Arabic Sustainability Dictionary

Circular Carbon Economy (CCE)

A framework, endorsed by the G20 in 2020 under the Saudi presidency, for managing emissions through four Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and remove.

Circular economy

An economic model that keeps products and materials in use at their highest value for as long as possible and designs out waste and pollution.

Composting

The controlled aerobic decomposition of organic waste into a soil conditioner.

Construction and demolition waste (C&D waste)

Waste generated by building, renovation and demolition activities, such as concrete, bricks, metals and wood.

Cradle to cradle (C2C)

A design approach in which materials are kept in continuous biological or technical cycles so that a product at end of life becomes input for new products.

Eco-design

Integrating environmental considerations into product design to reduce impacts across the life cycle, for example through durability, repairability and recyclability.

Environmental product declaration (EPD)

A verified document, based on a life cycle assessment, that reports the environmental impacts of a product in a standardised way.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR)

A policy approach that makes producers responsible, financially or physically, for the treatment or disposal of their products after use.

Food loss and waste

The decrease in the quantity or quality of food along the supply chain (loss) and at retail, food service and household level (waste).

Industrial symbiosis

Collaboration between companies in which the waste or by-products of one become the raw materials of another.

Landfill

A site for the disposal of waste by burial in the ground, the least preferred option in the waste hierarchy.

Life cycle assessment (LCA)

A method for assessing the environmental impacts of a product across its life cycle, from raw material extraction to end of life, standardised in ISO 14040 and ISO 14044.

Municipal solid waste (MSW)

Everyday waste collected from households and similar commercial sources by or for municipalities.

Product-as-a-service (PaaS)

A business model in which customers pay for the use or performance of a product rather than owning it, giving the provider an incentive to make it durable.

Recyclability

The extent to which a product or material can be collected, sorted and reprocessed into new material in practice.

Recycled content

The proportion, by mass, of a product or package made from recycled material.

Recycling

Reprocessing waste materials into products, materials or substances for their original or other purposes, excluding energy recovery.

Reduce, reuse, recycle (3R)

A principle for minimising waste by using fewer resources, using products again and turning waste into new materials.

Remanufacturing

Restoring used products to like-new condition through disassembly, repair and replacement of worn parts.

Resource efficiency

Using the earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising impacts on the environment, producing more with less.

Resource use

The consumption of materials, water and energy by an organisation, including resource inflows and outflows such as products and waste.

Secondary raw materials

Materials recovered from waste through recycling that can be used again as inputs in production.

Single-use plastics

Plastic products designed to be used once before disposal, such as bags, straws and some packaging.

Waste diversion rate

The share of total waste generated that is diverted from disposal.

Waste diverted from disposal

Waste that is prepared for reuse, recycled or otherwise recovered instead of being landfilled or incinerated.

Waste hierarchy

An order of preference for waste management: prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, other recovery and, last, disposal.

Waste-to-energy (WtE)

Processes that generate electricity or heat from waste, mainly through incineration with energy recovery or anaerobic digestion.