Material flow analysis (MFA) is a quantitative method to analyze the flow of materials and energy through the economy. MFA works by capturing mass balance in an economy, where extraction and import can be considered as inputs and consumption and export as outputs. The mass balance of inputs should be equal to outputs, which is useful in determining the efficiency of the use of material resources.
From the perspective of waste in general, MFA is required component in developing a standard tool of waste statistics between countries. However, it can be difficult to implement for plastic waste because many plastic materials, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, are used for different products (Moriguchi and Hashimoto, 2016).
A publication by Bureecaam et al. in 2018 demonstrates the MFA of plastic in Thailand for the year 2013, using primary and secondary data obtained from 11 provinces.
As shown in the diagram above, 7,827,481 tonnes of raw materials and 1,101,329 tonnes of recycled materials were used to produce 7,905,142 tonnes of plastic products. From these products, 2,130,270 tonnes were exported, 5,774,872 tonnes were utilized for domestic consumption, and the rest went to industrial incineration, industrial waste, and industrial waste recycling—resulting in a stock change of 61,803 tonnes.
Thailand imported 1,007,693 tonnes of plastic products in addition to the locally produced ones. After production and consumption, a total of 5,011,755 tonnes of municipal and industrial plastic wastes were generated, of which 90.2% were collected. The collected plastic waste was sent to different treatment facilities, 1,584,041 tonnes of which were recycled, 356,188 tonnes were incinerated, 1,995,116 tonnes were disposed at landfills, and 587,115 tonnes were improperly disposed. This improper disposal and the remaining 489,295 tonnes of uncollected plastic waste ended up in the open environment, which could potentially leak into the oceans.
WWF-Philippines (2020) conducted a study on general plastic MFA in the Philippines in 2019, using the same framework adopted by JICA for an analysis in 2008.
Production is defined here as the amount of plastics used for the production of plastic products, components, or packaging. These included imported plastics (1,881,000 tonnes), locally produced plastics from virgin materials (528,000 tonnes), and recycled plastics (183,000 tonnes). After production, 442,000 tonnes of plastics were exported.
Out of the 2,150,000 tonnes of plastic products available for local consumption in 2019, 345,000 tonnes were stored and in-use while 1,805,000 tonnes were consumed and disposed of as waste. Approximately 760,000 tonnes (41.8%) of these plastic wastes were leaked to the open environment, 706,000 tonnes (38.8%) were disposed to landfills and dumpsites, and the remainder went into recycling process.
In addition to domestic waste, the Philippines also imported 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste to be processed into recycling. From this, around 183,000 tonnes were recycled for local production, 54,000 tonnes were recovered as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) used in cement kiln co-processing, and the remaining 117,000 tonnes were exported.
According to the study of MFA of plastics in Malaysia by the National Solid Waste Management Department of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 2011, 402,063 tonnes of imported resins, 30,267 tonnes of imported plastic waste, 739,189 tonnes of local resins,170,248 tonnes of imported plastic products, and 38,376 tonnes of recycled plastics were used for producing 733,828 tonnes of plastic products.
Among these, 511,697 tonnes were locally consumed, while exporting 546,148 tonnes of resins and 222,131 tonnes of plastic products. Of the 511,697 tonnes of local plastic consumption, 47,843 (9.3%) tonnes were recycled whilst the rest (463,854 tonnes=90.7%) went to final disposal. A total of 9,467 tonnes of recycled plastics were exported while the remaining were used as local supplies of recycled materials. This study however, does not cover the amount of plastic waste that ended up in the open environment.
MFA of Plastics in Viet Nam conducted by Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development and United States Business Council for Sustainable Development in 2019 is shown in the diagram below.
Plastic material in Viet Nam was derived from 2 main sources: domestic resin (1,000 Ktonnes) and imported resin (5,900 Ktonnes). In addition to this, imported scrap (615 Ktonnes) and domestic scrap or recycled material (850 Ktonnes on average) were also used for production.
