Verdatica Postplastic Glossary.
This glossary has been prepared for guidance. The information is from many international sources and is subject to regular updates and clarification.
We’re grateful to all the people and organisations who have allowed us to include their definitions and continue to assist us in developing this utility.
We welcome additions and amends to the glossary. Please add below.
A
The process of breaking down organic matter, commonly sewage or animal and food waste, into carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfate and water. It is a bacterial process that requires the presence of oxygen.
Aerobic digestion is typically used in activated sludge treatment plants, but can be used to process any organic waste.
Agricultural plant parts, primarily stalks and leaves, not removed from the fields with the primary harvest, such as corn stover (stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs), wheat straw and rice straw.
Production systems that transform products from crop cultivation and livestock, forestry and fisheries, commonly into food and feed.
Wastes and by-products from the industrial processing of crops or livestock, such as olive stones, waste from slaughterhouses etc.
An amorphous material lacks an ordered internal structure. Polymers are often amorphous, and other types of amorphous solids include gels, thin films, and nanostructured materials such as glass.
The breakdown of organic material by micro-organisms in an environment without oxygen.
This process is used to generate biogas, used as fossil fuel replacement for electricity and heat generation as well as conversion into gas.
Atmospheric CO2 describes the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, adding natural and human-induced emissions.
B
In US nomenclature, terms including ‘bio’ are not hyphened in official documents.
In the EU they are hyphenated in official documents.
In common usage, both ‘bio-***’ and ‘bio***’ are used interchangeably.
This document uses the simple bio*** form except where Bio-*** is an official title or name
The prefix ‘bio’ can refer to different functionalities: biodegradable, biocompatible, etc. or processing: biological or biotechnological processes.
To ensure transparent and non-misleading information to consumers, the prefix “bio” should be substituted by more accurate and more informative equivalents and should refer to a European or International Standard.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage
A potential greenhouse gas mitigation technology which produces negative carbon dioxide emissions by combining bioenergy use with geologic carbon capture and storage (CCC).
Composed or derived in whole or in part of biological products from biomass including plant, animal, and marine or forestry materials.
The term ‘biomass-based’ or ‘bio-based’ refers to the origin of the raw material.
Biomass can have undergone physical, chemical or biological treatment(s).
Carbon derived from biomass
Biodegradability refers to a process in which microorganisms convert the material into substances such as compost, carbon dioxide, methane or water through metabolic or enzymatic processes.
The ultimate condition is the complete transformation of organic compounds into reduced simple molecules (such as carbon dioxide/methane, nitrate/ammonium, and water) and new biomass.
Under aerobic conditions, carbon dioxide is the primary gas emitted while in the case of anaerobic conditions it is methane.
The term ‘biodegradable’ should always be associated with the type of medium (e.g.soil, water, in vitro medium), the conditions (e.g. temperature and humidity) and the duration of the biodegradation. For instance, among currently marketed bioplastics, PLA is always claimed as ‘biodegradable’ while in reality, PLA is only industrially compostable (e.g. at 58°C and controlled conditions of humidity). Without this, PLA packaging, despite being made from renewable resources, is a plastic that will persist in our environment for a hundred years.
Molecule or molecular complex consisting of, or derived from, an organism or cell culture (in cell-free or whole-cell forms) that catalyses metabolic reactions in living organisms and/or substrate conversions in various chemical reactions.
Bio-circular (materials) Materials that are both derived from renewable resources and designed for a circular economy.
These materials are developed with the goal of reducing environmental impact and promoting sustainability throughout their life cycle.
Bioplastic is plastic material made from biological materials other than petroleum. Example materials are plants, bacteria.
Material produced, in the course of agriculture or manufacture, in addition to the principal product. See also ‘waste’
Fraction of a product derived from biomass
The crucial point about the biobased content in contrast to the biobased carbon
content is that this includes the total biomass content including oxygen, hydrogen and other
molecules coming from the biomass and not only the carbon.
The bio-based content for many products makes up a larger share than the bio-carbon content.
Bio-based drop-in chemicals are bio-based versions of existing petrochemicals which have established markets. They are chemically identical to existing fossil-based chemicals.
The term drop-in is usually used in relation to commodity chemicals and polymers produced in large volumes.
Bio-based drop-in chemicals differ from their petrochemical counterparts only in price (typically higher) and environmental footprint (typically lower).
Drop-in chemicals are technically easy to implement, as existing infrastructure can be used.
The bio-based industry is the economy formed by companies using biological input (feedstock) to produce material, products and services.
The biological input can be the biomass extracted from the natural environment and/or purpose-grown biomass from agriculture and forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as different forms of biological waste, side streams and residues.
Europe’s leading bioeconomy industry organisation, with more than 240 industry members (approximately 80% are SMEs), and over 200 associate members (academia, research organisations, trade associations, etc.).
BIC is the private partner in a public-private partnership with the EU Commission – the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking.
Public-Private Partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) operating under the Horizon 2020 research framework programme, creating new value chains with bioeconomy actors across Europe.
As of 30/11/2021, Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) is the formal successor of BBI JU
Bio-based innovation is a novel concept, technology, process, material or product based on the use and transformation of biological input.
The benefits of bio-based innovation include one or more of the following:
- Increased energy or material efficiency of the production process
- New properties of produced material or product
- The ability to use and valorise waste
- Elimination of pollution
Bio-based materials are the intermediate products that are used to make bioproducts.
Traditional bio-based materials include wood for the production of furniture and construction materials, and textiles, such as leather, cotton, linen and fish skin.
Novel bio-based materials include a range of intermediate materials (e.g. building blocks and polymers) that are used to produce a wide range of bio-basedproducts, including bio-based plastics, biolubricants and solvents.
Bio-based plastics are fully or partly made from biological raw materials as opposed to the fossil raw material (oil) used in conventional plastics.
They are not necessary biodegradable. See also ‘Biodegradable plastics’.
Bio-based plastics can be produced to have similar functionality to or the same
functionality as conventional plastics. Examples of the latter are bio-PE and bio-PET which can be used for the same purposes as fossil-based PE (PolyEthylene) and PET (PolyEthylene Tterephthalate) because they are molecularly identical, despite being made from different raw materials. These bio-based plastics are known as ‘drop-ins’.
Other examples of bio-based plastics that are biodegradable:
• Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), polyesters produced by numerous microorganisms, including through bacterial fermentation of sugars or lipids.
• PolyLactic acid (PLA), a transparent plastic produced from maize or dextrose.
• Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB, a polyester produced by certain bacteria processing glucose, corn starch or wastewater.
The sustainability of bio-based plastics, just as of fossil-based plastics, depends on production practices, the products’ lifetime and end-of-life treatment.
Product completely or partly derived from biomass and other biological resources, which are not used for food, feed and fuel.
Some bio-based products are not new innovations, such as, pulp and paper, timber for construction, bio-based cosmetics and fibres for clothing.
However, there are many new kinds of bio-based products that are emerging. These include bio-based materials and biochemicals with new functionalities and properties, new substances used for medicinal purposes, and new ingredients used for cosmetics and functional food ingredients. According to the European Standard EN 16575, if the term ‘bio-based product’ is used to refer to a product, which is partly bio-based, the claim should be accompanied by quantification of the bio-based content, normally expressed as a percentage of the total mass of the product.
Biodegradable plastic means a plastic capable of undergoing physical, biological decomposition, such that it ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide, biomass and water, without leaving behind any residue, and in accordance with European standards for packaging recoverable through composting and anaerobic digestion. Biodegradable plastics are designed to biodegrade in a specific medium (water, soil, compost) under certain conditions and in varying periods of time.
