What Is Material Flow Analysis - MFA?
Material Flow Analysis - measures the flow of materials from source, through the economic sector (i.e. extraction, manufacture, processing) to consumers and finally to disposal.
Your kitchen offers a good example of what we mean by material flow. Every week one or two supermarket trolley loads come in, and three or four bin bags go out. We also need to include the fuel for the energy powering the fridge, cooker, microwave etc, and indeed the energy and materials involved in manufacturing them. And for the household as a whole, the same principle applies for other items such as furniture, carpets, lighting, toilet paper, garden equipment - and, highly significantly, the family car.