Produced plastics (semi) products that went for export stood at 3,803 Ktonnes, whereas 3,690 tonnes of products were utilized for domestic consumption. Moreover, 797 Ktonnes of plastic products were imported for domestic use by consumers, such as food processing, beverages, textiles, electronics industries, and by end-users, such as households, markets, hospitals, and schools.
After consumption, only an average of 2,965 Ktonnes of plastic waste were collected while the remaining 730 Ktonnes were uncollected and disposed of into the oceans. The collected plastic waste were then transported to the next process, which recycled 1,657 Ktonnes of plastic waste and disposed 1,308 tonnes of waste at landfills. Finally, 807 Ktonnes of recycled resin were exported, and the remaining recycled scrap were for domestic use.
Plastic Waste Management Institute JAPAN studied the MFA of plastics in Japan through production, consumption, and waste management processes in 2021.
The input of plastics in Japan originated from domestic production of resins (10,450 Ktonnes) imports as resins (2,370 Ktonnes) and products (2,120 Ktonnes), and recycled materials (330 Ktonnes). With no stock change, 9,000 Ktonnes of produced plastics went for domestic use and exports in the forms of raw material (3,910 Ktonnes), products (910 Ktonnes), and liquid resin (860,000 Ktonnes).
A sum of 7,590 Ktonnes of plastics which were consumed and discharged, and 650 Ktonnes of plastics lost in production and processing process then went into its end-of-life stage. Plastic waste in Japan is properly managed, and as much as 87% of the wastes were recovered through material recycling (1,770 Ktonnes), chemical recycling (290 Ktonnes), and thermal recycling or waste-to-energy (5,100 Ktonnes). Only a few of the remaining waste went to open burning (630 Ktonnes) and landfilling (450 Ktonnes).
Process | Thailand (2013) | Philippines (2019) | Malaysia (2011) | Vietnam (2019) | Japan (2021) |
Production | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Consumption | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Collection & transportation | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | - |
Recycling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Incineration | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ |
Landfilling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Leaks to environment | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | - |
The comparative study reflected some missing gaps in terms of the processes covered in the material flow analysis as depicted in the table above. A complete coverage of stock analysis is essential in providing a thorough picture of plastic material flow throughout its life cycle. Hence, it is encouraged for future MFAs to address these gaps.
C Bureecam, T Chaisomphob, and P Sungsomboon (2018), ‘Material Flows Analysis of Plastic in Thailand’, Thermal Science, 22(6 Part A), 2379–2388. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chira-Bureecam-2/publication/313283083_Material_flows_analysis_of_plastic_in_Thailand/links/589d2a6292851c599c975812/Material-flows-analysis-of-plastic-in-Thailand.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
Japan International Cooperation Agency (2008), The Study on Recycling Industry Development in the Republic of the Philippines Final Report. https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/11882396.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
Y Moriguchi, and S Hashimoto(2016), ‘Material Flow Analysis and Waste Management’ in R Clift, and A Druckman (eds), Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology. Springer, Cham pp 247–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20571-7_12 (accessed 1 September 2021).
National Solid Waste Management Department-Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia (2011), A Study on Plastic Management in Peninsular Malaysia. https://jpspn.kpkt.gov.my/resources/index/user_1/Sumber_Rujukan/kajian/JPSPN%20Plastic%20Study%20-%20Final%20Report%20GESB%20-%20Softcopy%20English%20Ed2.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
S Pincetl, (2012), ‘A Living City: Using Urban Metabolism Analysis to View Cities as Life Forms’, in F Zeman (ed), Metropolitan Sustainability. Woodhead Publishing, Cham pp 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1533/9780857096463.1.3 (accessed 1 September 2021).
Viet Nam Business Council for Sustainable Development and United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (2019), Viet Nam Materials Marketplace. https://p4gpartnerships.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/materials%20marketplace%20final%20report.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
Material flow analysis (MFA) is a quantitative method to analyze the flow of materials and energy through the economy. MFA works by capturing mass balance in an economy, where extraction and import can be considered as inputs and consumption and export as outputs. The mass balance of inputs should be equal to outputs, which is useful in determining the efficiency of the use of material resources.
