Raw materials that originate from living organisms (plants, animals) and have not been converted into a fossil raw material.
Proportion of raw materials of plant or animal origin (‘renewable raw materials’) in the total product weight in an air-dry state. This should also include the proportion of renewable raw materials contained in synthetic precursors (e.g. starch). Recycled materials that were originally produced from renewable raw materials (e.g. waste paper) are also included here.
Frequently used synonyms are ‘biogenic raw materials’ and ‘renewable raw materials’.

Renewable raw materials used in ‘bio-based plastics’. Bio-based plastics are made entirely or partly from renewable raw materials (e.g. from corn or sugar cane). The raw material proportions are to be divided proportionally between the ‘proportion of renewable raw materials in plastics’ and the ‘proportion of fossil raw materials in plastics’. If the division is not known, the proportion is to be allocated exclusively to the ‘proportion of fossil raw materials in plastics’.

Inorganic raw materials. Mineral raw materials include raw materials of natural mineral origin (lime, gypsum, cement, basalt, feldspar, etc.) and synthetically produced inorganic products (ammonium phosphate, boric acid, etc.). Metals (aluminium, zinc, etc.) are classified under ‘proportion of metallic raw materials’.

Naturally occurring mineral raw materials that contain metals or metallic compounds. Examples: iron, copper, aluminium, zinc

Fossil raw materials include crude oil, natural gas and coal. They are processed into plastics, chemicals or bitumen.

Synthetic plastics are produced from monomers by polymerisation (polyaddition, polycondensation, etc.). The starting materials are fossil raw materials, mostly cracked naphtha.
Synthetic resins are the raw material for plastics. In construction chemicals, plastics are often still in an uncured form as synthetic resin before being installed. This synthetic resin content must also be taken into account here.
If the plastics used are made entirely or partly from renewable raw materials, they can be divided proportionally between ‘proportion of renewable raw materials in plastics’ and ‘proportion of fossil raw materials in plastics’ or allocated exclusively to the ‘proportion of fossil raw materials in plastics’.

Fossil raw materials include crude oil, natural gas and coal. They are processed into plastics, chemicals or bitumen.

The proportion of plastics and chemicals must be stated as the ‘proportion of fossil raw materials in plastics’ or the ‘proportion of fossil raw materials in chemicals’. The proportion of bitumen and other fossil raw materials (e.g. carbon fibres) must also be stated here.

Fossil raw materials include petroleum, natural gas and coal. They are processed into plastics, chemicals or bitumen.

Chemicals include chemical compounds with a structure of carbon atoms, often in combination with hydrogen and other elements, which exhibit the typical properties and reactions of organic substances.

By-products or waste from agriculture and forestry that are produced during the extraction of a main product.
Examples: thinning wood, straw

Materials or substances that are generated during the manufacture of a main product but have their own economic value and can be reused without being considered waste.
Examples: granulated blast furnace slag, sawdust (which is not considered waste)

Waste generated during a production process that cannot be reused as a main or secondary product.
The return of materials from the company's own manufacturing process (e.g. offcuts) does not count as recycling.
Examples: offcuts, fly ash

Waste generated in connection with construction, conversion, renovation or demolition work. It arises in both building construction and civil engineering.

Examples: broken bricks, waste wood

Material from households, commercial and industrial facilities or institutes (the end users of the product) that can no longer be used for its intended purpose.

Examples: waste glass, waste paper from waste collection

Use of a dismantled construction product or a component thereof for the same or a similar purpose – without any complex conversion or processing; regardless of whether the previous process constitutes ‘reuse’ or ‘preparation for reuse’ under waste legislation.

Recyclable materials that cannot be assigned to any of the above recycling channels.