The rising population and industrial growth place increasing strains on a variety of
material and energy resources. Understanding how to make the most economically
and environmentally efficient use of materials will require an understanding of the
flow of materials from the time a material is extracted through processing, manufacturing,
use, and its ultimate destination as a waste or reusable resource. Materials
Count examines the usefulness of creating and maintaining material flow accounts
for developing sound public policy, evaluates the technical basis for material flows
analysis, assesses the current state of material flows information, and discusses who
should have institutional responsibility for collecting, maintaining, and providing
access to additional data for material flow accounts.