Material flow accounts indicating environmental pressure from economic sectors

Abstract

The environmental performance of human activities is largely determined by the quantity and quality of the associated material flows. The extraction of raw materials, on the one hand, and the emissions of waste materials on the other, exert pressures on the environment. The material input to the economy (from nature) and the material output to the environment (from the economy) can be accounted for in a balanced manner. Based on recent data on the overall material flow account of Germany, the policy relevant information that can be derived from such kinds of physical satellite accounts is described. In order to avoid a shifting of environmental problems to other regions, the linkage of material flows with the production of imports and exports (their ‘ecological rucksacks’) have to be considered.