Man and Materials flows

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Man and Materials Flows
Man and Materials Flows
Nature’s turnover of materials
Human-caused material flows
Towards sustainable materials management
The unbalanced carbon cycle – a global problem
Nutrients flows and environmental threats
The valuable metals

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Literature
Man and Materials Flows. Towards sustainable materials management. S.Karlsson (Ed.) – Uppsala: BUP, 1997. – 52 p.
Вайцзеккер Э., Ловинс Э.Б., Ловинс Л.Х. Фактор четыре. Затрат — половина, отдача — двойная. – Москва: Academia, 2000. – 400 c. (Faktor Vier: Doppelter Wohlstand — Halbierter Naturverbrauch, 1995)

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
4. Towards sustainable materials management

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
4.1. Social-ecological principles for sustainability
“Sustainable development -
meeting the needs of present generation
without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Brundtland Report, WCED, 1987

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Big idea to remember:
It is not enough to focus on waste handling, emission control and waste (residuals) management;
We must produce an overriding materials strategy involving all important parts of societal mobilizations and turnover of materials;
We must turn from a waste management to materials management strategy.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principles for the exchange flows between society and nature, Holmberg et.al., 1994
Substances extracted from the lithosphere must not systematically accumulate in the ecosphere.
Society–produced substances must not systematically accumulate in the ecosphere.
The physical conditions for production and diversity within the ecosphere must not systematically be deteriorated.
The use of resources must be efficient and just with respect to meeting human needs.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principles 1 and 2
Turnover in balance

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principle 1
Substances extracted from the lithosphere must not systematically accumulate in the ecosphere
Substances from the lithosphere must not be spread in the ecosphere faster then
relevant processes (like sedimentation);
returning them to lithosphere.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principle 2
Society–produced substances must not systematically accumulate in the ecosphere
Substances must not be produced faster then
they can be broken down;
integrated into biochemical cycles;
Deposited in final deposits in the lithosphere.
Limits often are unknown!!!

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principles 3 and 4
Using the earth carefully

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principle 3
The physical conditions for production and diversity within the ecosphere must not systematically be deteriorated
Society must neither :
Take more resources from ecosphere than are regenerated;
nor reduce natural productivity or diversity be manipulating natural systems.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Principle 4
The use of resources must be efficient and just with respect to meeting human needs
Basic human need must be met
with as small an impact as possible.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
To achieve SD we need:
To increase technical efficiency;
To increase organizational efficiency;
To introduce a more equitable resource distribution, including more resource efficient life styles in the rich part of the world.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
4.2. Adapting materials flows
Anthropogenic materials flows :
Are too large;
Involve too many harmful substances;
Induce to many global impacts:
Global warming;
Ozone layer depletion;
Increasing metal concentration in soil;
Decreasing rain forests;
Land destruction because of mining.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
The “Sustainability equation”
Impact on nature
as a product of four anthropogenic factors
Impact on nature = I * m * u * P

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
The “Sustainability equation”.
Impact on nature as a product of four anthropogenic factors
shows the dilemma facing mankind
the double challenge inherent in the concept of SD:
to develop and reach an acceptable service level from materials/energy flows for growing population
While, on other, being able to decrease society’s harmful physical impact on nature.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
4.5. The solutions –
reducing the flow or closing the flow
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
15 approaches to efficient materials management
Reducing the flow;
Slowing down the flow;
Closing the flow;
Substitute the flow.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
Reducing the flow –
use less material for a service
Use the material more efficiently;
Increase the quality of the material;
Miniaturization – use a smaller equipment;
Multifunctionality – let the equipment serve several purposes.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
2. Slowing down the flow –
make the material last longer
Improve the quality to make the equipment last longer;
Protect the material in the equipment better;
Better maintenance;
Reparability – Make the equipment more easy to repair.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
3. Closing the flow –
use the material again
Reuse the goods itself;
Recycle materials in the production processes;
Recycle materials in consumer goods – true recycling;
Cascading or down-cycling of materials.

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Lecture 5. Man and Materials Flows
4. Substitute the flow –
use a different, less harmful material
Substitute a material for a less harmful one;
Substitute a scarce material for a less scarce one;
Substitute a non-renewable material for a renewable one.