It is a system to measure the flow and stock of materials in the production process (raw materials and energy) in
terms of physical and monetary units (Kokubu 2008). The original concept of MFCA was developed in
Germany in the late 1990s as an environmental protection accounting technique. Since around 2000, it
has been adopted widely in Japan and modified for increased ease of use by dividing materials into raw
materials and energy sources, as well as measuring them by processes for easier improvement plans. To
standardize MFCA practices, a working group (WG) 8 of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 207 (Environmental
management) is currently working on the development of ISO 14051, Environmental Management-
MFCA-General Framework, targeted for publication early in 2011 (Kokubu, Tachikawa and
Takakuwa 2012).
MFCA has become recognized as a valuable management tool, balancing environmental and economic
factors by reducing substantial waste costs. Figure 1 shows the concept of MFCA. It is also a management
information system that traces all input materials flowing through production processes and
measures output in finished products and waste. In MFCA, finished products and waste are respectively
termed positive and negative products. In a processing-type production system, waste is generated in various
steps of the production process. In particular, in the process of stocking and production, waste is substantially
produced because materials and intermediate products that are overstocked as inventory may
deteriorate in quality or be scrapped. Additionally, while materials or intermediate products are processed,
residues or shavings may be generated. All of the wastes mentioned above are called “negative products”
and lead to environmental burden. In MFCA, the idle processing, unnecessary energy and auxiliary material
consumption caused during the waste generation are also called “negative products” and treated as
environmental costs