From the perspective of waste in general, MFA is required component in developing a standard tool of waste statistics between countries. However, it can be difficult to implement for plastic waste because many plastic materials, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, are used for different products (Moriguchi and Hashimoto, 2016).
A publication by Bureecaam et al. in 2018 demonstrates the MFA of plastic in Thailand for the year 2013, using primary and secondary data obtained from 11 provinces.
As shown in the diagram above, 7,827,481 tonnes of raw materials and 1,101,329 tonnes of recycled materials were used to produce 7,905,142 tonnes of plastic products. From these products, 2,130,270 tonnes were exported, 5,774,872 tonnes were utilized for domestic consumption, and the rest went to industrial incineration, industrial waste, and industrial waste recycling—resulting in a stock change of 61,803 tonnes.
Thailand imported 1,007,693 tonnes of plastic products in addition to the locally produced ones. After production and consumption, a total of 5,011,755 tonnes of municipal and industrial plastic wastes were generated, of which 90.2% were collected. The collected plastic waste was sent to different treatment facilities, 1,584,041 tonnes of which were recycled, 356,188 tonnes were incinerated, 1,995,116 tonnes were disposed at landfills, and 587,115 tonnes were improperly disposed. This improper disposal and the remaining 489,295 tonnes of uncollected plastic waste ended up in the open environment, which could potentially leak into the oceans.
WWF-Philippines (2020) conducted a study on general plastic MFA in the Philippines in 2019, using the same framework adopted by JICA for an analysis in 2008.
Production is defined here as the amount of plastics used for the production of plastic products, components, or packaging. These included imported plastics (1,881,000 tonnes), locally produced plastics from virgin materials (528,000 tonnes), and recycled plastics (183,000 tonnes). After production, 442,000 tonnes of plastics were exported.
Out of the 2,150,000 tonnes of plastic products available for local consumption in 2019, 345,000 tonnes were stored and in-use while 1,805,000 tonnes were consumed and disposed of as waste. Approximately 760,000 tonnes (41.8%) of these plastic wastes were leaked to the open environment, 706,000 tonnes (38.8%) were disposed to landfills and dumpsites, and the remainder went into recycling process.
In addition to domestic waste, the Philippines also imported 15,000 tonnes of plastic waste to be processed into recycling. From this, around 183,000 tonnes were recycled for local production, 54,000 tonnes were recovered as Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) used in cement kiln co-processing, and the remaining 117,000 tonnes were exported.
According to the study of MFA of plastics in Malaysia by the National Solid Waste Management Department of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in 2011, 402,063 tonnes of imported resins, 30,267 tonnes of imported plastic waste, 739,189 tonnes of local resins,170,248 tonnes of imported plastic products, and 38,376 tonnes of recycled plastics were used for producing 733,828 tonnes of plastic products.
Among these, 511,697 tonnes were locally consumed, while exporting 546,148 tonnes of resins and 222,131 tonnes of plastic products. Of the 511,697 tonnes of local plastic consumption, 47,843 (9.3%) tonnes were recycled whilst the rest (463,854 tonnes=90.7%) went to final disposal. A total of 9,467 tonnes of recycled plastics were exported while the remaining were used as local supplies of recycled materials. This study however, does not cover the amount of plastic waste that ended up in the open environment.
MFA of Plastics in Viet Nam conducted by Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development and United States Business Council for Sustainable Development in 2019 is shown in the diagram below.
Plastic material in Viet Nam was derived from 2 main sources: domestic resin (1,000 Ktonnes) and imported resin (5,900 Ktonnes). In addition to this, imported scrap (615 Ktonnes) and domestic scrap or recycled material (850 Ktonnes on average) were also used for production.
