cap] 13
0
0,6
0,13
0
160-270 +6 60 +1
L E
System boundary “copper cycle Austria"
Imported waste,
ashes, residues
1
Production of
raw products
Production
of goods
Waste
management
Lithosphere
+ mining
Consumption
Waste dump*
+ landfills
Döberl et al. 2005
Example of a regional MFA (2)

1. Accumulation of P
2. Main sink: soil
3. River: doubling of P load
4. Efficiencies of AP & AS
5. WWTP: raise efficiency
6. Composting of MSW
7. Sewage sludge to soil
109
River
WWTP
Sewer
PBL
3
17
10,000+68
38
19
Plant-
product.
Industry
Landfill
Private
household 21
?
85
28
13
74
19 >40
?
100
45
3+x
30
x
78
24
System Boundary „Bunz Valley, 1987“
S Input = 232 Stock =1000 + 64 S Output = 168
17
Agricult
soil
Animal-
product.
>61
Animal feed
Surface water Surface water
Food
Fertilizer
Cereals, vege-
tables, fruits
Meat, milk, eggs
Industrial products
Food
Flows [t/yr]
Stocks [t]
P
<2
MSW
Sewage sludge
Manure
Plants
take up
Animal feed
Example of a regional MFA (3)

MFA application
• Company, regional, national and global level
• Statistics – for identification of the economic activities
• Statistics – for the evaluation of the recourse use, intensity, scarcity and etc.
• Circularity indicators – global and national Circularity Gap Reports;
• The level of circularity can be measured considering different groups of raw
materials
• The resulting Sankey diagrams will feed into the EC's Raw Material Information
System's (RMIS) MFA module (currently in development) to better visualize
related material flows for the EU and at individual country level.
29

30
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/development-sankey-diagram-material-flows-eu-economy-based-eurostat-data
Four major material
categories:
1. Metals;
2. Construction minerals;
3. Industrial minerals;
4. Biomass (timber and
products from biomass))
One of the prerequisites for better
monitoring materials use across the whole
life-cycle is a good understanding of
material stocks and flows.
The goal of this report is to show how
readily available statistical information can
be used to generate a Sankey diagram of
material flows and their circularity in the 28
member states of the European Union
(EU-28) for the period 2004 to 2014
(with future updates possible as new
statistical data sets become available)
Development of a Sankey Diagram of Material
Flows in the EU Economy based on Eurostat Data

Using existing data and information, it is possible to generate Sankey diagrams providing a “bird-eyes” view on the flows and
net additions to stocks of major non-energy and non-food material categories in the EU (as well as at member state level) for
different years and show their level of circularity.
Sankey diagram

Different MFA indicatorss used in the statistics (1)
• Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) provide an
aggregate overview, in thousand tonnes per year, of the material flows
into and out of an economy. EW-MFA covers solid, gaseous, and liquid
materials, except for bulk flows of water and air.
• EW-MFA data are downloadable from Eurostat's online database
32

33
• Raw Materials Equivalent (RME) Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) do
not provide an entirely accurate picture of global material footprints because they record
the international flows of materials differently than the materials extracted from the
environment (called domestic extraction in EW-MFA). Imports and exports are recorded
in material flow accounts as the actual weight of the traded goods when they cross
country borders instead of the weight of materials extracted to produce them. As the
former are lower than the latter economy-wide, material flow accounts and the derived
DMC underestimate the material footprint. To adjust for this, the weight of processed
goods traded internationally is converted into the corresponding raw material
extractions they induce.
MFA-RME data are downloadable from Eurostat's online database
Different MFA indicatorss used in the statistics (2)

34
• Material System Analysis (MSA) Consists of a map of the flows of materials through the
economy, as raw materials or as parts of basic materials, components or products, in
terms of entry into the economy (extraction and import), movement through the
economy (production, consumption, exports), additions to stock, and end-of-life through
either disposal or recovery.
An MSA also includes information about the sustainability of the use of materials and the
security of supply.
The Material System Analysis will include the materials consumed in the EU-28 and their
associated flows over the entire life cycle, including exploration, extraction, processing,
manufacturing, use, and end of life disposal and treatment.
A detailed description of the methodology can be found in MSA Methodology.
Different MFA indicators used in the statistics (3)

MCV Scorecard
The impact of different sectors on materials flows (Mass), climate change (Carbon) and value
creation (Value) can be estimated to inform a decision on the sectors having a high priority for
circularity. This information is plotted on a "MCV Scorecard". Based on that different sectors can be
prioritesed based on the volume of the associated material flows, but also their environmental impact
and economic importance. (Circle Economy)
35

37
• materialflows.net is an online portal for national material flow data and
state of the art visualizations and analyses hosted by Vienna University
of Economics and Business (WU Vienna).
• The website is based on the UN IRP Global Material Flows Database.
Data and visualizations cover more than 200 countries, the time period of
1970 to 2017, and more than 300 different materials aggregated into 13
categories of material flows.
http://www.materialflows.net/

38
Growing concern about
assuring affordable, equitable
and environmentally
sustainable access to natural
resources is well founded. In
this report we show global
natural resource use trends
and propose indicators for
evidence-based policy
formulation.
UNEP Report. Global Material Flows and Resource
Productivity (with database link)

39
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites/default/files/medien/377/publi
kationen/161025_ressourcenbericht_en.pdf
https://www.resourcepanel.org/file/423/download?token=Av9xJsGS

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