YSTAFDB, a unified database of material stocks and flows for sustainability science

We present the Yale Stocks and Flows Database (YSTAFDB), which comprises most of the material stocks and flows (STAF) data generated at the Center for Industrial Ecology at Yale University since the early 2000s. These data describe material cycles, criticality, and recycling in terms of 62 elements and various engineering materials, e.g., steel, on spatial scales and timeframes ranging from cities to global and the 1800s to ca. 2013. YSTAFDB integrates this diverse collection of STAF data, previously scattered across various non-uniformly formatted electronic files, into a single data structure and file format. Here, we discuss this data structure as well as the usage and formatting of data records in YSTAFDB. YSTAFDB contains 100,000+ data records that are all situated in their systems contexts, with additional metadata included as available. YSTAFDB offers a comprehensive basis upon which STAF data can be accumulated, integrated, and exchanged, and thereby improves their accessibility. Therefore, YSTAFDB facilitates deeper understanding of sustainable materials use and management, which are key goals of contemporary sustainability science.Design Type(s)data integration objective • source-based data analysis objectiveMeasurement Type(s)reference materialTechnology Type(s)digital curationFactor Type(s)Material • temporal_interval • geographic locationSample Characteristic(s)Earth (Planet) • anthropogenic habitatMachine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format)

[1]  E. Hertwich,et al.  Nullius in Verba 1 : Advancing Data Transparency in Industrial Ecology , 2018, Journal of Industrial Ecology.

[2]  Tao Wang,et al.  Exploring the engine of anthropogenic iron cycles , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[3]  Peter Baccini,et al.  A city's metabolism: Towards the sustainable development of urban systems , 1997 .

[4]  Y. Moriguchi.  Material flow indicators to measure progress toward a sound material-cycle society , 2007 .

[5]  D. van Beers,et al.  Spatial characterisation of multi-level in-use copper and zinc stocks in Australia , 2007 .

[6]  T. Graedel,et al.  Global anthropogenic tellurium cycles for 1940–2010 , 2013 .

[7]  T. Graedel,et al.  Dynamic analysis of aluminum stocks and flows in the United States: 1900–2009 , 2012 .

[8]  Bo Pedersen Weidema,et al.  The Integration of Economic and Social Aspects in Life Cycle Impact Assessment , 2006 .

[9]  Helmut Rechberger,et al.  The contemporary European copper cycle: The characterization of technological copper cycles , 2002 .

[10]  Gregor Wernet,et al.  The ecoinvent database version 3 (part I): overview and methodology , 2016, The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment.

[11]  M Simoni,et al.  Urban mining as a contribution to the resource strategy of the Canton of Zurich. , 2015, Waste management.

[12]  H. Weisz,et al.  Methodology and Indicators of Economy‐wide Material Flow Accounting , 2011 .

[13]  Julian M. Allwood,et al.  Incremental Material Flow Analysis with Bayesian Inference , 2018 .

[14]  Troy R. Hawkins,et al.  Comparative Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Conventional and Electric Vehicles , 2013 .

[15]  Tomer Fishman,et al.  Unified Materials Information System (UMIS): An Integrated Material Stocks and Flows Data Structure , 2019 .

[16]  N. T. Nassar,et al.  Lost by Design. , 2015, Environmental science & technology.

[17]  F. Krausmann,et al.  How Circular is the Global Economy?: An Assessment of Material Flows, Waste Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005 , 2015 .

[18]  Anders Hammer Strømman,et al.  Life cycle environmental assessment of lithium-ion and nickel metal hydride batteries for plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[19]  Paul H. Brunner,et al.  Material Flow Analysis: A tool to support environmental policy decision making. Case-studies on the city of Vienna and the Swiss lowlands , 2000 .

[20]  J. Allwood,et al.  What Do We Know About Metal Recycling Rates? , 2011 .

[21]  Daniel B. Müller,et al.  Stock Dynamics and Emission Pathways of the Global Aluminum Cycle , 2013 .

[22]  Daniel B. Müller,et al.  Stock dynamics and emission pathways of the global aluminium cycle , 2013 .

[23]  N. T. Nassar,et al.  Criticality of metals and metalloids , 2015, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[24]  C. Davis,et al.  Industrial Ecology 2.0 , 2010 .

[25]  T. Fishman,et al.  Implications of Emerging Vehicle Technologies on Rare Earth Supply and Demand in the United States , 2018 .

[26]  Simon Warren,et al.  Methodology of metal criticality determination. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[27]  Jonathan M Cullen,et al.  Mapping the global flow of steel: from steelmaking to end-use goods. , 2012, Environmental science & technology.

[28]  Jason N. Rauch,et al.  Earth's anthrobiogeochemical copper cycle , 2007 .

[29]  Robert B. Gordon,et al.  The Multilevel Cycle of Anthropogenic Zinc , 2005 .

[30]  Oliver Cencic,et al.  A general framework for data reconciliation - Part I: Linear constraints , 2015, Comput. Chem. Eng..