IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hub/wpecon/200913.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Applying MFA in company level: an empirical study

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Lina

    (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB), Belgium
    School of Economics Management, Liaoning University of Technology, Jinzhou, Liaoning Province, P.R.China;)

  • Milis, Koen

    (Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel (HUB), Belgium
    Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)

Abstract

Material flows analysis method (MFA) is used regularly in tracing and estimating domestic and international natural resources usage. The paper demonstrates that the MFA method is also an appropriate tool to analyze and manage natural resources flows within a company. This article examines the use of MFA to model and manage the use of natural resources within a large Chinese chemical company. This company -which is situated within the China-ecology industry zone- provides an excellent example of how MFA can be used to analyze and manage the economical, environmental and socio-economic consequences of industrial production.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Lina & Milis, Koen, 2009. "Applying MFA in company level: an empirical study," Working Papers 2009/13, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:hub:wpecon:200913
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://lirias.hubrussel.be/bitstream/123456789/2482/1/09HRP13.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hubacek, Klaus & Giljum, Stefan, 2003. "Applying physical input-output analysis to estimate land appropriation (ecological footprints) of international trade activities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 137-151, February.
    2. Schandl, Heinz & Schulz, Niels, 2000. "Using material flow accounting to operationalize the concept of society’s metabolism: a preliminary MFA for the United Kingdom for the period of 1937-1997," ISER Working Paper Series 2000-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    3. Korhonen, Jouni & Wihersaari, Margareta & Savolainen, Ilkka, 2001. "Industrial ecosystem in the Finnish forest industry: using the material and energy flow model of a forest ecosystem in a forest industry system," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 145-161, October.
    4. Spangenberg, Joachim H. & Bonniot, Odile, 1998. "Sustainability indicators: A compass on the road towards sustainability," Wuppertal Papers 81, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.
    5. Scasny, Milan & Kovanda, Jan & Hak, Tomas, 2003. "Material flow accounts, balances and derived indicators for the Czech Republic during the 1990s: results and recommendations for methodological improvements," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 41-57, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heming Wang & Qiang Yue & Zhongwu Lu & Helmut Schuetz & Stefan Bringezu, 2013. "Total Material Requirement of Growing China: 1995–2008," Resources, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Cheng, Shengkui & Xu, Zengrang & Su, Yun & Zhen, Lin, 2010. "Spatial and temporal flows of China's forest resources: Development of a framework for evaluating resource efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1405-1415, May.
    3. Bringezu, Stefan & Schutz, Helmut & Steger, Soren & Baudisch, Jan, 2004. "International comparison of resource use and its relation to economic growth: The development of total material requirement, direct material inputs and hidden flows and the structure of TMR," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 97-124, November.
    4. Liu, Lan-Cui & Wu, Gang, 2013. "Relating five bounded environmental problems to China's household consumption in 2011–2015," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 427-433.
    5. Marileena Koskela & Jarmo Vehmas, 2012. "Defining Eco‐efficiency: A Case Study on the Finnish Forest Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(8), pages 546-566, December.
    6. Tong, Chuan & Song, Guo B. & Chen, Bao R. & Ye, Wen H., 2008. "Macroeconomic efficiency of use of non-renewable resources in the industrial economy during a period of rapid economic growth in China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 737-746.
    7. Korhonen, Jouni & Snakin, Juha-Pekka, 2005. "Analysing the evolution of industrial ecosystems: concepts and application," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 169-186, January.
    8. Fuyuan Wang & Kaiyong Wang, 2017. "Assessing the Effect of Eco-City Practices on Urban Sustainability Using an Extended Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study in Xi’an, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Papathanasopoulou, Eleni & Jackson, Tim, 2008. "Fossil resource trade balances: Emerging trends for the UK," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2-3), pages 492-505, June.
    10. Chengpeng Lu & Xiaoli Pan & Xingpeng Chen & Jinhuang Mao & Jiaxing Pang & Bing Xue, 2021. "Modeling of Waste Flow in Industrial Symbiosis System at City-Region Level: A Case Study of Jinchang, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    11. Andriantiatsaholiniaina, Luc A. & Kouikoglou, Vassilis S. & Phillis, Yannis A., 2004. "Evaluating strategies for sustainable development: fuzzy logic reasoning and sensitivity analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 149-172, February.
    12. Olivier E. Malay, 2021. "How to Articulate Beyond GDP and Businesses’ Social and Environmental Indicators?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 1-25, May.
    13. Wiedmann, Thomas, 2009. "A first empirical comparison of energy Footprints embodied in trade -- MRIO versus PLUM," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1975-1990, May.
    14. Li, Huiquan & Bao, Weijun & Xiu, Caihong & Zhang, Yi & Xu, Hongbin, 2010. "Energy conservation and circular economy in China's process industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 4273-4281.
    15. Palander, Teijo & Haavikko, Hanna & Kärhä, Kalle, 2018. "Towards sustainable wood procurement in forest industry – The energy efficiency of larger and heavier vehicles in Finland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 100-118.
    16. Lilian Albornoz Mendoza & Rafael Ortiz Pech & Rodolfo Canto Sáenz, 2020. "La insostenibilidad del desarrollo en las entidades federativas de México. (The Unsustainability of the Development in Mexican States)," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(1), pages 59-86, May.
    17. Schandl, Heinz & Schulz, Niels, 2002. "Changes in the United Kingdom's natural relations in terms of society's metabolism and land-use from 1850 to the present day," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 203-221, May.
    18. Jan Kovanda & Tomas Hak, 2008. "Changes in Materials Use in Transition Economies," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 12(5-6), pages 721-738, October.
    19. Khan Eijaz Ahmed & Quaddus Mohammed, 2015. "Development and Validation of a Scale for Measuring Sustainability Factors of Informal Microenterprises – A Qualitative and Quantitative Approach," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 5(4), pages 347-372, October.
    20. Mubako, Stanley & Lahiri, Sajal & Lant, Christopher, 2013. "Input–output analysis of virtual water transfers: Case study of California and Illinois," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 230-238.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    MFA; ecology; management;
    All these keywords.

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hub:wpecon:200913. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sabine Janssens (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emhubbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.