Economics

Material Flow Analysis

Material Flow Analysis

Material flow analysis (MFA) is an analytical method to quantify flows and stocks of resources or substances in a well-defined system. MFA is usually an important tool to analyze the bio-physical tasks of human activities about different spatial and temporal scales. It is considered a core method of industrial ecology and urban metabolism. Typical applications of MFA add the study of stuff, substance, or product flows across distinct industrial sectors or within ecosystems.