The label “biodegradable” must always have a clear sign of the environment in which the test was performed.
Breaking down of a substance by microorganisms.
The variability among living organisms from all sources, including, ‘inter alia’, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
The production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and waste streams into value-added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy.
The bioeconomy covers all sectors and systems that rely on biological resources (animals, plants, micro-organisms and derived biomass, including organic waste), their functions and principles.
It includes and interlinks: land and marine ecosystems and the services they
provide; all primary production sectors that use and produce biological resources (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture); and all economic and industrial sectors that use biological resources and processes to produce food, feed, bio-based products, energy and services.
Biomedicines and health biotechnology are excluded.
The bio-based economy is a subset of the bioeconomy that is concerned with the production of biobased products and the generation of bioenergy (i.e. all bioproducts except food and feed)
A value chain is defined as a set of interlinked activities that deliver products/services by adding value to bulk material (feedstock).
In a bio-based value chain, the feedstocks tend to be biomass drawn from an existing primary production route (e.g., agriculture, forestry and livestock), or of a novel (e.g. microalgae) or secondary origin (e.g., sludge, industrial wastewater and household organic waste).
All energy derived from biofuels whereas biofuels are fuel[s] produced directly or indirectly from biomass. Fuel is defined as an energy carrier intended for energy conversion.
A substance that contains living micro-organisms which, when applied to seeds, plant surfaces, or soil, colonise the rhizosphere or the interior of the plant and promotes growth by increasing the supply or availability of primary nutrients to the host plant.
Biofertilisers add nutrients through the natural processes of nitrogen fixation, solubilizing phosphorus, and stimulating plant growth through the synthesis of growth-promoting substances. The micro-organisms in biofertilisers restore the soil’s natural nutrient cycle and build soil organic matter. Through the use of biofertilisers, healthy plants can be grown, while enhancing the sustainability and the health of the soil. Biofertilisers can be expected to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but they are not yet able to replace their use.
A fuel produced from organic matter or combustible oils produced by plants.
These fuels are considered renewable as long as the vegetation producing them is maintained or replanted, such as firewood, alcohol fermented from sugar, and combustible oils extracted from soybeans. Biofuel can be liquid, solid or gaseous
The gaseous product of the decomposition of organic matter in the absence of oxygen.
Biogenic carbon emissions are those that originate from biological sources such as plants, trees, and soil.
Biogenic carbon emissions relate to the natural carbon cycle, as well as those resulting from the combustion, harvest, digestion, fermentation, decomposition or processing of biologically based materials.
The processes – such as composting and anaerobic digestion – that together help to regenerate natural capital. The only materials suitable for these processes are those that can be safely returned to the biosphere.
Material of biological origin.
They do not include organic material that has been embedded in geological formations and fossilised (e.g. fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas).
Biomacromolecules are large biological polymers, such as nucleic acids, proteins, and carbohydrates, that are made up of monomers linked together.
All organic matter that derives from the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy.
A term coined to describe the extension of the concept of the biomass value chain to encompass the links that are created within and between value chains as a result of the cascading use and the joint use of biomass.
As the degree of recycling and the cascading use of biomass in the bioeconomy
increases, especially during the processing stage and the marketing of bioproducts, the point of ‘zero waste’ will be approached.
As this happens, different value chains will merge and it will no longer be sufficient to analyse value chains by using a conventional, linear approach that largely focuses on a single product.
There is a range of cross-cutting activities that apply to all stages of the biomass value chain.
Biomass resources that are available on a renewable basis and are used for producing bio-based products (food, feed, chemicals, materials) and/or bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat).
A resource that is generally being tapped and sometimes unused.
When considering its use as feedstock for bio-based products, including bioenergy, a distinction is usually made between different types of biomass.
Theoretical potential: The maximum over time non-declining amount of biomass which can be theoretically extracted on a long term basis within fundamental bio-physical limits.
Technical potential: Biomass potential available under the current infrastructure conditions and with the current technological possibilities. It can be in the short term temporarily higher than the theoretical potential, it must however, respect its constraints.
Economic potential: Fraction of technical potential which meets the criteria of economic profitability within the given framework conditions using existing
infrastructure and technology available in that location.
Implementation potential: The potential that can be implemented within a certain time frame and under concrete socio-political framework conditions, including economic, institutional and social constraints and policy incentives. It can be higher than the economic potential; it must respect the constraints of the theoretical potential.
Processing refers to any kind of processing of biomass in small-, medium- or large-scale processing facilities.
Use can range from the use of unprocessed biomass or biomass that has undergone very limited processing to the use of highly processed bioproducts.
Therefore, biomass processing and use can be grouped as one stage; yet, depending on the context, they can refer to two separate stages.
The processing and use stage of the value chain involves activities that are critical for the successful implementation of the bioeconomy, such as local value addition, logistics and transportation, marketing, awareness-raising campaigns geared to consumers and manufacturers, and commercialisation.
Anyone who is engaged in crop production, livestock production, forestry, and fisheries and aquaculture. Examples include crop farmers or cattle producers.
Biomass is produced through agriculture, which encompasses crop production, livestock production, forestry, and aquaculture and fisheries.
Biomass can also be collected from residues, waste and by-products generated at all three stages of the biomass value chain.
Biomass collection also includes the small-scale gathering of indigenous plants for food, feed, fuel and bio-based products, such as cosmetics and healthcare products.
Biomass residues include agricultural residues from crop and livestock production and fisheries; wood residues from forest harvesting, forest plantations and wood processing as well as agro-industrial residues from food processing and bio-industrial residues from the processing of other bioproducts.
The valorisation of biomass feedstock, such as organic, wood, and crop material or residues, as well as of municipal organic wastes and manure for the production of bioenergy and innovative bio-based products.
Synthetic or natural material suitable for use in constructing artificial organs and prostheses or to replace bone or tissue.
A new metric combining cascading use and production efficiency into one indicator for the circular economy
The BUF can serve not only as an indicator for the circular economy principle of keeping materials in use, but also act as an efficient tool for stakeholders and policymakers to identify options that maximize biomass utilisation and keep materials in use for longer
Bioplastic refers to a variety of materials that ‘are either bio-sourced, derived from biomass, either biodegradable or features both properties’.
A bio-sourced (or bio-based) packaging can be partially or totally made of biomass, e.g. from dedicated crops such as sugarcane, corn, etc. or from organic waste and residues resulting from primary or secondary transformations, e.g. cellulose, ligno-cellulosic residues.
A bioplastic can also be made of fossil resources and classified as biodegradable (e.g. PBAT), while bio-sourced bioplastics developed to substitute current plastics such as bio-PET, bio-PE, bio-PP are not biodegradable at all.
A bioplastic could be biodegradable without being bio-sourced, bio-sourced without being biodegradable or biosourced and biodegradable!
The term bioplastics is being used for plastics that are either bio-based or biodegradable, or both.
Given that these have very different properties, consumers could misunderstand the rather vague term ‘bioplastics’. The term is furthermore misleading because it suggests that any polymer derived from biomass is environmentally friendly. Therefore the use of the term “bioplastics” should ideally be avoided.
It is preferable to use the term “bio-based plastic” if it is a plastic derived from biomass or biodegradable plastic if it biodegrades.
Both categories overlap but there also are bio-based plastics that are not biodegradable as well as biodegradable plastics that are not bio-based.
Biopolymers are naturally occurring polymers, which are produced by living organisms.
