Accounting for Resources, 2: The Life Cycle of Materials

This companion volume to "Accounting for Resources, 1" tracks the life-cycle of specific elements, such as chlorine and heavy metals, in order to estimate the generation and dissipative losses of material wastes. It proposes a new quantitive measure of the potential for environmental harm of waste materials, and includes case studies to add weight to its conclusions. Four horizontal life cycle case studies are included, one for chlorine and chlorine chemicals, mercury, arsenic and cadmium, and the other for the copper, lead and zinc group. The book also includes a longitudinal study of heavy metals use and dissipation, during the period 1880-1980 with reference to the Huson-Raritan basin. It concludes with an overview, including some recommendations for future research and for policy changes with respect to government statistical data collection and organization.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction 1. Mass Balance and the Life-Cycle Perspective 2. The Problem of Measurement 3. The Life Cycle of Chlorine: I 4. The Life Cycle of Chlorine: II 5. Accounting for Mercury 6. Accounting for Arsenic and Cadmium 7. Accounting for Copper, Lead and Zinc 8. An Historical Reconstruction of Anthropogenic Pollutant Emissions in the Hudson–Raritan Basin 1880–1980 9. Environmental Statistics and Measures of Sustainability Appendices References Index

About the Author :
The late Robert U. Ayres, formerly Novartis Professor (Emeritus) of Management and the Environment, INSEAD, France and Institute Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria and the late Leslie W. Ayres, formerly Research Associate, Centre for Management of Environmental Resources at the European Business School, INSEAD, France

Review :
'This detailed and comprehensive presentation of years of research and thought by the authors, demonstrates that they have made substantial progress towards their goal. This is an important and impressive publication. Important, because it provides the most comprehensive examination of the physical workings of the industrial economy of the United States known to exist. Impressive, because it represents the efforts of only two individuals whose span of technical competence makes them truly unique. The book, which contains both general overview, and detailed technical chapters, has something for everyone with an interest in this subject . . . This book is a major contribution towards understanding what is required to bring our industrial economy into harmony with our environment. To accomplish this, the authors, by their own admission, were required to do considerable detective work. In doing this hard work they have made the task of those who follow considerably easier.'