Anthropogenic metabolism

Anthropogenic metabolism is a term used in material flow analysis, substance flow analysis and waste management. It covers not only the physiological metabolism but also includes the thousands of goods and substances necessary to sustain modern life. Anthropogenic stands for man-made. The anthroposphere is the sphere in which human activities take place, sometimes called technosphere or biosphere. Today, the most important man-made material flows are due to activities such as cleaning, transporting, residing and communicating. These activities were of little metabolic significance in prehistoric times.