4. The MIPS indicator at product level

In addition to the national material balances we have introduced, material indicators have been developed to provide decision-making tools at the microeconomic level. For example, the team at the German research institute Wuppertal Institut has created the MIPS (Material Input per Unit of Service) indicator [14][15] . This is a decision-making tool similar to life-cycle analysis (LCA).

LCAs have been developed in the Environment volume [17] , and readers may wish to refer to it.

As with LCA, the aim is to calculate all the environmental effects for the entire life cycle of a product, "from cradle to grave".

• The crucial...