In this second edition of a bestseller, authors Paul H. Brunner and Helmut Rechberger guide professional newcomers as well as experienced engineers and scientists towards mastering the art of material flow analysis (MFA) from the very beginning to an advanced state of material balances of complex systems. Handbook of Material Flow Analysis: For Environmental, Resource, and Waste Engineers, Second Edition serves as a concise and reproducible methodology as well as a basis for analysis, assessment and improvement of anthropogenic systems through an approach that is helpfully uniform and standardized. The methodology featured in this book is a vital resource for generating new data, fostering understanding, and increasing knowledge to benefit the growing MFA community working in the fields of industrial ecology, resource management, waste management, and environmental protection. This new second edition takes into account all new developments and readers will profit from a new exploration of STAN software, newly added citations, and thoroughly described case studies that reveal the potential of MFA to solve industrial ecology challenges.

Paul H. Brunner, recognized for his groundbreaking research work in the fields of waste and resource management, is professor emeritus at the Technische Universität Wien in Vienna, Austria. Together with Peter Baccini from ETH Zurich, he published the landmark book Metabolism of the Anthroposphere, presenting a new view of the interactions among human activities, resources, and the environment. His work focuses on advanced methods for waste treatment and on concepts to assess, evaluate, and design metabolic systems. For more than 40 years, Dr. Brunner has been engaged in research and teaching in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. As a member of many boards of journals and conferences, he successfully promoted the application of material flow analysis for improving decision making in resource and waste management.

Helmut Rechberger has been a professor for resource management since 2003 and heads the Research Center of Waste and Resource Management at Technische Universität Wien. He received his professional education in Vienna with Paul H. Brunner, at ETH Zurich with Peter Baccini, and at Yale with Tom Graedel. Since then, he has been engaged in research and teaching and has become internationally acknowledged for his research work in the fields of resource and waste management. Under his lead, the material flow analysis (MFA) software STAN has been developed. His current research interests are focused on the further development of methods to advance sustainable regional and urban resource management.