They are distinct from synthetic biodegradable polymers.
Some of the first modern biomaterials made from natural biopolymers include rubber, linoleum, celluloid and cellophane. The latter two are made using cellulose, which is the most naturally abundant biopolymer and the most abundant organic material on earth.
Biopolymers are distinct from biodegradable polymers. Biopolymers are materials produced from natural or renewable resources, as opposed to ‘standard’ polymers that are produced from oil. Biopolymers might be biodegradable, but not always; similarly, some oil-based plastics are biodegradable.
Biopolymers can be classified broadly into three categories based on their
monomeric units and structure:
• Polynucleotides: DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid)
• Polysaccharides: cellulose, chitosan, chitin, etc.
• Polypeptides: collagen, gelatine, gluten, whey, etc
Biopolymers can also be categorised by other criteria such as their base materials (animal, plant or microbial), their biodegradability, their synthesis route, their applications or their properties.
Examples of some commercially-produced biopolymers include:
• Bio-based polyesters such as polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene succinate adipate (PBSA), polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT)
• Bio-based polyolefins such as polyethylene (Bio-PE)
• Bio-based polyamides (Bio-PA) such as homopolyamides (Bio-PA 6, Bio-PA 11) and copolyamides
(Bio-PA 4.10 – Bio-PA 5.10 – Bio-PA 6.10, Bio-PA 10.10)
• Polyurethanes such as Bio-PUR
• Polysaccharide polymers such as cellulose-based polymers (regenerated cellulose, cellulose diacetate) and starch-based polymers (thermoplastic starch, starch blends)
Bio-Polyethylene.
Biosourced but non-compostable polymer produced from biobased feedstock.
Bio polypropylene.
Biosourced but non-compostable polymer produced from biobased feedstock.
All products made from biological resources, and includes food, feed, biofuels and bio-based products.
Biorefining is the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products (food, feed, chemicals, materials) and bioenergy (biofuels, power and/or heat).
This concept is analogous to today’s petroleum refinery, which produces multiple fuels and products from petroleum.
Organic matter recycled from sewage, especially for use in agriculture.
Solvent derived from biomass; whereas solvents are liquids in which a solute is dissolved to form a solution.
Surfactant derived from biomass; whereas surfactants are substances that tends to reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved.
Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, or dispersants.
The word “surfactant” is a blend of surface-active agent.
Integration of natural sciences and engineering in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof, and their molecular analogues for products and services.
Biodegradable garden and park waste, food and kitchen waste from households, restaurants, caterers and retail premises, and comparable waste from food processing plants.
It does not include forestry or agricultural residues, manure, sewage sludge, or other biodegradable waste such as natural textiles, paper or processed wood. It also excludes those by-products of food production that never become waste.
Building blocks are the bio-based materials needed to manufacture some of the most common bioproducts.
For example, ethylene, which can be made from sugar cane, is a building block used in the manufacturing of the polymer polyethylene (PE). A polymer is a chemical compound consisting of repeating monomers, a class of molecule that can bond in long chains.
Along with PE, there are a number of other polymers used in the production of commodity plastics, such as polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Examples of polymers used in the production of specialty or engineering plastics include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, also known as Teflon), polycarbonate (PC, also known as Lexan) and polyesters and polyamides (Nylon).
A material or substance created when processing or manufacturing something else.
A byproduct can be useful and marketable, or it can have negative ecological consequences.
C
Carbon (from Latin: carbo = coal) is the chemical element with the symbol C.
Carbon is highly prevalent in the biosphere, with almost any living being on earth being made up of carbon, including humans and animals.
It is essential for growth and reproduction and the major building block of life, for organic chemistry and derived materials such as plastics.
See also: Renewable Carbon.
Carbon auditing helps organisations and individuals measure and reduce or offset their carbon footprints.
The concept of the carbon budget is based on a nearly linear relationship between the cumulative CO2 emissions and the temperature rise.
Carbon budgets are total amounts of cumulative emissions that scientists estimate can be emitted without reaching certain levels of global warming. These are useful for governments and regulators to set strategies for CO2e reductions in each industry.
The process of capturing carbon dioxide to be recycled for further usage.
CCU is a broad term that covers all established and innovative industrial processes that aim at capturing carbon dioxide– either from industrial point sources or directly from the air – and at transforming the captured carbon dioxide into a variety of value-added products such as chemical building blocks, food/feed, synthetic fuels or materials.
Technologies that involve the capture of carbon dioxide from fuel combustion or industrial processes, the transport of this carbon dioxide via ship or pipeline, and either its use as a resource to create valuable products or services or its permanent storage deep underground in geological formations.
CCUS technologies also provide the foundation for carbon removal or “negative emissions” when the carbon dioxide comes from bio-based processes or directly from the atmosphere.
A generic term for any tradable certificate or permit representing the right of a company to emit one tonne of CO2 or the mass of another greenhouse gas with a carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide.
Carbon credits are issued by governments, which tend to issue fewer and fewer over time, making polluting more expensive.
The combined processes, including photosynthesis, decomposition, and respiration, by which carbon as a component of various compounds cycles between its major reservoirs—the atmosphere, oceans, and living organisms.
The initial emission of biogenic-CO2 from forest bioenergy when it is higher than the emissions from a reference fossil system.
It is called debt because the forest re-growth combined with the continuous substitution of fossil fuels may, in time, repay the ‘debt’.
A molecule made of one carbon atom double-bonded to two oxygen atoms (one on each side of the carbon). A colourless, odourless gas, denser than air that occurs naturally in the earth’s atmosphere. It is slightly soluble in water, forming carbonic acid.
It is widely implicated as one of the major causal agents in greenhouse warming.
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) is a measure that allows various greenhouse gases to be compared in terms of their contribution to global warming.
Carbon dioxide equivalents are often synonymous with Carbon dioxide emissions.
The concept of the carbon budget is based on a nearly linear relationship between the cumulative CO2 emissions and the temperature rise.
Carbon budgets are total amounts of cumulative emissions that scientists estimate can be emitted without reaching certain levels of global warming. These are useful for governments and regulators to set strategies for CO2e reductions in each industry.
A carbon calculator helps organisations and individuals measure and reduce or offset their carbon footprints.
The full quantity of greenhouse gases that can be attributed to an individual, a plant, a company, a product or a whole economy.
Carbon negative is synonymous with ‘climate positive’.
Balancing the amount of carbon released – by burning fossil fuels or biomass, or the decomposition of plant biomass, for example – with an equivalent amount put into and stored in soils, plant and animal tissues, or other material such as the ocean floor.
A carbon offset broadly refers to a reduction in GHG emissions — or an increase in carbon storage (e.g., through land restoration or the planting of trees) — that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere.
A carbon offset credit is a transferable instrument certified by governments or independent certification bodies to represent an emission reduction of one metric tonne of CO2, or an equivalent amount of other GHGs.
The purchaser of an offset credit can ‘retire’ it to claim the underlying reduction towards their own GHG reduction goals.
Carbon positive is how organisations describe climate positive and carbon negative.
Typically a marketing term, and understandably confusing.
A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it releases — for example, plants, the ocean and soil.
Carbon sources are any natural or artificial production site of carbon.
For example, the burning of fossil fuels, forest fires, animal respiration, and plant degradation are all sources of carbon.
Carbon trading is the buying and selling of credits that permit a company or other entity to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide.
The carbon credits and the carbon trade are authorized by governments with the goal of gradually reducing overall carbon emissions and mitigating their contribution to climate change.