Produced plastics (semi) products that went for export stood at 3,803 Ktonnes, whereas 3,690 tonnes of products were utilized for domestic consumption. Moreover, 797 Ktonnes of plastic products were imported for domestic use by consumers, such as food processing, beverages, textiles, electronics industries, and by end-users, such as households, markets, hospitals, and schools.
After consumption, only an average of 2,965 Ktonnes of plastic waste were collected while the remaining 730 Ktonnes were uncollected and disposed of into the oceans. The collected plastic waste were then transported to the next process, which recycled 1,657 Ktonnes of plastic waste and disposed 1,308 tonnes of waste at landfills. Finally, 807 Ktonnes of recycled resin were exported, and the remaining recycled scrap were for domestic use.
Plastic Waste Management Institute JAPAN studied the MFA of plastics in Japan through production, consumption, and waste management processes in 2021.
The input of plastics in Japan originated from domestic production of resins (10,450 Ktonnes) imports as resins (2,370 Ktonnes) and products (2,120 Ktonnes), and recycled materials (330 Ktonnes). With no stock change, 9,000 Ktonnes of produced plastics went for domestic use and exports in the forms of raw material (3,910 Ktonnes), products (910 Ktonnes), and liquid resin (860,000 Ktonnes).
A sum of 7,590 Ktonnes of plastics which were consumed and discharged, and 650 Ktonnes of plastics lost in production and processing process then went into its end-of-life stage. Plastic waste in Japan is properly managed, and as much as 87% of the wastes were recovered through material recycling (1,770 Ktonnes), chemical recycling (290 Ktonnes), and thermal recycling or waste-to-energy (5,100 Ktonnes). Only a few of the remaining waste went to open burning (630 Ktonnes) and landfilling (450 Ktonnes).
Process | Thailand (2013) | Philippines (2019) | Malaysia (2011) | Vietnam (2019) | Japan (2021) |
Production | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Consumption | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Collection & transportation | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | - |
Recycling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Incineration | ✓ | - | - | - | ✓ |
Landfilling | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Leaks to environment | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | - |
The comparative study reflected some missing gaps in terms of the processes covered in the material flow analysis as depicted in the table above. A complete coverage of stock analysis is essential in providing a thorough picture of plastic material flow throughout its life cycle. Hence, it is encouraged for future MFAs to address these gaps.
C Bureecam, T Chaisomphob, and P Sungsomboon (2018), ‘Material Flows Analysis of Plastic in Thailand’, Thermal Science, 22(6 Part A), 2379–2388. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chira-Bureecam-2/publication/313283083_Material_flows_analysis_of_plastic_in_Thailand/links/589d2a6292851c599c975812/Material-flows-analysis-of-plastic-in-Thailand.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
Japan International Cooperation Agency (2008), The Study on Recycling Industry Development in the Republic of the Philippines Final Report. https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/11882396.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
Y Moriguchi, and S Hashimoto(2016), ‘Material Flow Analysis and Waste Management’ in R Clift, and A Druckman (eds), Taking Stock of Industrial Ecology. Springer, Cham pp 247–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20571-7_12 (accessed 1 September 2021).
National Solid Waste Management Department-Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia (2011), A Study on Plastic Management in Peninsular Malaysia. https://jpspn.kpkt.gov.my/resources/index/user_1/Sumber_Rujukan/kajian/JPSPN%20Plastic%20Study%20-%20Final%20Report%20GESB%20-%20Softcopy%20English%20Ed2.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
S Pincetl, (2012), ‘A Living City: Using Urban Metabolism Analysis to View Cities as Life Forms’, in F Zeman (ed), Metropolitan Sustainability. Woodhead Publishing, Cham pp 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1533/9780857096463.1.3 (accessed 1 September 2021).
Viet Nam Business Council for Sustainable Development and United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (2019), Viet Nam Materials Marketplace. https://p4gpartnerships.org/sites/default/files/2019-07/materials%20marketplace%20final%20report.pdf (accessed 1 September 2021).
