Mapping the anthropogenic stock in Germany: Metabolic evidence for a circular economy

Schiller, Georg; Müller, Felix; Ortlepp, Regine

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.08.007

Cited by 96 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Aggregate material stocks have been modelled from long-term historical material flow data [26,33,34]. Combinations of bottom-up and top-down approaches have recently been published, showing the complexity of adequately capturing all in-use stock dynamics and linking them to economy-wide material flows [91,94]. The distinction between material flows for dissipative use from stock-building materials allowed assessing potentials for a circular economy [36,94].…”

Section: Recent Progress In Quantifying Socioeconomic Materials Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Combinations of bottom-up and top-down approaches have recently been published, showing the complexity of adequately capturing all in-use stock dynamics and linking them to economy-wide material flows [91,94]. The distinction between material flows for dissipative use from stock-building materials allowed assessing potentials for a circular economy [36,94]. Recently the drivers of economy-wide stock accumulation were investigated for Japan's prefectures [35] and a typology of the dynamics of stock accumulation was developed [34].…”

Section: Recent Progress In Quantifying Socioeconomic Materials Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

et al. 2017

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Fundamental changes in the societal use of biophysical resources are required for a sustainability transformation. Current socioeconomic metabolism research traces flows of energy, materials or substances to capture resource use: input of raw materials or energy, their fate in production and consumption, and the discharge of wastes and emissions. This approach has yielded important insights into eco-efficiency and long-term drivers of resource use. But socio-metabolic research has not yet fully incorporated material stocks or their services, hence not completely exploiting the analytic power of the metabolism concept. This commentary argues for a material stock-flow-service nexus approach focused on the analysis of interrelations between material and energy flows, socioeconomic material stocks ("in-use stocks of materials") and the services provided by specific stock/flow combinations. Analyzing the interrelations between stocks, flows and services will allow researchers to develop highly innovative indicators of eco-efficiency and open new research directions that will help to better understand biophysical foundations of transformations towards sustainability.

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Section: Recent Progress In Quantifying Socioeconomic Materials Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recent Progress In Quantifying Socioeconomic Materials Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Using this data it is possible to calculate material flows into and out of the stock. However, up to now these methods have either neglected the question of waste materials or only taken account of it in rough fashion [11]. Such limitations can be remedied by designing expanded models that make use of coefficients.…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The vast majority of anthropogenic stocks and flows are building materials related to the construction, operation and demolition of buildings and infrastructures [11], [14]. A number of MFA studies have already investigated the built environment by analyzing stocks and flows and their dynamics [13], [15], [16].…”

Section: Research Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantification of anthropogenic metabolism using spatially differentiated continuous MFA

Schiller¹,

Gruhler²,

Ortlepp³

2017

Change and Adaptation in Socio-Ecological Systems

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Coefficient-based, bottom-up material flow analysis is a suitable tool to quantify inflows, outflows and stock dynamics of materials used by societies, and thus can deliver strategic knowledge needed to develop circular economy policies. Anthropogenic stocks and flows are mostly of bulk nonmetallic mineral materials related to the construction, operation and demolition of buildings and infrastructures. Consequently, it is important to be able to quantify circulating construction materials to help estimate the mass of secondary materials which can be recovered such as recycled aggregates (RA) for fresh concrete in new buildings. Yet as such bulk materials are high volume but of low unit value, they are generally produced and consumed within a region. Loops are thus bounded not only by qualitative and technical restrictions but also spatially to within regions. This paper presents a regionalized continuous MFA (C-MFA) approach taking account of these restrictions of local consumption, quality standards and technical limitations, illustrated using the example of Germany. Outflows and inflows of stocks are quantified at county level and generalized by regional type, considering demand and supply for recycled materials. Qualitative and technical potentials of recycling loops are operationalized by defining coefficients to reflect waste management technologies and engineering standards. Results show that 48% of outflows of concrete and bricks are suitable for high-quality recycling, while 52% of outflows do not fulfill the quality requirement and must be recovered or disposed of elsewhere. The achievable inflow to RA is limited by the building activity as well as the requirements of the construction industry, e.g. the RA fraction of fresh concrete must not exceed 32%. In addition, there exist spatial disparities in construction across the country. In Germany, such disparities mean that there will be a shortfall in RA of 6.3 Gt by the year 2020, while the technically available but unusable RA (due to a regional mismatch of potential supply and demand) will total 3.2 Gt. Comprehensive recycling strategies have to combine high-quality recycling with other lower-grade applications for secondary raw materials. Particularly in the case of building materials, essential constraints are not only technical but also local conditions of construction and demolition. These interrelations should be identified and integrated into a comprehensive system to manage the social metabolism of materials in support of circular economy policies.

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Heizungsanlagen in Nichtwohngebäuden aus Materialflussperspektive – Dynamik und Bestand am Beispiel der Heizungsleitungen

Krauß

Schiller

2016

Bauphysik

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Mapping the anthropogenic stock in Germany: Metabolic evidence for a circular economy

Cited by 96 publications

References 17 publications

The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

Quantification of anthropogenic metabolism using spatially differentiated continuous MFA

Heizungsanlagen in Nichtwohngebäuden aus Materialflussperspektive – Dynamik und Bestand am Beispiel der Heizungsleitungen

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