- activity data
means the information associated with processes while modelling Life-Cycle Inventories (LCI), whereby the aggregated LCI results of the process chains that represent the activities of a process are each multiplied by the corresponding activity data and then combined to derive the environmental footprint associated with that process;
- annual consumption of strategic raw materials
means an aggregate of the amount of strategic raw materials consumed by undertakings established in the Union in processed form, excluding strategic raw materials incorporated in intermediate or final products placed on the Union market;
- automatic washing machine
means a washing machine where the load is fully treated by the washing machine without the need for user intervention at any point during the programme;
- bill of materials
means list of the raw materials, sub-assemblies, intermediate assemblies, sub-components, parts and the quantities of each needed to manufacture the product in scope of the study;
- board of directors
means the administrative or supervisory body responsible for supervising the executive management of the company, or, if no such body exists, the person or persons performing equivalent functions;
- collection
means collection as defined in Article 3, point (10), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
- comprehensive decision
means the decision or set of decisions taken by Member State authorities that determines whether a project promoter is authorised to implement a critical raw material project, without prejudice to any decision taken in the context of an appeal procedure;
- conformity assessment
means the process demonstrating whether the requirements set out in Article 28, 29 or 31 have been fulfilled;
- cooling generator
means the part of a cooling system that generates a temperature difference allowing heat extraction from the space or process to be cooled, using an electric vapour compression cycle;
- critical raw material project
means any planned facility or planned significant extension or repurposing of an existing facility that is active in the extraction, processing or recycling of critical raw materials;
- critical raw material type
means a critical raw material placed on the market that is differentiated by its stage of processing, its chemical composition, its geographical origin or the production methods used;
- data carrier
means a linear bar code symbol, a two-dimensional symbol or other automatic identification data capture medium that can be read by a device;
- dishwasher
means a machine which cleans and rinses tableware;
- electric motor
means a device that converts electrical input power into mechanical output power in the form of a rotation with a rotational speed and torque that depends on factors including the frequency of the supply voltage and number of poles of the motor, and with a rated output equal to or above 0,12 kW;
- exploration
means all activities aimed at identifying and establishing the properties of mineral occurrences;
- extraction
means the extraction of ores, minerals and plant products from their original source as a main product or as a by-product, including from mineral occurrence underground, mineral occurrence under and in water, and from brine and trees;
- extractive waste
means extractive waste within the meaning of Article 2(1) of Directive 2006/21/EC;
- extractive waste facility
means waste facility as defined in Article 3, point (15), of Directive 2006/21/EC;
- general exploration
means exploration at national or regional level, not including targeted exploration;
- heat pump
means the part of a heating system that generates a temperature difference allowing heat supply to the space or process to be heated, using an electric vapour compression cycle;
- impact assessment method
means the protocol for quantitative translation of life-cycle inventory data into contributions to an environmental impact of concern;
- impact category
means a class of resource use or environmental impact to which the life-cycle inventory data are related;
- industrial robot
means an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator, programmable in three or more axes, which can either be fixed or mobile for use in industrial automation applications;
- key market operators
means undertakings in the Union’s critical raw materials supply chain and downstream undertakings consuming critical raw materials, the reliable functioning of which is essential for the supply of critical raw materials;
- large company
means a company with more than 500 employees on average and a net worldwide turnover of more than EUR 150 million in the most recent financial year for which annual financial statements have been prepared;
- LCI
means the combined set of exchanges of elementary, waste and product flows in a LCI dataset;
- life cycle
means the consecutive and interlinked stages of a product system, from raw material acquisition or generation from natural resources to final disposal (ISO 14040:2006);
- light means of transport
means any light wheeled vehicle that can be powered by the electric motor alone or by a combination of motor and human power, including electric scooters, electric bicycles and type-approved vehicles of category L as set out in Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 168/2013;
- magnet coating
means a layer of material generally used to protect magnets from corrosion;
- magnetic resonance imaging device
means a non-invasive medical device that uses magnetic fields to make anatomical images or any other device that uses magnetic fields to make images of the inside of object;
- making available on the market
means any supply of a product for distribution, consumption or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;
- microwave
means any appliance intended to be used for the heating of food using electromagnetic energy;
- mineral occurrences
means any single mineral or combination of minerals occurring in a mass or deposit of potential economic interest;
- mitigation strategies
means the policies developed by an economic operator to limit the likelihood of a supply disruption to its raw materials supply chain or to mitigate the damages caused by such a supply disruption to its economic activity;
- motor vehicle
means any type-approved vehicle of the M or N categories as set out in Article 4(1), points (a) and (b), of Regulation (EU) 2018/858;
- multi-stakeholder governance
means a formal, meaningful, and substantive role of multiple types of stakeholders, including at least civil society, in the decision-making of a certification scheme, documented by way of a mandate, terms of reference or other evidence, which confirms or supports the involvement of the multi-stakeholder representatives of that certification scheme.
