There is a difference in scope between the Coalition definition and the Waste Framework Directive (WFD) Article 3.17. The WFD definition is as follows:

“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 backfilling operations.”

Chemical recycling defines a specific group of recycling operations and is in the remit of the Coalition. Other forms of recycling, outside the Coalition remit, remain relevant but are not part of this Coalition.

The existing ISO definition (ISO 472: 2013: 2.1690) relates to plastics and therefore has a slightly narrower definition:

“feedstock (=chemical) recycling: recycling of plastic waste: conversion to monomer or production of new raw materials by changing the chemical structure of plastic waste through cracking, gasification or depolymerisation, excluding energy recovery and incineration.”

With the Coalition’s definition, we want to ensure that we do not limit ourselves and clearly include all kinds of polymeric materials that chemical recycling can or could recycle (in the future).