Economic accounts and social indicators have aided policymaking in both the public and private sectors for many decades. Here at EarthTrends, we catalogue information about more than 200 countries more than 700 different ways, with numbers showing population levels, energy consumption, economic growth, and ecosystem health.

However, some of the most critical data for good policymaking are not collected or reported in any meaningful or systematic way. Most nations, including the United States, have no way of measuring the volume or composition of wastes disposed of in landfills and incinerators; byproducts from manufacturing activities remain largely ignored unless they are required by national pollutant registries; and little is known, in a physical sense, about the $25 billion in manufactured goods that cross national borders each day.

Material flows analysis (MFA) began over a decade ago to address these data gaps by measuring the extraction, usage, and disposal of several hundred individual commodities. Metals such as arsenic are catalogued alongside natural resources like timber and industrial byproducts. Since then, Japan and several European countries have created extensive national MFA accounts, and isolated studies have been conducted in Asia and Africa. These analyses have revealed some of the hidden risks of materials use and led to specific targets for dematerialization in several countries, including Germany and Japan.

In the United States, material flows analyses have been conducted in 1997, 2000, and again in 2008. The most recent study synthesized existing information over the last quarter of the 20th century (1975-2000) from a variety of U.S. Government sources, including the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Forest Service, the EPA, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In aggregate, these data comprehensively measure U.S. material consumption (see figure 1). More specifically:

• Total material consumption in the U.S. increased 57%, due mainly to an increase in built infrastructure, including residential housing. Total consumption in 2000 totaled 6.5 billion metric tons (20 tons per person).
• The United States' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing faster than its materials use, in part because of a shift to service sector outputs, which accounted for 84% of GDP growth during the study period.
• Total outputs (waste) have increased by 26%, with the most environmentally harmful outputs--synthetic and organic chemicals, radioactive compounds, and heavy metals--increasing by 24% to 16 million tons.

Figure 1. U.S. Materials Use (Direct Material Consumption) from 1975-2000

MFA also allows the study of specific materials in greater detail. For example, cadmium, found in many consumer electronics, poses a threat to the environment and human health if it is released into air or water, especially as a result of incineration. Original U.S. Geological Survey statistics show an apparent decline in cadmium consumption from 3,000 to 2,000 metric tons per year during the study period. However, a full material flow analysis reveals tremendous growth in cadmium imports, mostly in the form of batteries. Nearly two-thirds of cadmium consumption in 2000 can be attributed to battery imports (See figure 2).

Figure 2. Cadmium Use in the United States, 2000 (in metric tons)

While this study of material flows features more detailed information from a broader range of sources than previous studies, significant data gaps remain. Nonetheless, this U.S.-based study, along with the links to European and Japanese accounts below, illustrate the potential of MFA's holistic approach to understanding the physical implications of the extraction, fabrication, use, and disposal of materials worldwide.

RELATED LINKS:

Material Flows in the United States: A Physical Accounting of the U.S. Industrial Economy

Material Flows Accounts: A Tool for Making Environmental Policy

SERI's Material Flow Information Portal

EuroStat's EIONET Portal on Waste and Resource Management

OECD Work on Material Flows and Resource Productivity

EARTHTRENDS LINKS:

Talking Trash: The World's Waste Management Problem

Toxic Trade: The Real Cost of Electronics Waste Exports from the United States

Wasting the Material World: The Impact of Industrial Economies

ET Data Table: Resource Consumption