Cascading use is the efficient utilization of resources by using residues and recycled materials for material use to extend total biomass availability within a given system. In a single-stage cascade, the wood is processed into a product and this product is used once more for energy purposes.
In a multi-stage cascade, the wood is processed into a product and this product is used at least once more in the material form before disposal or recovery for energy purposes.
Also known as Carbon Storage, involves the permanent storage of captured carbon dioxide in geological formations or as stable carbonates in CCU products. Some use the term “storage” to indicate temporary storage of carbon dioxide for later use and “sequestration” to mean permanent storage.
Also termed Carbon dioxide utilization, is the use of carbon dioxide captured either from the atmosphere or point source emissions in valuable products, such as plastics and chemicals.
A range of “carbon management” technologies including carbon capture, utilization, and storage .
Also referred to as negative emissions technologies (NETs)
Formal procedure by which an accredited or authorised person or agency assesses and verifies (and attests in writing by issuing a certificate) the attributes, characteristics, quality, qualification, or status of individuals or organizations, goods or services, procedures or processes, or events or situations, in accordance with established requirements or standards.
Chemicals that form the base form more complex products. For instance, they constitute the monomers that react together to build a chain, called polymer.
A systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature.
It is underpinned by a transition to renewable energy and materials.
Transitioning to a circular economy entails decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. This represents a systemic shift that builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and
provides environmental and societal benefits.
Achieving circularity in the value chain involves retaining the value of different kinds of resources (not only biological resources) in the economic cycle as long as possible before these resources reach the end-of-life stage. Applying the principles of circularity is a key aspect of making the bioeconomy sustainable.
Circularity, which is focused on ‘designing out’ waste by adding value to biological waste and by-products flows, increases resource use efficiency in the biomass value chain; less inputs are used and less waste is produced.
Claim refers to assertions made by companies about beneficial qualities or characteristics of their goods and services.
Climate positive is where an activity goes beyond achieving net-zero carbon emissions to create an environmental benefit by removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A business model that completely reuses, recycles, or composts all materials. The term can also be used to refer to corporate take-back schemes, where companies that produce a good are also responsible for its disposal.
A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite) is a material that is produced from two or more constituent materials.
These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or physical properties and are merged to create a material with properties unlike the individual elements. Within the finished structure, the individual elements remain separate and distinct, distinguishing composites from mixtures and solid solutions.
The ability of a material to decompose through the composting process which requires certain temperature levels and conditions. The process has minimal environmental impact, leaves no microplastics and remains harmless even outside of managed closed waste streams, for example, it can be placed in a household collection compost bin or organics recycling bin.
Decayed organic material used as a fertiliser for growing plants.
A substance consisting of atoms or ions of two or more different elements in definite proportions joined by chemical bonds into a molecule.
The term compostable is used to describe a product that can disintegrate into non-toxic, natural elements. It also does so at a rate consistent with similar organic materials.
Compostable products require microorganisms, humidity, and heat to yield a finished compost product (CO2, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass).
The main difference between compostable and biodegradable is that biodegradable material can take an undetermined time to break down whereas, in contrast, compostable materials will decompose into natural elements within a specific time frame. However, it will require certain conditions like those found in industrial composting facilities to do so
Materials that can be disposed of with biological materials and decay into a nutrient-rich material.
To meet the EU standard of compostability (EN 13432:20006 for packaging and EN 14995:20067 for not packaging) materials must meet four criteria:
• Chemical composition: volatile matter and heavy metals as well as fluorine should be limited.
• Biodegradability: the conversion of >90% of the original material into CO2, water and minerals by biological processes within 6 months.
• Disintegrability: at least 90% of the original mass should be decomposed into particles that are able to pass through a 2×2 mm sieve.
• Quality: absence of toxic substances and other substances that impede composting.
A treatment process that decomposes organic matter in an oxygenated environment. The result is nutrient-rich fertilizer or soil amendment.
Common types of composting include industrial composting (also known as ‘commercial composting’) and home composting.
A self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable — to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.
By practising corporate social responsibility companies can be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society including economic, social, and environmental.
To engage in CSR means that, in the normal course of business, a company is operating in ways that enhance society and the environment, instead of contributing negatively to it.
A common type of boundary for life cycle assessments, and a specific kind of cradle-to-grave, where the end-of-life disposal step for the product is a recycling process.
This follows the model of the circular economy, where products are designed in a way so that at the end of their initial life they can be readily reused or recycled.
A common type of boundary for life cycle assessments, where a full product’s life cycle is considered including raw material extraction, processing, distribution, storage, use, and disposal or recycling stages. All relevant inputs and outputs are considered for all of the stages of the life cycle.
D
The irreversible process leading to a significant change in the structure of a product, typically characterized by a change of properties (e.g. integrity, molecular mass or structure, mechanical strength) and/or by fragmentation, affected by environmental conditions, proceeding over a period of time and comprising one or more steps.
Dedicated bio-based chemicals are chemicals that are produced via a dedicated pathway and do not have an identical fossil-based counterpart.
As such, they can be used to produce products that cannot be obtained through traditional chemical reactions and products that may offer unique and superior properties that are unattainable with fossil-based alternatives.
Compared to drop-in commodity chemicals, bio-based dedicated pathways are more efficient, utilising not only the carbon in the biomass, but the whole biomass – carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. This is reflected in a
high biomass utilisation efficiency – BUE.
BUE is defined as the percentage of initial biomass ending up in the end product based on the molar mass of the reactant (= biomass) and target
bio-based product.
The process of converting polymers back into monomer(s).
An engineering methodology used to ensure that a product or system will reliably perform its intended function for its entire life cycle. DfR is concerned with designing products that are less prone to failure, easier to maintain, and have a longer lifespan. The goal of DfR is to prevent or minimize the risk of product failure, reduce warranty costs, and improve customer satisfaction. DfR techniques may include stress testing, failure mode analysis, and root cause analysis, among others. By incorporating DfR principles into the design process, engineers can create products that are more reliable, durable, and cost-effective.
A method of digitally recording information about a product. The main purpose of this is to provide an easy to access, centralized bank of information. The DPP’s information will depend on the product.
Direct GHG emissions are emissions from sources that are owned or controlled by the reporting entity.
Use of secondary materials that results in a lower economic value of that material that cannot be recovered.
Occurring along a product supply chain after the point of referral.
Prefix for ‘chemical’ or ‘bioplastic’ (e.g., Bio-PP and Bio-PE) to denote materials that can directly substitute for fosil-based versions.
The ability of a product, component or material to remain functional and relevant when used as intended.
The ability of a material to decompose through the composting process which requires certain temperature levels and conditions. The process has minimal environmental impact, leaves no microplastics and remains harmless even outside of managed closed waste streams, for example, it can be placed in a household collection compost bin or organics recycling bin.
E
Ecolabelling is a voluntary method of environmental performance certification and labelling that is practised around the world. An ecolabel identifies products or services proven to be environmentally preferable within a specific category.
With regard to different aspects of bio-based products, relevant ecolabels and certification schemes include for example: multi-issue ecolabels specifying bio-based products – e.g. the EU Ecolabel, the Nordic Ecolabel or “Swan”, and the Blue Angel ecolabel; schemes certifying the sustainability of biomass used as raw material, such as wood (Forest Stewardship Council. Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification or agricultural biomass (e.g. International Sustainability & Carbon Certification, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, REDcert or Better Biomass ) schemes certifying the bio-based (carbon) content e.g. TÜV Rheinland / DIN CERTCO), TÜV Austria and Biobased Content and schemes certifying end-of-life options of bio-based products, such as industrial compostability, home compostability, biodegradability in soil, biodegradability in seawater, etc.
