Why are ‘Permanent Materials’ important?

Permanent materials now have a greater focus because of increasedconsumption and growing populations. This brings the need for materialsthat are infinitely recyclable in order to serve these demands and thisconcept is known as a ‘Circular Economy’.

“Permanently available materials arethose for which efforts are made toretain for use in society the energyand raw materials invested in theirproduction at the end of the productlife, either through reuse or recycling,with no loss of quality no matter howmany times the material is recycled.”

(Source: British Standard Institution (BSI) standard 8905:2011)

The PermanentMaterials ConceptDefinition of ‘Permanent Materials’

Materials in general can be classified as renewable or non-renewable or as permanent or non-permanent.

Renewable materials such as wood, paper/card or bioplastics are made from natural resources that can bere-built by biological processes.

Permanent materials are classified as materials that once produced can be recycled or reused without the loss of quality, regardless of how often the material is recycled.

REUSE

Non

-Ren

ewab

le

Ren

ewab

le

Non-Permanent Permanent

WoodPaper / CardBioplastics

PlasticsMetalsGlass

Further Information:

EMPAC LINK

RECYCLING

How does the ‘Permanent Materials’ Concept work?

Different materials can be recycled in different ways. Some materials become degraded duringrecycling and so quality is lost during the process. This is known as an ‘Open Loop’ material cycle.

Ardagh Group’s steel, aluminium and glass packaging is recycled by melting processes and can bere-used for packaging or other applications. This process is referred to as a ‘Closed Loop’ material cycle,as the material can be recycled repeatedly - without loss of quality or functionality.

ClosedMaterial

ManagementCycle

1

2

Primary Resources

Material

3

Application

OpenMaterial

ManagementCycle

1

2

Material

3

Application

ENDOFLIFE

Primary Resources

The Relevance of the Permanent MaterialConcept in European Legislation

One integral part of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy of theEuropean Commission is the ‘Roadmap to aResource Efficient Europe’. This aims to stimulategrowth needed to provide jobs and well-being to itscitizens and ensure that the quality of this growthleads to a sustainable future.

The roadmap explicitly refers to a ‘circular economy’of metals, where waste metal becomes a resourceand this closed material loop supports the idea of acircular economy (paragraph 4.3).

The importance of a circular economy and thisconcept of ‘Permanent Materials’ is alsoacknowledged in the Roadmap by not onlydistinguishing between non-renewable andrenewable materials but now between permanentmaterials too.

Europe 2020 Link

Lastly, the Waste Framework Directive (Directive2008/98/EC) introduces the so-called ‘wastehierarchy’, outlining the most important ways oftreating waste.

In this waste hierarchy, material recycling is regardedas a key solution (after ‘prevention’ and ‘re-use’) fortreating waste. Again, this adds relevance to theconcept of permanent materials and their inherentrecyclability as an ideal base for a circular economy.

WFD Link

Europarl Link