Waste treatment in physical input-output analysis

When compared to monetary input-output tables (MIOTs), a distinctive feature of physical input-output tables (PIOTs) is that they include the generation of waste as part of a consistent accounting framework. As a consequence, however, physical input-output analysis thus requires that the treatment of waste is explicitly taken into account, because otherwise the results will be grossly underestimated. The treatment of waste has recently led to an interesting methodological debate. This paper reviews the discussion and introduces a new alternative. This alternative reconciles the existing methods and enables us to obtain additional information that cannot be derived from the other methods.