National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 17615:2022.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PRI/89, Plastics - Environmental Aspects.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2022.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 27 April 2022.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document ( EN 17615:2022) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 249 “Plastics”, the secretariat of which is held by NBN.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by December 2022, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by December 2022.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Introduction

The need for harmonized terms and definitions in the field of plastics relating to environmental aspects is growing. This document intends to give a common set of terms and definitions and thus strives to facilitate the communication and development of standards in this area.

The term “bioplastic” is not defined in this text, since EN 17228 states the following:

The terms “biopolymers” and “bioplastics” are commonly used to identify polymers and plastics that are either bio-based, biodegradable, or feature both properties. While these definitions are quite widespread and used by industry, it is recognized that they are susceptible to misunderstanding and thus inappropriate for standardization purposes.

The terms oxo-degradable and oxo-biodegradable are generally used to indicate plastic products made of conventional plastics (mostly polyolefins) supplemented in the transformation phase with catalysts that accelerate oxidation of the polymer. There are no European Standards that clarify how the potential of oxo-biodegradation can be measured and classified. However, the terms “oxo-degradable” and “oxo-biodegradable” have been widely used, sometimes arousing controversy. The use for market purposes, the lack of international standards, and the disputes raised over the marketing of these products are the reasons for not defining the terms in this document, pending the elaboration of specific standards. It has to be mentioned that the global market of “oxo-biodegradable” materials is deeply fragmented where, for example, countries in the EU have banned these materials, while in countries such as the UEA, Pakistan, Iran, Morocco, Yemen and DR Congo it is forbidden to use certain products like bags and plastic packaging if they are not oxo-biodegradable.

NOTE A definition of oxo-degradable plastic is present in DIRECTIVE (EU) 2019/904, Art. 3, 3.

General terms have the addition “of plastics”, e.g. “recycling of plastics” in this document for clarification. However, in practice they are often used without this addition.

1 Scope

This document specifies terms and definitions in the field of plastics related to environmental aspects and provides a common vocabulary for:

bio-based plastics;
biodegradability;
carbon and environmental footprint;
circular economy;
design;
plastics in natural environments;
reuse and recycling;
waste management.

This document aims to provide a comprehensive glossary which uses the applicable definitions providing when appropriate additional notes to make these definitions understandable without reference to other documents. Definitions are as far as possible adopted from existing standards but when the original intention or definition is unclear additional context or definitions are provided.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

Bibliography

BS EN 17615:2022

Plastics. Environmental Aspects. Vocabulary

Current

Published:

31 Aug 2022