Material Efficiency Measurement: Empirical Investigation of Manufacturing Industry

Journal article, 2017

Improving material efficiency contributes to reduce the volume of industrial waste as well as resource consumption. However,
less has been published addressing on what to measure for material efficiency in a manufacturing company. This paper presents
the current practice of material efficiency performance indicators in a manufacturing context through a bottom-up approach. In
addition to literature review, the empirical data was collected via a multiple case study at seven global manufacturing companies
located in Sweden. The results show that existing material efficiency indicators are limited and are mainly measured as a cost or
quality parameter rather than environment. The limited number of measurements relates to the fact that material efficiency is not
considered as a central business in manufacturing companies and is managed by environmental department with limited
correlation to operation. Additionally, these measurements do not aim to reduce waste volume or improve homogeneity of
generated waste.