- national programme
means a national programme or a compiled set of programmes, covering the entire territory, prepared and adopted by relevant national or regional authorities;
- offtake agreement
means any contractual agreement between an undertaking and a project promoter containing either a commitment on part of the undertaking to procure a share of the raw materials produced by a specific raw material project over a certain period of time or a commitment on part of the project promoter to provide the undertaking with the option to do so;
- offtaker
means an undertaking that has entered into an offtake agreement with a project promoter;
- permanent magnet
means a magnet that retains its magnetism after being removed from an external magnetic field;
- permit-granting process
means a process covering all relevant permits to build and operate a critical raw material project, including building, chemical and grid connection permits and environmental assessments and authorisations where those are required, and encompassing all applications and procedures from the acknowledgment that the application is complete to the notification of the comprehensive decision on the outcome of the procedure by the single point of contact concerned;
- placing on the market
means the first making available of a product on the Union market;
- predictive map
means a map indicating areas that are likely to contain mineral occurrences of a given raw material;
- preliminary economic assessment
means an early-stage, conceptual assessment of the potential economic viability of a project for the recovery of critical raw materials from extractive waste;
- primary data
means directly measured or collated data from one or multiple facilities (site-specific data) that are representative for the activities of the company;
- processing
means all physical, chemical and biological processes involved in the transformation of a raw material from ores, minerals, plant products or waste into pure metals, alloys or other economically usable forms, including beneficiation, separation, smelting and refining, and excluding metal working and further transformation into intermediate and final goods;
- project promoter
means any undertaking or consortium of undertakings developing a raw material project;
- raw material
means a substance in processed or unprocessed state used as an input for the manufacturing of intermediate or final products, excluding substances predominantly used as food, feed or combustion fuel;
- raw materials supply chain
means all activities and processes of the raw materials value chain up to the point where a raw material is used as an input for the manufacturing of intermediate or final products;
- raw materials value chain
means all activities and processes involved in the exploration, extraction, processing and recycling of raw materials;
- re-use
means re-use as defined in Article 3, point (13), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
- recovery
means recovery as defined in Article 3, point (15), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
- recycler
means any natural or legal person who carries out recycling in a permitted facility;
- recycling
means recycling as defined in Article 3, point (17), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
- removal
means manual, mechanical, chemical, thermal or metallurgic handling with the result that the targeted components or materials are identifiable as a separate output stream or part of an output stream;
- reserves
means all mineral occurrences that are economically viable to extract in a particular market context;
- secondary data
means data not from a specific process within the supply-chain of the company performing an environmental footprint study, namely data that is not directly collated, measured, or estimated by the company, but sourced from a third party LCI database or other sources, including industry average data — such as from published production data, government statistics, and industry associations — literature studies, engineering studies and patents, and may also be based on financial data, and contain proxy data, and other generic data and including primary data that go through a horizontal aggregation step;
- Strategic Partnership
means a commitment between the Union and a third country or an overseas country or territory to increase cooperation related to the raw materials value chain that is established through a non-binding instrument setting out actions of mutual interest, which facilitate beneficial outcomes for both the Union and the relevant third country or overseas countries or territories;
- strategic stock
means a quantity of a particular raw material in whichever form that is stored by a public or private operator with a view to releasing it in the event of a supply disruption;
- strategic technologies
means the key technologies instrumental for the green and digital transitions as well as for defence and aerospace applications;
- supply disruption
means the unexpected significant decrease in the availability of a raw material or significant increase in the price of a raw material beyond normal market price volatility;
- supply risk
means supply risk as calculated in line with Annex II, Section 2;
- system boundary
means the aspects included or excluded from the life-cycle study.
- targeted exploration
means the detailed investigation of an individual mineral occurrence;
- treatment
means treatment as defined in Article 3, point (14), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
- tumble drier
means an appliance in which textiles are dried by tumbling in a rotating drum through which heated air is passed;
- Union extraction capacity
means an aggregate of the maximum annual production volumes of extractive operations for ores, minerals, plant products and concentrates containing strategic raw materials, including processing operations that are typically located at or near the extraction site, located in the Union;
- Union processing capacity
means an aggregate of the maximum annual production volumes of processing operations for strategic raw materials, excluding such operations that are typically located at or near the extraction site, located in the Union;
- Union recycling capacity
means an aggregate of the maximum annual production volume of recycling operations for strategic raw materials after re-processing, including the sorting and pre-treatment of waste, and its processing into secondary raw materials, located in the Union;
- unique product identifier
means a unique string of characters for the identification of products;
- vacuum cleaner
means an appliance that removes soil from a surface to be cleaned by means of an airflow created by underpressure developed within the unit;
- waste
means waste as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2008/98/EC;
- wind energy generator
means the part of an onshore or offshore wind turbine that converts the mechanical energy of the rotor into electrical energy;