Using Material Flow Analysis for Sustainable Materials Management: Part of the Equation for Priority Setting
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Papers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2009 Using Material Flow Analysis for Sustainable Materials Management: Part of the Equation for Priority Setting Frederick W. Allen U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, [email protected] Priscilla A. Halloran U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Angela H. Leith U.S. Environmental Protection Agency M. Clare Lindsay U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usepapapers Allen, Frederick W.; Halloran, Priscilla A.; Leith, Angela H.; and Lindsay, M. Clare, "Using Material Flow Analysis for Sustainable Materials Management: Part of the Equation for Priority Setting" (2009). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Papers. 114. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usepapapers/114 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Papers by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. MATERIAL FLOW ANALYSIS Using Material Flow Analysis for Sustainable Materials Management Part of the Equation for Priority Setting Frederick W. Allen, Priscilla A. Halloran, Angela H. Leith and M. Clare Lindsay Many possible applications exist for material use, reuse, and dispose of the full range of materi- flow analysis (MFA). One of them is to help with als that come from and return to the Earth, such as sustainable materials management (SMM), a wood, minerals, nonrenewable fuels, chemicals, familiar concept to the readers of this journal— agricultural plants and animals, soil, and rock. “an approach to serving human needs by using/ Society uses vast amounts of materials and those reusing resources most productively and sustain- amounts are rapidly increasing, raising and/or ably throughout their potentially exacerbat- life cycles, generally MFA can offer many insights and ing a variety of critical minimizing the amo- should be an important part of priority resource and environ- unt of materials invol- mental issues. ved and all the asso- setting for sustainable materials man- In 2002, recognizing ciated environmental agement. However, since it only illu- the seriousness of these impacts” (EPA 2009). minates some of the issues that concern issues, the U.S. Envi- Governments and ronmental Protection industries around the policy makers with regard to materials Agency (EPA) pub- world are stepping up management, it must be used in con- lished a report, Be- their efforts to manage junction with other types of data. yond RCRA: Waste and materials sustainably. Materials Management But where should governments start? How should in the Year 2020 (EPA 2002). One of the key they set priorities on what materials to address? findings was that society should shift focus away A few hundred basic materials are transformed from managing waste toward managing materi- into many thousands of products, making priority als. When we address waste we often miss the setting critical and challenging. A recent analysis chance to make a difference far up the materi- indicates that MFA can and should be part of the als chain where many of the impacts of materials equation for priority setting, but only part. are initially generated. Although there will al- ways be some waste, the best way to conserve re- sources and reduce the impacts of resource use is Background to address the entire life cycle of materials, look- It is hard to overstate the economic and en- ing to improve materials choices and anticipat- vironmental significance of how people extract, ing resource conservation and recovery at every step. In 2007, the EPA decided it was time to de- c 2009 by Yale University. No claim to original US government works. velop a roadmap describing how the EPA and the DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2009.00168.x states might move more quickly toward SMM and Volume 13, Number 5 formed a workgroup of career staff from around 662 Journal of Industrial Ecology www.blackwellpublishing.com/jie MATERIAL FLOW ANALYSIS the agency and from four state environmental On this point the workgroup generally agreed agencies to accomplish this task. The workgroup with the conclusions reached by several other completed its report, Sustainable Materials Man- groups (e.g., Van der Voet et al. 2004), but the agement: The Road Ahead, in 2009 (EPA 2009). workgroup then chose to proceed with its analysis The report emphasized that life cycle materi- somewhat differently from earlier groups. als management casts a far broader net than tradi- Seeking to create a suitable analytic frame- tional government programs (usually focused on work for priority setting, the workgroup re- single media, such as air, water, and waste, and viewed several recent efforts, including one by the on single stages of the life cycle) and represents European Commission, the Environmental Im- a change toward more integrated environmental pacts of Products (EIPRO) study (Tukker and protection. The recommendations detailed mea- Jansen 2006). The EIPRO study identified prod- sures that the EPA and state agencies can take ucts used by households and government (final with current legal authorities, efforts needed to consumption) that potentially cause the great- build capacity to manage materials in the future, est life cycle environmental impacts, considering and ways to accelerate the public dialogue nec- various categories of impacts (e.g., global warm- essary to start a generation-long shift in how we ing potential and several forms of human and manage materials and create a green, resilient and ecological toxicity). competitive economy. The primary data source for EIPRO was the One specific recommendation was to “select Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive a few materials and/or products where an inte- (CEDA), which uses U.S. Bureau of Economic grated life-cycle materials management approach Analysis (BEA) input-output tables as its baseline could possibly achieve significant benefits for the list of materials, products, and services and offers a environment and reduce resource use,” based on high-level view of environmental impacts across an analysis of opportunities and likely collabora- the economy. The environmental impact infor- tion by key stakeholders, and then launch efforts mation is obtained by connecting data on mon- to demonstrate the benefits of life cycle materials etary flows and peer reviewed data on physical management (EPA 2009). It was in the context flows and environmental impacts associated with of these demonstration projects that the issue of the monetary transactions—for instance, emis- priority setting and the use of MFA arose. sions of CO2 or emissions of toxics to water. The results, based partially on MFA-type information, allow the user to compare environmental impacts The Analysis of such diverse materials, products, and services From the start the workgroup sought to focus as feed grains, pulp mills, textiles, metals, eating on materials and the ramifications of their flows establishments, and hospitals (Suh 2005). through the economy. In taking a systems view, After looking at several options, the work- it became clear that priority setting had to take group decided to use the latest version of CEDA into account the full life cycle of materials and (3.0) and adopted the BEA’s list of 480 com- products, the amounts of materials involved, the modities (materials, products, and services) as its inputs of energy and water resources along the life classification scheme. The new version of CEDA cycle, the amounts of material waste and included 13 environmental impacts as well as en- the associated environmental impacts all along ergy use. It also enabled the workgroup to ex- the materials/product chain. Policy makers are amine the 480 commodities from three different very concerned with all of these aspects. perspectives: “direct impact/resource use/waste,” MFA clearly is useful here, but it can only “intermediate consumption,” and “final con- be part of the equation for priority setting. MFA sumption.” All the perspectives examine every can illuminate the amounts of materials involved stage of the life cycle, but they yield different and the amounts of material waste, but it does results. The first perspective measures direct im- not include all the information necessary to as- pacts throughout the life cycle and does not in- sess potential impacts on human health and the clude embedded impacts. It is more likely to high- environment or energy and water consumption. light raw materials and intermediate products at Allen, Using Material Flow Analysis for Sustainable Materials Management 663 MATERIAL FLOW ANALYSIS early stages in the life cycle where their uses are and development, food products and services, widely dispersed throughout the economy. The forestry, metals, nonrenewable organics, textiles, second perspective measures accumulated (direct and a small group of miscellaneous products and plus embedded) impacts throughout the life cycle services. and provides insights into impacts that accumu- Because the analysis was quite innovative and late in a product, whether it is intended for in- complex, the workgroup submitted it for indepen- termediate or final consumption. The third per- dent peer review. The reviewers agreed with the spective measures embedded impacts associated overall approach