MATERIAL FLOW ANALYSIS METHOD APPLIED TO WASTE RESULTED FROM RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

The metabolism of the railway transports generates quantities of waste which could have a negative impact on the biophysical structure of ecological systems. Therefore, specific analysis methods and instruments need to be applied in order to develop scenarios for waste management. The materials flow analysis is such kind of an instrument. The concepts of material flow analysis are used in many countries and regions in EU and Japan. In Romania studies focused on this subject are scarce. This paper aimed to characterise and quantify waste flows in a sector of the Romanian railway transport system infrastructure and also to develop suggestions which can lead to waste management improvement in the transport system. The material flow analysis method was applied using data from 2008-2012, containing information about the concrete railway sleepers at the level of Craiova branch of the national railway infrastructure. A scenario concerning the concrete sleepers recovery consists in building access roads. As a consequence, the acquisition of the sleepers would drop with 32% and, in turn, the diminished stocks would reduce the pressure on soil.