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SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-september-2022
Polimerni materiali - Okoljski vidiki - Slovar
Plastics - Environmental Aspects - Vocabulary
Kunststoffe - Umweltaspekte - Vokabular
Plastiques - Aspects environnementaux - Vocabulaire
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 17615:2022
ICS:
01.040.83 Gumarska industrija in Rubber and plastics
industrija polimernih industries (Vocabularies)
materialov (Slovarji)
13.020.01 Okolje in varstvo okolja na Environment and
splošno environmental protection in
general
83.080.01 Polimerni materiali na Plastics in general
splošno
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.
EN 17615
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
June 2022
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 01.040.13; 01.040.83; 13.020.01; 83.080.01
English Version
Plastics - Environmental Aspects - Vocabulary
Plastiques - Aspects environnementaux - Vocabulaire Kunststoffe - Umweltaspekte - Vokabular
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 COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION
EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG
CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2022 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 17615:2022 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
Bibliography . 44
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
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at
3.1
accelerated-ageing test
short-term test designed to reach more rapidly the natural ageing state for a material, following an
identical mechanism of the physico-chemical processes that occur during longer-term service conditions
3.2
activated sludge
biomass produced in the aerobic treatment of waste water by the growth of bacteria and other
microorganisms in the presence of dissolved oxygen
[SOURCE: ISO 14851:2019, 3.2]
3.3
aerobic biodegradation
biodegradation under aerobic conditions
[SOURCE: CEN/TR 15351:2006, c) 2]
3.4
additives
substances which are used to process plastics or to modify end use properties of plastics
Note 1 to entry: Substances are normally included in carrier matrix.
Note 2 to entry: Impact modifiers are rubbery type of additives added to plastics to improve toughness by absorbing
or dissipating the energy of impact.
Note 3 to entry: Rheology modifiers, also referred to as thickeners are additives that make a melt to become flowable
and easily poured when a force is applied.
Note 4 to entry: Plasticizers are additives that are mixed with polymers to make them softer and more flexible.
3.5
ageing
time-dependent irreversible chemical and physical processes in a plastic material under the influence of
one or more environmental factors leading to undesirable change in properties
EXAMPLES Extraction and evaporation.
3.6
agglomerate
larger particles formed by joining or binding together of smaller particles whose original identity can still
be visible in the final form
Note 1 to entry: Agglomerates can be supplied for further processing in the form of free-flowing material.
3.7
amorphous polymers
polymers that do not form a crystalline structure but rather form an irregular arrangement and have no
long-range order
3.8
anaerobic biodegradation
biodegradation under anaerobic conditions
[SOURCE: CEN/TR 15351:2006, c) 3]
3.9
anaerobic digestion
process of controlled decomposition of biodegradable materials under managed conditions where free
oxygen is absent, at temperatures suitable for naturally occurring mesophilic or thermophilic anaerobic
and facultative bacteria species, that convert the inputs to a methane rich biogas and digestate
Note 1 to entry: In a second phase, the digestate is typically stabilized by means of a composting (aerobic) process.
[SOURCE: ISO 18606:2013, 3.10]
3.10
antioxidant
substance used to retard deterioration caused by oxidation
[SOURCE: EN ISO 472:2013, 2.56]
3.11
ash content
inorganic mass remaining after complete combustion of a sample under specified conditions expressed
as a percentage of the mass of the dry matter in the sample
3.12
assembly
unit or structure composed of a combination of materials or products, or both
[SOURCE: EN ISO 472:2013, 2.1272]
3.13
assimilation
uptake of nutrient molecules from the environment by (micro)organisms and incorporation in the
biomass
Note 1 to entry: Assimilation is a key process in biodegradation.
3.14
average molar mass
average relative molecular mass
average of the molar mass or relative molecular mass of a polydisperse polymer
Note 1 to entry: The unit gram per mole is recommended in polymer science for molar mass since then the
numerical values of the molar mass and the relative molar mass of a substance are equal.
Note 2 to entry: Four types of average commonly used are number-average, mass-average, viscosity-average and
centrifugation-average.
[SOURCE: EN ISO 472:2013, 2.598, modified — In Note 2 to entry “centrifugation-average” was added.]
3.15
bale
compacted plastic waste to facilitate handling, storage and transportation
3.16
baling
process in which plastic waste is compacted and secured as a bundle to facilitate handling, storage and
transportation
[SOURCE: EN ISO 472:2013, 2.1678, modified — “plastics waste” was changed to read “plastic waste”.]
3.17
batch
quantity of material regarded as a single unit, and having a unique reference
Note 1 to entry: “Batch” is primarily a processing term.
[SOURCE: EN ISO 472:2013, 2.1679]
3.18
beach plastic litter
subcategory of marine plastic litter found on beaches
Note 1 to entry: Beach plastic litter is not necessarily identical with marine plastic litter. Beach studies may not be
representative of marine litter.
3.19
bioavailability
property of a plastic material to be physically and chemically accessible to the action of microorganisms
and enzymes released by them
3.20
bio-based
derived from biomass
Note 1 to entry: The correct spelling of “bio-based” is with a hyphen (-). It is however in common usage sometimes
spelt without a hyphen.
Note 2 to entry: The term “biomass-based” rarely is used as well.
[SOURCE: EN 17228:2019, 3.1]
3.21
bio-based carbon
biogenic carbon
carbon derived from biomass
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2014, 2.2, modified — Note 1 to entry deleted.]
3.22
bio-based carbon content
fraction of carbon derived from biomass in a product
Note 1 to entry: There are several approaches to express the bio-based carbon content. These include as a
percentage of: the mass; the total carbon content, or the total organic carbon content of the sample. These are
detailed in the relevant standards of CEN/TC 411.
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2014, 2.3]
3.23
bio-based composite
DEPRECATED: biocomposite
composite material wholly or partly derived from biomass
[SOURCE: EN 17228:2019, 3.3 - modified, alternative term “biocomposite” added.]
3.24
bio-based content
biomass content
fraction of a product that is derived from biomass
Note 1 to entry: Normally expressed as a percentage of the total mass of the product.
Note 2 to entry: For the methodology to determine the bio-based content, see CEN/TR 16721.
[SOURCE: EN 16575:2014, 2.4]
3.25
bio-based plastic
plastic wholly or partly derived from biomass
[SOURCE: EN 17228:2019, 3.4]
3.26
bio-based polymer
polymer wholly or partly derived from biomass
[SOURCE: EN 17228:2019, 3.2]
3.27
biochemical oxygen demand
BOD
mass concentration of th
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