Citation: Annual Review of Energy and the Environment 20: 463–492 1995 Republished in Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition, P. Schulze (ed.), National Academy, Washington, D.C., 1999, pp. 157-174.
PDF Full Text: National Materials Flows and the Environment
The functioning of modern societies requires large flows of materials to satisfy human wants both directly and indirectly; for example, 50kg per day per American. The nature of these flows determines their impact on the natural environment. We develop and test a comprehensive framework to order materials flows in the US economy.
Keywords: dematerialization, material substitution, materials, life cycle, metrics, recycling
Areas of Research: Forests, Farms and Materials