ECO-REGION: a waste management toolkit for resource footprinting and productivity benchmarking in the NW region
OrganisationSustainability North West
Project Aim
ECO-REGION sets a standard in resource flow analysis, ecological footprinting, environmental accounting, regional modelling, and its policy/business applications. It is based on a detailed study of the Northwest region, in partnership with the Environment Agency and the North West Government Office, Development Agency and Regional Assembly. The methodology is closely linked to the information structures of government data providers, the Mass Balance Club, and parallel projects at regional, national and EU scale.
Project Report
Eco-Region: A Mass Balance Study of the NorthWest
Website: www.eco-region.org
Detailed Description:
The aim of the Eco-Region NW is to develop a pilot regional information system for waste / materials management and strategic assessment, using the North West region as the demonstration. This will be both a basis for further development of waste management information systems: and a template for wider application across the UK and EU.
The Eco-Region NW has now been linked to the larger national project ‘Eco-Budget UK’. This is developing new methods for material flow and eco-footprinting, and also building a comprehensive material flow database and scenario model - ‘REAP’ - for the UK regions / administrations.
The linking of the Eco-Region NW to the Eco-Budget UK then adds value, with a much larger database, a fully interactive software tool, and more advanced benchmarking between the regions. As a result the Eco-Region NW programme has been paced in order to fit with the Eco-Budget UK, and is now projected to finish early 2006.
In this context the Eco-Region NW has shifted its focus from the baseline data, towards adding value to the Eco-Budget UK REAP model. This includes:
- Focus on the NW as a pilot region, with applications to economic, spatial & environmental regional strategies.
- Business benchmarking using the MFA-EF method for analysing sustainable production & consumption.
- waste management information & assessment systems, using the MFA-EF methodology.
- Demonstration on the construction sector to illustrate the MFA-EF and benchmarking concepts.
The project objectives include:
- Databasing: develop a comprehensive data system on regional resource and waste flows: including sources, destinations, balances and ecological footprints.
- Benchmarking: develop and test a benchmarking / reporting system for waste minimization and resource productivity in sectors, firms and products
- Business applications: apply the model / database system to waste / resource management in business strategy, focusing on the construction industry as a main case study.
- Policy & public applications: use the database / modelling system to analyse regional policy for their effect on the ecological footprint and resource productivity.