Plastic and the environment, surely everyone understands what it’s about?
Unfortunately, not. And it’s not so strange when it comes to complex issues, where the basic problem above all also consists in the lack of definitions for concepts used in this area. Then it’s easy to talk past each other, even though you might actually mean the same thing.
Plastics and environmental aspects – a glossary
In order to reduce the risk of disagreement and increase the possibility of consensus, Swedish experts have produced a glossary that defines 262 terms in the plastics and environmental field. These should provide better conditions to ensure that the same things are talked about when the environmental consequences of plastics are discussed.
The glossary has been produced by the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) and is anchored in the European standardization, CEN. It is now available with the designation SS-EN 17615 and is called ‘Plastic – Environmental aspects – Glossary’.
The standard has received a lot of international attention and is expected to be an important tool in the continued development of more standards in plastics and environmental aspects.
Are standards needed?
In a world where innovations and inventions provide new opportunities on a daily basis, sooner or later the question of standardization arises. Some people find alignment boring, but on closer reflection, most probably realize that standards have more advantages than disadvantages.
Claes Erixon, Chief Technology Officer at Scania had this to say about standards and the sustainability discussion:
“Standards describe how components and systems interact with each other. In order for us to be able to solve our common sustainability challenges, we need to collaborate even more, and then standards are a prerequisite”
Some of the terms in the glossary
- Bio-based plastics
- Biodegradability
- Carbon and environmental footprint
- Circular economy
- Design
- Plastics in natural environments
- Reuse and recycling
- Waste management
Carbon footprint (CFP)
An example from the standard is what is meant by the much discussed concept of carbon footprint in the context of plastics and environmental aspects.
CFP is a measure of how much impact CO2 has on the climate. The footprint can, for example, measure how much a person, a company or a country emits. This makes our emissions quantifiable. In this way, it becomes easier to understand how much it is about and how big an effect it has on the planet.
In terms of plastics and the environment, the carbon footprint of a product is described in the standard as the sum of greenhouse gas emissions and removals of greenhouse gases in a product system, expressed as CO2 equivalents and based on a life cycle assessment using the individual impact category climate change.
The imprint can also be divided in different ways. For example, in a set of numbers identifying specific greenhouse gas emissions and removals or in the stages of the life cycle. Or solely for the process where a raw material/resource is converted into a product at the factory.
Other words (and many more) defined in the glossary are for example:
- Microplastic
- Life cycle assessment
- Compostability
- Degradability
- Eco profile
- Cradle-to-gate life cycle analysis
- Eco design
- Environmental impact
- Filler
- Greenwashing
Buy the standard to read
To be able to read the definitions, you (unfortunately) need to buy the standard from SIS. Unfortunately, because it would probably facilitate the discussions if the definitions were publicly available.
The standard can be purchased here for SEK 1257.
More standards related to plastic and environmental aspects
If you search on SIS.se with search phrases: “Plastic environment” you get 64 hits. There are thus several standards in the field that may be interesting to know.
AMB – plastics and sustainability work
Plastic is a great material, but it also creates problems. Here you can read more about AMB and the company’s sustainability work.
More reading: Is there environmentally sustainable plastic?
