Materialstrøm

Materialstrøm refers to the movement and transformation of materials through a system, from inputs at the boundary to outputs, including stocks held and wastes generated. The concept is used across manufacturing, logistics, and industrial ecology to understand how materials flow through factories, supply chains, municipalities, or entire regions. A materialstrøm can include raw inputs, intermediate goods, finished products, by-products, recycling streams, and residual waste, as well as energy carriers that enable material transformation.

In practice, the materialstrøm is analyzed with material flow analysis (MFA), a method based on mass balance at system boundaries. MFA tracks material stocks and flows, measures material intensity, throughput, recycling rates, and leakage. The results support decision making aimed at resource efficiency, waste reduction, and improved supply security.

Boundaries for a materialstrøm can be organizational (a plant, a company), geographic (a city, country), or product-based (a product system). Data sources include procurement records, production data, inventories, waste and recycling records, and emissions data. Applications include production planning and optimization, inventory management, design for disassembly and recyclability, and strategies for the circular economy.

Related concepts include material balance, throughput, and stock changes. While the term is often used in Danish contexts, it is widely employed in English-language discussions of operations management, industrial ecology, and sustainability.