Material flow cost accounting Material flow cost accounting has received publicity since the recent release of a new standard by the International Organization for Standardisation, ISO 14051. The standard explicitly recognises links between MFCA and supply chain partners (ISO, 2011). Material flows map movements into, within and out of organisations, or in the case of a supply chain, through the chain. The concept behind material flow cost accounting is that non-product output embodies waste which careful process tracking can help to eliminate thereby helping the environment and saving companies or supply chains material costs. It was developed in the late 1990s under the name ‘flow cost accounting’ (Federal Environment Ministry and Federal Environment Agency, 2003).