9
accuracy of these studies, and resource fl ows and stocks are highly dynamic, but the
methodology is fi rm, and the results thereby produced have proven directly relevant
to corporate and public policy (e.g., Pauliuk et al. 2012 ).
3.4 Socioeconomic Metabolism
Industrial ecology is often viewed as a natural science in that it tends to be directed
at the quantifi cation of such things as use of resources, emissions, recycling rates,
and the like. These concerns are, of course, a consequence of human action. This
realization inspired in the early to mid-1990s the specialty of socioeconomic metabolism, in which material input, processing, energy use, and loss are quantifi ed and
viewed from a socio-technical perspective (see Chap. 6 ). The ultimate task of this
area of study is to relate resource transitions to societal change and to prospects for
and measurement of sustainability (Fischer-Kowakski and Haberl 1998 ; Moriguchi
2001 ). A principal manifestation of this approach is the studies of economy-wide
material fl ows at the level of various societal units, often on a national level.
Use of MFA of national economies began to surge in the 1990s, beginning with
those independently developed for Austria (Steurer 1992 ), Germany (Schütz and
Bringezu 1993 ), and Japan (Japanese Environment Agency 1992 ). The material
fl ow balance approach was extended to consider transnational resource extractions
induced by domestic demand and to indicate the total material use of an economy,
including the so-called ecological rucksacks (Bringezu 1993 ; Bringezu and Schütz
1995 ). Bringezu ( 1993 ) related the ecological rucksack idea to national material
fl ow balances, accounting for the ecological rucksacks of domestic production of
raw materials (e.g., unused extraction) and the ecological rucksacks of imports and
exports. This method provided the basis for the fi rst international comparisons
through the Resource Flows report (Adriaanse et al. 1997 ).
National material accounts (NMAs) began with a collaborative study among
researchers from Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States (Adriaanse
et al. 1997 ). An important contribution of this study was the identifi cation and quantifi cation of ecological rucksacks, or “hidden fl ows” – fl ows such as mineral wastes
and agricultural debris. A subsequent effort (Matthews et al. 2000 ) added Austria to
the group of countries that were represented and emphasized waste and hazardous
material outputs.
National MFAs aggregate a variety of material inputs and outputs, generating
thereby a number of indicators for the material use of national economies that have
become internationally standardized, among them “domestic material input (DMI),”
“domestic material consumption (DMC),” and “total material requirement (TMR)”
(Fischer-Kowalski et al. 2011 ).
NMAs have now been completed for many countries and have become a required
output of statistical offi ces in European countries. Bringezu et al. ( 2003 , 2004 ) and
Weisz et al. ( 2006 ) have compared the results of NMAs for a number of countries
and found (among many other features) that the domestic material input per capita
1 Industrial Ecology’s First Decade
accuracy of these studies, and resource fl ows and stocks are highly dynamic, but the
methodology is fi rm, and the results thereby produced have proven directly relevant
to corporate and public policy (e.g., Pauliuk et al. 2012 ).
3.4 Socioeconomic Metabolism
Industrial ecology is often viewed as a natural science in that it tends to be directed
at the quantifi cation of such things as use of resources, emissions, recycling rates,
and the like. These concerns are, of course, a consequence of human action. This
realization inspired in the early to mid-1990s the specialty of socioeconomic metabolism, in which material input, processing, energy use, and loss are quantifi ed and
viewed from a socio-technical perspective (see Chap. 6 ). The ultimate task of this
area of study is to relate resource transitions to societal change and to prospects for
and measurement of sustainability (Fischer-Kowakski and Haberl 1998 ; Moriguchi
2001 ). A principal manifestation of this approach is the studies of economy-wide
material fl ows at the level of various societal units, often on a national level.
Use of MFA of national economies began to surge in the 1990s, beginning with
those independently developed for Austria (Steurer 1992 ), Germany (Schütz and
Bringezu 1993 ), and Japan (Japanese Environment Agency 1992 ). The material
fl ow balance approach was extended to consider transnational resource extractions
induced by domestic demand and to indicate the total material use of an economy,
including the so-called ecological rucksacks (Bringezu 1993 ; Bringezu and Schütz
1995 ). Bringezu ( 1993 ) related the ecological rucksack idea to national material
fl ow balances, accounting for the ecological rucksacks of domestic production of
raw materials (e.g., unused extraction) and the ecological rucksacks of imports and
exports. This method provided the basis for the fi rst international comparisons
through the Resource Flows report (Adriaanse et al. 1997 ).
National material accounts (NMAs) began with a collaborative study among
researchers from Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States (Adriaanse
et al. 1997 ). An important contribution of this study was the identifi cation and quantifi cation of ecological rucksacks, or “hidden fl ows” – fl ows such as mineral wastes
and agricultural debris. A subsequent effort (Matthews et al. 2000 ) added Austria to
the group of countries that were represented and emphasized waste and hazardous
material outputs.
National MFAs aggregate a variety of material inputs and outputs, generating
thereby a number of indicators for the material use of national economies that have
become internationally standardized, among them “domestic material input (DMI),”
“domestic material consumption (DMC),” and “total material requirement (TMR)”
(Fischer-Kowalski et al. 2011 ).
NMAs have now been completed for many countries and have become a required
output of statistical offi ces in European countries. Bringezu et al. ( 2003 , 2004 ) and
Weisz et al. ( 2006 ) have compared the results of NMAs for a number of countries
and found (among many other features) that the domestic material input per capita
1 Industrial Ecology’s First Decade