substance flow analysis
Substance flow analysis is an elaborate ritual of converting the earth's invisible resource rivers into slides for the boardroom. It dresses up environmental burdens in numbers so they can slip past conscience in a comforting illusion. Hailed as the holy grail of the circular economy, it simultaneously serves as a device to multiply paper waste. When consultants present their sacred diagrams, a festival of blame shifting inevitably ensues. Finally, it ends with the sacred phrase: "Please update the database next time."