A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.
The benefits people derive from ecosystems.
Ecosystem services include provisioning services of essential goods (e.g. food, water, timber and fibre); regulating services that affect climate, flooding, the spread and control of pests and diseases, waste management, and water quality; cultural services that provide recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits; and supporting services, such as soil formation, photosynthesis, and nutrient cycling.
The ability of a chemical or physical agent to have an adverse effect on the health of an ecosystem, by damaging individual species and/ or changing the structure and function of the ecosystem.
Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment. Estimates the materials and energy resources required for, and the environmental emissions resulting from, activities in an economy.
Embodied carbon is the total CO2 emitted in producing materials.
It’s estimated from the energy used to extract and transport raw materials as well as emissions from manufacturing processes.
The GHG Protocol categorizes direct and indirect emissions into three broad scopes:
- Scope 1: All direct GHG emissions.
- Scope 2: Indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam.
- Scope 3: Other indirect emissions, such as the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities (e.g. T&D losses) not covered in Scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc.
The life cycle stage during which a product no longer has value to its original owner and is then disposed of.
Any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, that wholly or partially results from an organisation’s activities, products or services.
Alliance of EU-funded projects dealing with bioeconomy promotion and communication.
The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF) is a financial instrument that seeks to help achieve the European Green Deal goals of making Europe climate neutral by 2050.
The ECBF partners with ambitious and visionary entrepreneurs to accelerate late-stage circular bioeconomy companies and will invest in innovative projects in the areas of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries, the forest-based sectors, biochemicals and biomaterials, focusing on scaling up innovative bio-based companies in a late-stage (demonstration or commercial phases).
The investment size ranges from € 2.5- 10 million
A set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050.
A term used to describe any waste created by discarded electronic devices and components, as well as substances involved in their manufacture or use.
F
A material or substance that is used as an input to a product or process.
A chemical or natural substance added to soil or land to increase its fertility.
Products derived from the fibres of herbaceous and woody plant materials. Examples include pulp, composition board products and wood chip.
Materials that are non-renewable on timescales relevant to the economy, i.e. not geological timescales. Examples include: metals and minerals; fossil forms of carbon such as oil, coal, and natural gas; and sand, rocks, and stones.
By-products of logging operations (primary forest residues), such as branches, stumps, treetops and sawdust, and industrial wood processing (secondary forest residues), for example, bark, sawmill slabs, sawdust and wood chip.
The impact of a product or service across its life cycle. One can calculate a product’s carbon, water, energy and material footprints, for example.
This is similar to a life cycle assessment except that footprints typically only evaluate one environmental issue.
Fossil carbon emissions refer to emissions that originate from the burning of fossil fuels and would not be released in the absence of human activity.
A carbon or hydrocarbon fuel formed in the ground from the remains of dead plants and animals.
Oil, natural gas, and coal are fossil fuels.
An energy carrier intended for energy conversion, which can be liquid, solid or gaseous.
Functional performance refers to the capacity of the material to fulfil its requirements in the specific device application.
G
A kg of the carbon dioxide equivalent of a given gas has the same warming effect as a kg of CO2.
This can be identified by studying the global warming potential (GWP) of each gas, taking into account the length of time it remains in the atmosphere, and comparing this to the global warming potential of CO2 (which is equal to 1).
Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that minimise or eliminate the use or generation of substances hazardous to humans, animals, plants, and the environment.
Green chemistry applies across the life cycle of a chemical product, including its design, manufacture, and use.
The practice of suggesting or otherwise creating the impression (in commercial communication, marketing or advertising) that a good or a service has a positive or no impact on the environment or is less damaging to the environment than competing goods or services.
This may be due to its composition, how it has been manufactured or produced, how it can be disposed of and the reduction in energy or pollution expected from its use. When such claims are not true or cannot be verified, this practice is often called ‘greenwashing’.
Greencrowding is built on the belief that you can hide in a crowd to avoid discovery; it relies on safety in numbers. If sustainability policies are being developed, it is likely that the group will move at the speed of the slowest.
Greenlighting occurs when company communications (including advertisements) spotlight a particularly green feature of its operations or products, however small, in order to draw attention away from environmentally damaging activities being conducted elsewhere.
Greenshifting is when companies imply that the consumer is at fault and shift the blame on to them
Greenlabelling is a practice where marketers call something green or sustainable, but a closer examination reveals that their words are misleading
Greenrinsing refers to when a company regularly changes its ESG targets before they are achieved.
Greenhushing refers to the act of corporate management teams under-reporting or hiding their sustainability credentials in order to evade investor scrutiny.
See Greenwashing
Designing products and processes to minimise environmental impacts and protect human health without compromising economic value.
The Earth’s atmosphere contains gases that largely allow short-wave solar radiation to pass through, but absorb (long-wave) thermal radiation and thus heat the system. In analogy to a greenhouse – which lets solar radiation pass through and “holds” heat radiation – the greenhouse effect refers to this process.
The gases that cause this effect are called greenhouse gases. Water vapour and carbon dioxide, in particular, absorb part of the thermal radiation emitted from the earth’s surface and therefore reduce the proportion of thermal radiation emitted into space.
Greenhouse gases constitute a group of atmospheric gases that add to the greenhouse effect, contributing to global warming and climate change.
The Kyoto Protocol covers six greenhouse gases:
The non-fluorinated gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O); (ii) the fluorinated gases: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Converting them to carbon dioxide (or CO2) equivalents makes it possible to compare them and to determine their individual and total contributions to global warming.
Greenhouse gas emissions describe the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the earth’s atmosphere.
As these emissions are the major driver of climate change, global GHG emissions are increasingly monitored.
Scenarios for climate change are derived from current and projected GHG emissions and most targets toward mitigating climate change are based on quantifying the reduction of these emissions.
See Greenwashing
Green hydrogen is a form of hydrogen (H2) produced with the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind and bioenergy without using fossil carbon feedstocks.
The hydrogen in this case is produced via electrolysis of water with electricity produced from solar, wind or hydro energy.
In carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) the green hydrogen is then used to react with the carbon monoxide (CO) or carbon dioxide (CO2) as an energy carrier to form syngas, hydrocarbons such as methane or ethylene, alcohols such as methanol and ethanol or other chemicals such as formic acid.
See Greenwashing
See Greenwashing
Green marketing refers to the practice of developing, advertising and selling products based on their real or perceived environmental sustainability.
Green marketing is also known as environmental marketing or sustainable marketing.
The additional price a market actor is willing to pay for the additional emotional performance and/or the strategic performance of the intermediate or end product the buyer expects to get when choosing the bio-based alternative compared to the price of the conventional counterpart with the same technical performance.
See Greenwashing
See Greenwashing
Greenwashing – the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company’s products are more environmentally sound. … Greenwashing is a play on the term ‘whitewashing’ – using misleading information to gloss over bad behaviour.
Greenwashing attempts to capitalize on the growing demand for environmentally sound products. It can convey a false impression that a company or its products are ecologically sound.
Greencrowding – the belief that you can hide in a crowd to avoid discovery; it relies on safety in numbers. If sustainability policies are being developed, it is likely that the group will move at the speed of the slowest.
Greenlighting – company communications (including advertisements) spotlight a particularly green feature of its operations or products, however small, in order to draw attention away from environmentally damaging activities being conducted elsewhere.
