Classifications of Material Flows for SEEA-MFA

1. Classifications of Material Flows for SEEA-MFA 13th Meeting of the London Group on Environmental Accounting 29 September - 3 October 2008, Brussels, Belgium Karl Schoer, consultant UNSD

2. Objective of this paper The classifications are designed to meet the purpose of the different sub-modules of SEEA-MFA that are proposed for populating the system with data The proposal in this paper try to follow the recommendations of the last LG - Alignment with Eurostat EW-MFA classifications - Alignment with the European waste statistic classification (EWC-Stat) - Differentiation of waste into waste products and waste residuals - Reconciliation of EWC-Stat and CPC on waste - Solution for treatment of cultivated biomass - Development of purpose classifications

5. Overview of classifications for SEEA-MFA Classifications of material by type (physical or chemical characteristics) of material - Classification of environmental inputs - Classification of outputs to the environment (residuals) - Classification of flows between economic units: (products, residuals) Classifications of transaction in material - The principal flows of the supply and use tables - Classification of industries for output of products and residuals and intermediate consumption of products, natural inputs and residuals - Classification of waste as a residual by destination (intermediate use by type of treatment and recycling, controlled landfills by type of storage, environment by type of disposal - Classifications of origin and destination of water flows (water abstracted from the environment by source, water as a product by type of use, water returned to the environment by origin, waste water by destination

6. Classification of environmental inputs “Natural inputs” to the economy originate from the environmental sphere and where generated by a natural or semi-natural process. Natural resources are converted into products by crossing the border between the environment and the economy with the act of extraction, i.e. they have an economic value. Balancing items input side originate from the environment and enter the economy. They have to be regarded in order to keep the principle of mass balancing. But unlike natural resources, those balancing items are not converted into products The Central Product Classification (CPC) was used for defining the natural resource items of the classification for natural inputs. The degree of detail follows predominantly the requirements of EW-MFA

9. Classification of outputs to the environment Outputs to the environmentare usually residuals with the exception of dissipatively used products. Residualsare regarded as the incidental and undesired outputs from production and consumption processes within the economy which have no use for the generator. Residuals can appear in solid, liquid and gaseous form. They can be directly discharged to the environment, but they can also be absorbed by the economy for intermediate use (recycling, incineration or other treatment) or final use (controlled landfills). The degree of detail follows predominantly the requirements of EW-MFA and the „emission accounts“

12. Classification of solid waste Classification of solid waste materials is based on theEuropean waste classification by type of material (EWC-Stat). Unsolved issue: reconciliation of EWC-Stat and CPC: The London Group requested to reconcile the EWC-Stat classification for waste and the classification for waste in the CPC. The EWC-Stat has clear analytical advantages over the CPC treatment of waste.  CPC in principle covers everything that is transacted including waste, disregarding whether it is a product or not. Therefore it appears necessary to develop a correspondence with EWC-Stat. But that is not an easy task. We will have to wait for the results of ongoing work done by Eurostat.

14. Classification of emissions to water Definition: According the SEEA manual on water (SEEAW) emissions to water describe the flows of pollutants added to waste water as a result of production and consumption. For establishing the classification of emissions to water the classification of the Eurostat manual on EW-MFA was used. The only difference is that materials dumped at seaare regarded as waste in this classification and not as emissions to water

18. Classification of flows between economic units • by type of material • Products: based on CPC. The degree of detail follows predominantly the • requirements of EW-MFA and the „resource accounts“ • Residuals: already covered under classification on outputs to the environment

19. Classification of Industries Based on ISIC The degree of detail follows predominantly the requirements of sub-modules on „resources“ and „emissions“

20. Classification of waste by purpose Based on EWC-Stat

24. Classifications of water by origin and destination Based on SEEAW

25. Questions to the London Group • 1. Do you agree to the proposed classification of natural inputs and • do you agree use the CPC for establishing that classification? • Do you agree to the proposed classification for outputs to the environment? • 3. Do you agree to use EWC-Stat classification for establishing the • classification on waste? • Do you agree to the proposed degree of detail of the product classification? • Do you agree to the proposed degree of detail of the classification of industries? • Do you agree to the proposed classifications on waste by purpose?