Table S1 Terms and definitions according to ISO 14044 and the Waste Framework Directive

life cycle / consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to final disposal / ISO 14044
life cycle assessment
LCA / compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle / ISO 14044
life cycle inventory analysis LCI / phase of life cycle assessment involving the compilation and quantification of inputs and outputs for a product throughout its life cycle / ISO 14044
product / any goods or service / ISO 14044
process / set of interrelated or interacting activities that transforms inputs into outputs / ISO 14044
elementary flow / material or energy entering the system being studied that has been drawn from the environment without previous human transformation, or material or energy leaving the system being studied that is released into the environment without subsequent human transformation / ISO 14044
energy flow / input to or output from a unit process or product system, quantified in energy units. NOTE: Energy flow that is an input may be called an energy input; energy flow that is an output may be called an energy output. / ISO 14044
feedstock energy / heat of combustion of a raw material input that is not used as an energy source to a product system, expressed in terms of higher heating value or lower heating value. NOTE: Care is necessary to ensure that the energy content of raw materials is not counted twice. / ISO 14044
raw material / primary or secondary material that is used to produce a product
NOTE: Secondary material includes recycled material. / ISO 14044
ancillary input / material input that is used by the unit process producing the product, but does not constitute part of the product / ISO 14044
allocation / partitioning the input or output flows of a process or a product system between the product system under study and one or
more other product systems / ISO 14044
cut-off criteria / specification of the amount of material or energy flow or the level of environmental significance associated with unit processes or product system to be excluded from a study / ISO 14044
functional unit / quantified performance of a product system for use as a reference unit / ISO 14044
input / product, material or energy flow that enters a unit process / ISO 14044
intermediate flow / product, material or energy flow occurring between unit processes of the product system being studied / ISO 14044
intermediate product / output from a unit process that is input to other unit processes that require further transformation within the system / ISO 14044
output / product, material or energy flow that leaves a unit process / ISO 14044
process energy / energy input required for operating the process or equipment within a unit process, excluding energy inputs for production
and delivery of the energy itself / ISO 14044
product system / collection of unit processes with elementary and product flows, performing one or more defined functions, and which models the life cycle of a product / ISO 14044
reference flow / measure of the outputs from processes in a given product system required to fulfil the function expressed by the functional unit / ISO 14044
releases / emissions to air and discharges to water and soil / ISO 14044
system boundary / set of criteria specifying which unit processes are part of a product system
NOTE: The term “system boundary” is not used in this International Standard in relation to LCIA. / ISO 14044
unit process / smallest element considered in the life cycle inventory analysis for which input and output data are quantified / ISO 14044
Waste / ‘waste’ means any substance or object which the holder
discards or intends or is required to discard; / WFD
re-use / re-use’ means any operation by which products or components that are not waste are used again for the same purpose for which they were conceived; / WFD
Treatment / ‘treatment’ means recovery or disposal operations, including preparation prior to recovery or disposal; / WFD/14
Recovery / ‘recovery’ means any operation the principal result of which is waste serving a useful purpose by replacing other materials which would otherwise have been used to fulfil a particular function, or waste being prepared to fulfil that function, in the plant or in the wider economy. / WFD/15
Recycling / ‘recycling’ means any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It includes the reprocessing of organic material but does not include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations; / WFD/17
Disposal / ‘disposal’ means any operation which is not recovery even where the operation has as a secondary consequence the reclamation of substances or energy. Annex I sets out a non-exhaustive list of disposal operations; / WFD/19
by-products / 1. A substance or object, resulting from a production process, the primary aim of which is not the production of that item, may be regarded as not being waste referred to in point (1) of Article 3 but as being a by-product only if the following conditions are met: / WFD
(a) further use of the substance or object is certain;
(b) the substance or object can be used directly without any further processing other than normal industrial practice;
(c) the substance or object is produced as an integral part of a production process; and
(d) further use is lawful, i.e. the substance or object fulfils all relevant product, environmental and health protection requirements for the specific use and will not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts.
end-of-waste / End-of-waste status / WFD
1. Certain specified waste shall cease to be waste within the meaning of point (1) of Article 3 when it has undergone a recovery, including recycling, operation and complies with specific criteria to be developed in accordance with the following conditions:
(a) the substance or object is commonly used for specific purposes;
(b) a market or demand exists for such a substance or object;
(c) the substance or object fulfils the technical requirements for the specific purposes and meets the existing legislation and standards applicable to products; and
(d) the use of the substance or object will not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts. The criteria shall include limit values for pollutants where necessary and shall take into account any possible adverse environmental effects of the substance or object.