Subject: Comments/Proposals to Draft Specifications for application of UNFC to Anthropogenic Resources from Lucia Maier, Assistant Head of Section, Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany
12 October
Para. 5: Is it correct and intended that raw materials turn into anthropogenic materials once they transfer from environment to anthroposphere? If this is the case, the typical examples mentioned in the document, e.g. "physical matter of car components at the construction stage or the car in the use-phase, or the scrap metal from a car in the dismantling stage", should be complemented by examples of raw materials that have never reached a final use stage (e.g. private household consumption) or maybe have not even undergone any kind of industrial processing, like for example metal ore, sand and gravel and the like.
Para. 8: We recommend to state more precisely in the definition of "anthroposphere" what is meant by "part of the environment that is made or modified by humans". Does this include agricultural area, thus any cultivated livestock, cultivated crops and harvested plants would be anthropogenic material? What about managed forests, which may be modified by humans to a minor or major extent, i.e. is timber anthropogenic material?
Para. 15 and 16: As far as we can see, the distinction between primary and secondary raw materials should be more precise. According to those two paragraphs, material which is a product of the primary production sectors, originates from an anthropogenic material source (e.g. agriculture, cf. par. 8) and is saleable in an established marked, is both primary and secondary raw material. However this contradicts the typical examples mentioned in par. 16. Is there any conversion necessary to turn primary into secondary raw material?
Para. 47 and 48: The quantity of a secondary raw material or commodity may vary with the location chosen in the extraction or conversion process. Furthermore the "common definitions for Anthropogenic Material Flows in general statistics, accounting and reporting schemes" may be diverse. For example, definitions for material flows measured by waste statistics and accounted by economy-wide material flow accounts can differ. There can even be several concepts within one statistic, like the input to / output from waste treatment facilities, leading to different measurement results. This range may complicate comparisons of different reports, both over time and across countries and institutions.
Comments received from Lucia Maier, Assistant Head of Section, Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Germany