Toward Social Material Flow Analysis: On the Usefulness of Boundary Objects in Urban Mining Research

Abstract

Summary Material flow analysis (MFA) has been an effective tool to identify the scale of physical activity, the allocation of materials across economic sectors for different purposes, and to identify inefficiencies in production systems or in urban contexts. However, MFA relies on ignoring the social drivers of those flows to be able to perform its calculations. In many cases therefore, it remains detached from the processes (e.g., urban) that underpin them. This becomes a problem when the purpose of research is to inform the design of detailed recycling schemes, for which micro‐level practice knowledge on how material flows are mediated by human agency is needed. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how a particular social science approach, namely, infrastructure studies (IS), can be combined with MFA to enhance the latter's potential as a decision support tool. To achieve a successful combination between IS and MFA, the object of inquiry must be carefully defined to function as a ‘boundary object,’ which allows academic approaches to work together without the need for consensus. This approach is illustrated with a case study example in urban mining research that assesses the hibernating stock of subsurface urban infrastructure in Norrköping, Sweden. It provides an example of how a well‐calibrated MFA and a complementary social science approach can provide hands‐on advice for private as well as public actors in a local and place‐specific context. The article aims to advance the integration of social science and the study of the physical economy to contribute to the emerging field of social industrial ecology.

Analyzing How Governance of Material Efficiency Affects the Environmental Performance of Product Flows: A Comparison of Product Chain Organization of Swedish and Dutch Metal Packaging Flows

“…An LCA study, however, does not document or analyze the human actions that enable and condition these impacts, although considerable observation of them likely occurs during the study. In line with this observation, environmental studies of material flows [13,16,17], as well as management studies [18], have been suggested to consider both environmental and organizational aspects. Both fields thus seem to call for combined approaches.…”

The nexus between water, energy and food in cities: towards conceptualizing socio-material interconnections

“…MFA studies the material composition of the resources on which a city relies and how these are processed. MFA is useful for investigating the physical activity of materials, for tracing how materials are allocated to feed cities and for tracing possible inefficiencies in their production systems (Wallsten 2015). It does so by analyzing the material flows going along through processes of extraction, production, consumption and disposal.…”

“…For example, as argued by (Binder 2007b) understanding material flows per se does not provide sufficient feedback for policy makers as to how the effects or relations of their policies affect the material flows. Also, MFA can be criticized as an analytical tool that quantifies materials in a summarized manner as it simplifies reality into inputs and outputs of resources within a determined system (Wallsten 2015). These make it difficult to actually implement findings from MFA into the sustainable upgrading of, for instance, the WEF domains (Binder 2007b).…”

Socioeconomic Metabolism Takes the Stage in the International Environmental Policy Debate: A Special Issue to Review Research Progress and Policy Impacts

“…In doing so, the authors wish to facilitate model comparison and accurate accounting rules for stocks and flows. Wallsten (2015) refers to the social study of sciences and uses the notion of boundary objects to enhance the sociological relevance of material flow studies. It is very obvious that there is a great need to position socioeconomic metabolism analysis against the backdrop of the political economy of production and consumption systems, which is perhaps another frontier for our research community.…”