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46 Substance <strong>flow</strong> <strong>analysis</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>recycling</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>small</strong> WEEE<br />

2.5. Mapping metal <strong>flow</strong>s related to WEEE<br />

2.5.1. Substance <strong>flow</strong> analyses in previous studies<br />

Material <strong>flow</strong> <strong>analysis</strong> (MFA) is a systematic assessment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>flow</strong>s and stocks <strong>of</strong> materials<br />

within a system defined in time and space (Brunner & Rechberger 2004). The term material<br />

stands both for chemical substances and goods, where ‘goods’ are mixtures <strong>of</strong> substances<br />

that have economic values assigned by markets (Brunner & Rechberger 2004). A substance<br />

<strong>flow</strong> <strong>analysis</strong> (SFA), which aims at tracking substances within a system, is a specific kind <strong>of</strong><br />

MFA. The historic background and a detailed overview <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> concepts <strong>of</strong> MFA and SFA are<br />

available in Brunner & Rechberger (2004), Van der Voet (1996) and Udo de Haes et al.<br />

(2000). EEA (2002) provided a four-step method based on SFA to calculate emissions <strong>of</strong><br />

dangerous substances and materials (mercury, lead, cadmium and persistent organic<br />

pollutants) from WEEE treatment.<br />

Loeschau (2006) differentiates <strong>the</strong> regional approach and <strong>the</strong> life-cycle approach to define<br />

system boundaries <strong>of</strong> analyses <strong>of</strong> <strong>waste</strong> management systems (Figure 8). The regional<br />

approach focuses on <strong>the</strong> <strong>flow</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>waste</strong> that are generated, collected and treated in a region,<br />

which means that <strong>the</strong> <strong>waste</strong> treated in ano<strong>the</strong>r region is not considered. The life-cycle<br />

approach follows <strong>the</strong> <strong>waste</strong> from generation to <strong>the</strong> last steps <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>waste</strong> management, even<br />

though some <strong>waste</strong> management processes do not take place in <strong>the</strong> region. In this case, <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>waste</strong> treated in <strong>the</strong> region but generated outside <strong>the</strong> region is not considered. For<br />

sustainable <strong>waste</strong> management, <strong>the</strong> life-cycle approach (called ‘end-<strong>of</strong>-life <strong>recycling</strong><br />

approach’ by Heinrich (2007)) makes sense, because negative impacts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>waste</strong> should<br />

be minimized regardless <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> place where <strong>the</strong>se impacts occur (Loeschau 2006). Life-cycle<br />

thinking is required for <strong>waste</strong> policy (COM 2005) and, <strong>the</strong>refore, for research aiming at<br />

providing data for policy-making.

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