The current process for developing environmental regulations in the U.S. tends to be narrowly focused, e.g. regulating by industry sector. Current policies also do not take into account the physical flow of materials. This compartmentalization of policy can cause materials to be used less efficiently, especially when viewed from the context of the overall industrial system. This dissertation addresses these problems by developing an integrated framework that can be used to set regulatory objectives in quantitative terms, as well as to analyze the effects of policies and other influences in the business environment on those quantities. This work is based on concepts from the field of industrial ecology--an emerging paradigm which views the flow of materials through the industrial system as a set of interconnected industries, and seeks to minimize environmental waste in the broader system through appropriate practices and policies. The framework is built on two concepts from industrial ecology: material flows and life-cycle stages. The research focuses on the manufacturing and secondary (i.e. the industrial waste management) use of certain metals.; In order to achieve the research objectives, it was necessary to incorporate additional concepts. Two of the concepts involve firms' decision-making: (1) materials management practices (consisting of recycling, disposal and pollution prevention practices); and (2) the policy and non-policy factors which influenced those practices. A third concept is the indicator of materials efficiency, which is constructed from the material flows. Data on decision-making and material flows were collected, with a focus on Massachusetts' firms. It was found that the firms using the selected metals had very high materials efficiencies (i.e., the amount of input that was either turned into product or recycled) of over 98 percent. From the firm decisions data, we observed that most tangible residuals like scrap were recycled. Recycling was driven mainly by costs, and to a lesser extent by other factors, e.g. the recycling of sludge by primary smelters that was driven by manufacturers' concern with liability. Pollution prevention activities were influenced primarily by costs, regulations and business advantages accruing from such activities. In general, the use of the survey data was highly complemented by the more detailed interviews.
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