Greenshifting – companies imply that the consumer is at fault and shift the blame onto them.
Greenlabelling – marketers call something green or sustainable, but a closer examination reveals that their words are misleading.
Greenrinsing – company regularly changes its ESG targets before they are achieved.
Greenhushing – corporate management under-reporting or hiding their sustainability credentials in order to evade investor scrutiny.
Global Reporting Institute
The official reporting standard of the UN Global Compact, making it the default reporting framework for the compact’s 5,800 associated company members.
Among the oldest and most widely-adopted methodologies in the world, GRI looks at the economic, environmental and social impact of an organisation’s material activities on its stakeholders.
A tracking mechanism that allows purchasers of renewable inputs including materials and power to ascertain that the these were generated using circular or clean technology. Also known as a GO or GoO, Guarantees of Origin create a tamper-proof chain of information around progress from production or generation to delivery.
H
The controlled decomposition of organic material such as yard trimmings, kitchen scraps, wood shavings, cardboard and paper.
It is a means of recovery of organic matter into compost, which can be
used for soil improvement or as a fertiliser. At home, organic material can be composted outdoors (e.g. backyard composting) or even indoors (using a special type of bin).
When a product or a package is labelled home compostable, then it can be placed in a home compost bin or in the green bins where it will decompose and become organic rich soil, within a measured period of time.
Home compostable plastics are designed to biodegrade in the conditions of a well-managed home composter at lower temperatures than in industrial composting plants.
Most also biodegrade in industrial composting plants.
This refers to the amount of carbon stored in a particular ecosystem, such as a forest, peatland, or grassland. HCS is an important concept in the context of climate change because the release of carbon from these ecosystems can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
In the context of forest management, HCS is used to identify forests that contain significant amounts of carbon and therefore have a high conservation value. Forests with high carbon stocks are important for mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity, and are often targeted for conservation and sustainable management efforts. The HCS approach involves the use of various tools and methods to estimate the amount of carbon stored in a forest or other ecosystem, including remote sensing, ground-based measurements, and modeling.
HCS is often used in combination with other frameworks, such as the High Conservation Value (HCV) approach, to ensure that forests and other ecosystems are managed in a way that protects both carbon stocks and other important values such as biodiversity and social and cultural values.
Used to describe areas or habitats that possess significant environmental, social, or cultural values that require special attention to ensure their conservation. HCV is a framework used to identify and manage areas that are of particular importance for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the well-being of local communities. HCVs are identified based on a set of criteria that includes the presence of threatened or endangered species, unique or rare ecosystems, critical habitats, and areas that provide important ecosystem services such as clean water, carbon storage, or soil conservation. HCVs can be found in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other ecosystems and are an important tool for promoting sustainable development and conservation.
I
Indirect GHG emissions are emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the reporting entity but occur at sources owned or controlled by another entity.
Industrial composting is an established process for transforming biodegradable waste of biological origin into stable, sanitised products to be used in agriculture.
It occurs under certain, managed conditions (in the presence of heat, humidity and oxygen) in industrial (commercial) composting plants.
Common technologies include windrow composting, aerated static piles, tunnel composting and in-vessel composting.
Compostable only under a controlled environment with industrial conditions, which include high temperatures and allow for a faster composting than home composting.
Industrial compostable is also called ‘commercial compostable’ or ‘municipal compostable’.
Industrially compostable plastics are designed to biodegrade in the conditions of an industrial composting plant or an industrial anaerobic digestion plant with a subsequent composting step.
Output from a unit process that is input to other unit processes that require further transformation within the system
A globally recognized certification scheme that promotes sustainable and responsible production and trade of biofuels, biomaterials, and other renewable resources. The ISCC sets criteria and standards for social, environmental, and economic sustainability, and ensures compliance with legal requirements and human rights principles.
The ISCC certification system covers the entire supply chain of renewable resources, from the production of raw materials to their processing and transportation, and is applicable to various sectors, including agriculture, forestry, and waste management. The certification process involves auditing and verification by independent third-party certification bodies, and requires ongoing compliance monitoring and reporting by certified organizations.
The ISCC also includes requirements for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and use of biofuels and biomaterials, and offers a carbon footprint certification that verifies the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are avoided or reduced by using these resources compared to conventional fossil fuels. This certification is important in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy and mitigating climate change.
L
The label describes a logo or stamp highlighting a product or service’s specific characteristic(s), which may also be used as a form of trademark.
A label may or may not represent a certification.
Requirements to be met by the works, products, services, processes or procedures in question in order to obtain the label concerned.
All of the stages that a product goes through in its lifetime: raw material extraction, processing, manufacturing, use, end-of-life and transportation.
Takes into consideration the spectrum of resource flows and environmental interventions associated with a product from a supply-chain perspective, including all stages from raw material acquisition through processing, distribution, use, and end-of-life processes, and all relevant related environmental impacts (instead of focusing on a single issue).
Life cycle assessment (previously also known as life cycle analysis) is defined as a systematic analysis of environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle.
For this analysis, the material and energy inputs and outputs along all steps of the life cycle (this includes raw material extraction, production, distribution, use and disposal at end-of-life) are collected and then assessed in terms of potential environmental impacts of a product system.
LCA is accepted as one of the main methods to identify environmental impacts and is standardised on the widely accepted standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.
Life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment are consecutive parts of a life cycle assessment.
Comparative life cycle assessment refers to a life cycle assessment in which two or more products or systems are compared.
Streamlined life cycle assessment refers to a simplified version of a life cycle assessment that focuses on the most significant environmental impacts of a product or system.
A method to evaluate the financial impacts of a product or system over its life cycle.
LCC is usually differentiated into three types—conventional (LCC), environmental (E-LCC), and societal (S-LCC).
Conventional LCC focuses on internal costs directly associated with a product’s life cycle.
E-LCC goes beyond that scope and includes external costs likely to be internalised in the decision-relevant future, such as environmental taxes
and subsidies.
S-LCC even includes costs emerging from the side-effects of production which manifest in people’s lives and society, whether today or in the long-term. Within LCSA, it is normally referred to as environmental LCC.
The second phase of a life cycle assessment in which environmental impacts are determined.
The phase of life cycle assessment aimed at understanding and evaluating the magnitude and significance of the potential environmental impacts for a product system throughout the life cycle of the product.
The third stage of a life cycle assessment in which solutions are evaluated for mitigating environmental impacts.
Phase of life cycle assessment in which the findings of either the inventory analysis or the impact assessment, or both, are evaluated in relation to the defined goal and scope in order to reach conclusions and recommendations.
The first stage of a life cycle assessment in which the inputs and outputs (materials, energy, water, economic value, etc.) of the system are identified.
The integration of life cycle thinking into decision-making.
The compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.
A life cycle perspective includes consideration of the environmental aspects of an organisation’s activities, products, and services that it can control or
influence.
Stages in a life cycle include acquisition of raw materials, design, production, transportation/delivery, use, end of life treatment, and final disposal.
Accounting for economic, environmental and social impacts across all stages of a product or services life cycle.
The period of time from when a product is released for use after manufacture to the moment it becomes obsolete beyond recovery at the product level.
An economy in which finite resources are extracted to make products that are used – often not to their full potential – and then thrown away
Materials that are extracted and processed within the same region where they are purchased.
The definition ‘local’ depends on the material, process, objectives and distance between extraction and processing.
M
Fibre whose chemical composition, structure, and properties are significantly modified during the manufacturing process.
