• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.1-26
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• 2006

This paper reveals Material Flow Analysis(MFA) has the possibility of reconciling the two contending theoretical viewpoints(weak sustainability v.s. strong sustainability) and thereby makes the concept of sustainability useful at operational level. For this purpose, this paper shows that the theoretical logic of MFA can be applied from national level to product level (EW-MFA, PIOT/NAMEA, LCI), and investigates the meanings and policy implications of MFA at each level.