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2 Material Flows Accounting Definitions and System Structure
Pages 17-32

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From page 17... ... Outputs to the environment generally include all materials that flow into the environment from the system either during or after production or consumption processes. One of the purposes of establishing a material flows accounting system is for examining flows to achieve a mass balance for one, some, or all materials of interest, which requires memorandum items for balancing. Read the entire page →
From page 18... ... can be tracked accurately. As with financial accounts, material flows accounts include inputs, outputs, and accumulations in stocks and could, if implemented through well-defined procedures, become critical for calculating mass balances for targeted systems, creating trends in various derived indicators, planning public policy initiatives, and making decisions on key public policy issues. Read the entire page →
From page 19... ... Ultimately the usefulness of material flows analyses depends directly on the quality of material flows accounts. EXISTING DEFINITIONS Three useful sources of definitional information are the New lersey INFORM report, Tracking Toxic Chemicals: The Value of Materials Accounting Data (Dorfman and Wise, 1997~; the international collaborative study on resource flows, Resource Flows: The Material Basis of Industrial Economies (Adriaanse et al., 1997~; and the European Union methodological guide for economy-wide material flows accounts, Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts and Derived Indicators: A Methodological Guide (Eurostat, 2001~. Read the entire page →
From page 21... ... ~~[ F[~ ~CCO~G DEWS ~~ Saw SIRES 21 Energy t ~ Recover ~ red Bought \ On-S11n / ~ ~ ~ . Starting inventory ) Read the entire page →
From page 22... ... The European Union guidelines describe the key terms as follows: � Economy-wide material flows accounts and economy-wide material balances ". Read the entire page →
From page 23... ... to nature: \ � emissions to air \ � waste landfilled > � emissions to water / � dissipative flows / unused domestic extraction Read the entire page →
From page 24... ... Only flows that cross the system boundary of the economy are recorded" (Eurostat, 2001~. In summary, the European Union makes a distinction between material flows accounts and physical input output tables: � Material flows accounts cover flows into and out of the economy as a whole as well as accumulations. Read the entire page →
From page 25... ... As noted previously, hidden flows are comprised of excavated and/or disturbed materials and ancillary material flows that are ignored in economic flows accounts because they do not have economic value. An example of a hidden flow is the relocation of soil and rock strata that overlay a mineral deposit. Read the entire page →
From page 26... ... Physical input-output tables, in turn, can be linked with economic input-output tables, which track only the economic flows or exchanges within the system in monetary terms (see Chapter 3~. For example, an economy-wide material flows account for copper might trace the following: � the flow of copper into the national economy as domestic input (e.g., from an Arizona copper mine) Read the entire page →
From page 27... ... ~ .. Physical InputOutput Table FIGURE 2.2 Relationship of physical input-output tables to material flows accounts. Read the entire page →
From page 28... ... m FIGURE 2.3 The relationship among economic input-output tables, physical put-output tables, and material flows accounts. The major arrow and triangle figures represent the same entities as shown in Figure 2.1. Read the entire page →
From page 29... ... European Union System Structure The detailed structure of proposed material flows accounts, a synthesis of approaches by member states of the European Union for eventual standardization, is presented in Chapter 3 of Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts and Derived Indicators: A Methodological Guide (Eurostat, 2001~. In preparing to develop material flows accounts, the structure is defined by Read the entire page →
From page 30... ... Since recycling data are sparse at present in the European Union, Eurostat recommended establishment of subaccounts, which may be implemented in material balance calculations when the accounts are sufficiently developed. New lersey System Structure New lersey's law, mentioned earlier, requires reporting of facilities for chemicals at threshold levels similar to reporting requirements under the Toxics Release Inventory. Read the entire page →
From page 31... ... Ultimately the key to forming and using material flows accounts successfully is to collect detailed data according to a defined structure on the quantities of targeted materials, their composition, their origin and destination, and other associated, salient characteristics such as toxicity. The next chapter examines the broader context for material and energy flows information. Read the entire page →
From page 32... ... Research issues are presented comprehensively in Chapter 7. DETAILS OF ACCOUNTING SYSTEM STRUCTURE Beginning with Austria, the structure of economy-wide material flows accounts has been explored in Europe since the early 1990s (Steurer, 1992~. Read the entire page →

From page 17...

... Outputs to the environment generally include all materials that flow into the environment from the system either during or after production or consumption processes. One of the purposes of establishing a material flows accounting system is for examining flows to achieve a mass balance for one, some, or all materials of interest, which requires memorandum items for balancing.

2 Material Flows Accounting Definitions and System Structure Pages 17-32

2 Material Flows Accounting Definitions and System Structure
Pages 17-32