Areas not suitable for agriculture, such as land that is subject to drought or extreme flooding, or that suffers from salt stress.
A broad definition that covers many different types of land including land of poor quality with regard to agricultural use, and unsuitable for housing and other uses.
Relationship between input and output of a specific substance within a system in which the output from the system cannot exceed the input into the system.
The mass balance approach is used as a tool in order to increase the share of renewable content used as a feedstock.
Multiple players in the chemicals and polymer industry finding supply chains that incorporate renewable materials are using the mass balance approach to increase the amount of renewable content in their feedstocks.
Substance that is exploited by humans in their practical activities.
In ‘material use’ the biomass serves as raw material for the (industrial) production of all kinds of goods as well as their direct use in products.
This clearly distinguishes it from energy use, in which the biomass serves purely as an energy source.
Refers to operations that neither change the formulation of a plastic (or material) nor substantially change the molecular structure of the polymer.
The steps of mechanical plastic or textile recycling deviate from each other and may cover collection/segregation, cleaning and drying, mechanical disintegration (e.g. chipping/sizing), colouring/agglomeration, extrusion and granulation, re-spinning into yarns, and manufacturing of the end product.
A colourless gas, odourless at low concentrations, but with a sweetish chloroform-like odour at high concentration.
It is highly combustible, and mixtures of about 5% to 15% in air are explosive.
Upon release into the atmosphere methane is destroyed by reactions with other chemicals in the atmosphere, giving a lifetime of about 10 years.
Methane is one of the six greenhouse gases o be mitigated under the Kyoto Protocol. Significant emissions occur as a result of animal husbandry and agriculture.
Tiny plastic particles less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter.
There are two categories of microplastics: primary and secondary.
Primary microplastics are tiny particles designed for commercial use, such as cosmetics, as well as microfibers shed from clothing and other textiles, such as fishing nets.
Secondary microplastics are particles that result from the breakdown of larger plastic items, such as water bottles. This breakdown is caused by exposure to environmental factors, mainly the sun’s radiation and ocean waves.
Microplastics enter the food chain and are harmful to ocean and aquatic life.
Scientists are still unsure whether consumed microplastics are harmful to human or animal health—and if so, what specific dangers they may pose.
Many countries are taking action to reduce microplastics in the environment.
Growing genetically identically/very similar plants over a large area, with no other types of plants present.
A molecule of low molecular weight capable of chemically reacting to another molecule of the same type to form a larger molecule, such as dimer, trimer, tetramer, polymer, etc.
Waste that is generated by households, schools, hospitals and businesses in a given city or region.
It includes mixed commercial and residential garbage, such as yard trimmings, paper and paperboard, plastics, rubber, leather, textiles, and food wastes.
MSW for bioenergy also represents an opportunity to reduce residential and commercial waste by diverting significant volumes from landfills to the refinery.
N
The stock of renewable and non-renewable resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils, minerals) that combine to yield a flow of benefits to people.
Any hairlike raw material directly obtainable from an animal, plant, or mineral source and convertible into nonwoven fabrics such as felt or paper or, after spinning into yarns, into woven cloth.
Natural resources are materials derived from the environment.
Polymers synthesised in nature.
The most common natural polymers are carbohydrates like starch and proteins.
Negative emissions technologies referring to carbon dioxide removal.
Net Zero carbon emissions mean that an activity releases net-zero carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Net Zero emissions balance the whole amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) released and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
One of the six greenhouse gases to be mitigated under the Kyoto Protocol.
The main anthropogenic source of N2O is agriculture (soil and animal manure management), but important contributions also come from sewage treatment, fossil fuel combustion, and chemical industrial processes.
N2O is also produced naturally from a wide variety of biological sources in soil and water, particularly microbial action in wet tropical forests.
Polymers that do not break down to a natural, environmentally safe condition over time by biological processes.
Most plastics are non-biodegradable.
This durability is partially based on plastic being an uncommon target for bacteria, which makes it non-biodegradable.
They can disintegrate into smaller pieces through mechanical action to form microplastics, and so accumulate in the environment.
Materials that have been previously used. This includes: materials in products that have been reused, refurbished or repaired; components that have been remanufactured; materials that have been recycled. Also referred to as secondary materials.
O
Organizational life cycle assessments consider a single actor that can be located in different places and produce several products.
Operational carbon refers to the total carbon emitted from all energy sources used to keep buildings warm, cool, ventilated and lit.
Waste containing carbon compounds; derived from animal and plant materials
The ability of a material to decompose with the help of oxygen.
Oxodegradable materials do not completely dissolve in nature and as microplastics can end up in the food chain.
P
Polybutylene adipate terephthalate – a biodegradable copolymer. In combination with other biodegradable but brittle polymers, it can replace industry-standard plastics with environmentally safe and biodegradable plastics that will harmlessly disappear in a short period of time.
Product life cycle assessment – the analysis of environmental impacts relative to a unitary functional unit (impacts per one amount of functional unit)
Generic term used in the case of polymeric material that may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs.
The use of plastic in agriculture a blend of the words ‘plastic’ and ‘agriculture.
Chemicals that form the base form more complex products.
For instance, they constitute the monomers that react together to build a chain, called a polymer.
Examples include lactic acid and succinic acid.
Ability of a material to decompose with the help of UV radiation from the sun
A chemical compound consisting of repeating monomers, a class of molecules that can bond in long chains.
Typically used in reference to a time in the future when humankind will become less dependent on plastic materials.
R
Reused agricultural waste
Crude or virgin material that is used in product manufacturing or processing.
Materials that are continually replenished at a rate equal to or greater than the rate of depletion.
Examples include: cotton, hemp, maize, wood, wool, leather, agricultural by-products, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and sea salt. To fit in a circular economy such materials (where relevant) must be produced using regenerative production practices.
A raw material sent to and processed in a waste recycling plant or materials-recovery facility so it can be used in the production of new materials and products.
For example, plastic bottles can be made into plastic pellets and synthetic fabrics.
Transform a product or component into its basic materials or substances and reprocess these into new materials.
The ease with which a material can be recycled in practice and at scale.
The portion of a product that is made from recovered and recycled materials.
Collection, sorting and processing of disposed of materials for use in another manufacturing process.
Chemical recycling represents a set of various recycling technologies for a range of different plastics and polymers. The main technologies can be separated into solvent-based (alcoholysis, hydrolysis, ammonolysis and aminolysis, combined methods), thermochemical (pyrolysis, gasification) and enzymolysis.
In general, two characteristic traits are mainly associated with the term chemical recycling: the change of the polymers molecular structure and the change of the formulation of the plastic.
The underlying definitions may therefore vary depending on the design which can either be based more on natural sciences or on politics.
Chemical recycling is often associated with more generic terms such as ‘advanced recycling’.
Recycling processes may not fit into the mechanical or chemical recycling category or may refer to other materials such as paper via mechanical or chemical pulping.
Such recycling concepts for cellulose are somewhere between these two concepts.
Breaking down to monomers and re-polymerisation does not work for cellulose recycling.
The molecular structure may be kept intact or be modified throughout the process, a separation of the cellulose molecules takes place to some extent as well as the formulation may change.
Another recycling process that cannot be clearly categorised into mechanical or chemical recycling is the solvent-based purification of plastics in which the molecular structure of the polymer is kept intact but the formulation of the plastic is changed throughout the process which is often referred to as physical recycling.
A refinery is a technical plant for the purification and refinement of raw materials (e.g. fractionation of crude oils via distillation which is based on the different boiling points of the respective fractions).
