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Losses and use efficiencies along the phosphorus cycle – Part 2: Understanding the concept of efficiency

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  • Scholz, Roland W.
  • Wellmer, Friedrich-Wilhelm

Abstract

Part 1 of this paper showed that losses and efficiencies are highly similar concepts used to valuate the quality of a production process from an input–output economics perspective. Both concepts are useful in methods that aim to reduce the amount of input (money, material, labor, etc.) needed to get a certain desired output. Yet, from a decision-theoretic perspective, both concepts are secondary. They are subordinate to the desired goal, product, or service, i.e., the efficacy, and the overall impacts on a tangible system, i.e., effectiveness (which we consider as an overall utility) and are of superior importance to an action or a decision.

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  • Scholz, Roland W. & Wellmer, Friedrich-Wilhelm, 2015. "Losses and use efficiencies along the phosphorus cycle – Part 2: Understanding the concept of efficiency," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 259-274.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:105:y:2015:i:pb:p:259-274
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2015.10.003
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    Cited by:

    1. Kleemann, Rosanna & Chenoweth, Jonathan & Clift, Roland & Morse, Stephen & Pearce, Pete & Saroj, Devendra, 2015. "Evaluation of local and national effects of recovering phosphorus at wastewater treatment plants: Lessons learned from the UK," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 347-359.
    2. Geissler, Bernhard & Mew, Michael C. & Weber, Olaf & Steiner, Gerald, 2015. "Efficiency performance of the world's leading corporations in phosphate rock mining," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 246-258.
    3. Scholz, Roland W. & Wellmer, Friedrich-Wilhelm, 2015. "Losses and use efficiencies along the phosphorus cycle. Part 1: Dilemmata and losses in the mines and other nodes of the supply chain," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 216-234.
    4. Jedelhauser, Michael & Binder, Claudia R., 2015. "Losses and efficiencies of phosphorus on a national level – A comparison of European substance flow analyses," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 294-310.

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