search query: @indexterm ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION / total: 1121
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Author: | Arto, I. |
Title: | Using total material requirement to reduce the global environment burden |
Journal: | Journal of industrial ecology
2009 : OCT, VOL 13:5 p. 775-790 |
Index terms: | Spain materials management sustainable development environmental protection |
Freeterms: | tin industrial ecology |
Language: | eng |
Abstract: | Total material requirement (TMR), measuring all of the material input a national economy requires, is sometimes criticized for not linking material flows within an economy to their global environmental impacts. This article demonstrates a three-step method for bridging this gap. The method reveals how to (1) analyze TMR accounts to recognize potentially environmentally relevant flows (PERF), that is, material flows with potential environmental effects abroad; (2) evaluate the socioenvironmental impacts of the recognized PERF; and (3) define the main economic activities underlying these PERF. With the method we are able to add an environmental dimension to TMR accounts and to create a connection between economic activities and their socioenvironmental global impacts. This methodology has been applied in the Basque Country (BC) region in Spain. An in-depth trend analysis in the TMR of the BC reveals tin imports associated with tin capsule production accounting for around 7% of the TMR. These high figures result from the substantial hidden flows (HF) of tin imports, which indicates potential environmental impacts abroad. It is found that tin extraction and concentration involve several social and environmental effects such as waste generation, soil, water, and air pollution, and child labor, located in Indonesia, China, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Thailand. |
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