Typically the term refers to a petroleum oil refinery, however it can also be used in context of ‘refining’ bio-materials into their constituent parts
Return a product to good working order.
This can include repairing or replacing components, updating specifications, and improving cosmetic appearance
Re-engineer products and components to as-new condition with the same, or improved, level of performance as a newly manufactured one.
Renewable carbon entails all carbon sources that avoid or substitute the use of any additional fossil carbon from the geosphere.
Renewable carbon can come from the biosphere, atmosphere or technosphere – but not from the geosphere.
Material that is composed of biomass and that can be continually replenished.
Materials, energy and water sources that replenish themselves after human extraction within a finite amount of time.
A small amount of something that remains after the main part has gone or been taken or used.
In the bioeconomy context, residues are divided into four main sub-categories: agricultural, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, and processing residues.
A processing residue is a substance that is not the end product(s) that a production process directly seeks to produce. It is not a primary aim of the production process and the process has not been deliberately modified to produce it.
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which help us to satisfy our needs and wants.
Resources can broadly be classified by:
Availability: renewable and non-renewable resources.
On the level of development and use: actual and potential
On the basis of origin: biotic and abiotic.
On the basis of distribution: ubiquitous and localised (private, community-owned, national and international resources)
The exhaustion of raw materials within a region.
Resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources.
Use of either of these forms of resources beyond their rate of replacement is considered to be resource depletion. Resource depletion is most commonly used in reference to farming, fishing, mining, water, and fossil fuels.
A percentage of the total resources consumed that make up the final product or service.
The economic value created per unit of resource.
Maximizing the economic value that is created per unit of resource, over multiple lifetimes.
The repeated use of a product or component for its intended purpose without significant modification.
S
There is no specific definition for secondary raw materials.
They typically include waste materials (e.g. mine tailings), side streams (e.g. slag and ashes), processing residues, agricultural waste, the material removed during a product life cycle, and products and the materials they’re made from that have reached the end of the life cycle.
Streamlined Energy Carbon Reporting
UK sustainability regulations under which all large businesses are required to publicly report energy use, carbon emissions and energy efficiency actions.
A special sub-group of drop-in chemicals.
They are chemically identical to existing chemicals based on fossil hydrocarbons, but their bio-based pathways provide advantages compared to conventional pathways.
Drop-in chemicals are considered to be ‘smart drop-ins’ if at least two of the following criteria apply:
• The Biomass Utilisation Efficiency – BUE from feedstock to product is significantly higher compared to other drop-ins.
• Their production requires significantly less energy compared to other production alternatives.
• Time-to-product is shorter due to shorter and less complex production pathways compared to the fossil-based counterpart or other drop-ins.
• Less toxic or harsh chemicals are used or occur as by-products during their production process compared to the fossil-based counterpart or other drop-ins.
A method that can be used to assess the social and sociological aspects of products, their actual and potential positive as well as negative impacts along the life cycle.
This looks at the extraction and processing of raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, use, reuse, maintenance, recycling and final disposal.
S-LCA makes use of generic and site-specific data, can be quantitative, semi-quantitative or qualitative, and complements the environmental LCA and LCC.
It can either be applied on its own or in combination with the other techniques.
Solar power is energy harnessed from the sun’s rays. It is a renewable energy source, meaning it is a cleaner, more sustainable alternative to burning fossil fuels. Solar power produces no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, consumes no water, and uses relatively little land space.
A liquid that dissolves a solid, liquid, or gaseous solute, resulting in a solution.
Substances that reduce the surface tension of a liquid in which it is dissolved.
Molecules that consist of one hydrophilic (water-loving) part and one hydrophobic (water-hating or oil-loving) part.
The UNWCED (1987) definition: sustainability or sustainable development means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In a simpler form, sustainability refers to the avoidance of natural resource depletion and greenhouse gas emissions in order to maintain an ecological balance and stability of earth systems.
Modern sustainability definitions refer to it as a holistic approach that considers ecological, social and economic dimensions with the goal to consider all three of these so-called pillars of sustainability to find lasting prosperity for everyone.
The use of goods and services that address the requirements of today’s population.
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and balances social, economic and environmental concerns.
The 17 global goals for development for all countries established by the United Nations through a participatory process and elaborated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including, in the context of a postplastic world:
• Ensuring health and well-being
• Clean water and energy
• Building and ensuring resilient and sustainable infrastructure, cities and consumption
• Protecting land and water ecosystems
• Taking urgent action on climate change
T
The processes that products and materials flow through in order to maintain their highest possible value at all times. Materials suitable for these processes are those that are not consumed during use – such as metals, plastics and wood.
In the technical cycle the opportunities to maintain and generate value come through retaining the greatest proportion of the energy and labour embedded in the product. This is achieved, in order of value, by: maintaining, prolonging, sharing; reusing and redistributing; refurbishing and remanufacturing; and recycling.
Quantity of carbon present in a product in the form of organic, inorganic and elemental carbon.
Territorial life cycle assessment.
Type A [Te-LCA (A)] study a technology anchored in a known territory of which functions may vary according to that territory.
Type B [Te-LCA (B)] study one territory with all its functions and related activities.
The process of changing from one state or condition to another in a given period of time.
Transition can be in individuals, firms, cities, regions and nations, and can be based on incremental or transformative change.
In the postplastic context, this describes a shift from fossil-based materials to non-fossil
U
V
A value chain describes the flow of value between different actors in a supply chain and may include a broader set of actors than in supply chains.
Value can be reflected by a range of terms:
• Economic – where value chains describe the flow of profit or income between actors in the supply chain. For example, the flow of income to different actors based on the input and output costs.
• Environmental/climatic – where value chains describe the flow of benefits to given environmental or climate objectives. For example, the greenhouse gas emissions avoided as a result of a bioeconomy value chain.
• Social – where value chains describe the flow of benefits to people and communities. For example, the jobs created in rural areas as a result of new value chains.
These are distinct from supply chains, which describe the flow of goods and services between different actors, such as the production of wheat, its collection, processing, the manufacturing of pasta and eventual sale.
Materials that have not yet been used in the economy.
These include both finite materials (e.g. iron ore mined from the ground) and renewable resources (e.g. newly produced cotton).
A plastic from petroleum which has not been subjected to use earlier and has also not been blended with scrap or waste.
W
Residue left when a compound or a product reaches the end of its initial usefulness.
The priority order available for managing wastes, ranked in descending order of preference, based on the best environmental outcome across the lifecycle of the material:
(1) Prevent
(2) Reduce
(3) Reuse
(4) Recycle
(5) Incinerate
(6) Landfill
Waste streams are flows of specific waste, from its source through to recovery, recycling or disposal.
Waste streams can be divided into two main categories:
Material-related streams: including metals, glass, paper and cardboard, plastics, wood, rubber, textiles, bio-waste.
Product-related streams: including packaging, electronic waste, batteries and accumulators, end-of-life vehicles, mining, construction and demolition waste.
Each waste stream has its specific characteristics and applicable legislation, including in terms of treatment method, hazardousness, practical recovery and recycling possibilities.
Spent or used water that contains dissolved or suspended solids.
Wet waste feedstocks include commercial, institutional, and residential food wastes (particularly those currently disposed of in landfills), organic-rich biosolids, manure slurries from concentrated livestock operations and organic wastes from industrial operations.
Transforming these ‘waste streams’ into energy can help create additional revenue for rural economies and solve waste-disposal problems.
E&OE. Verdatica 2023