Glossary

Life cycle analysis (LCA)

The life cycle analysis (LCA) or ecobalance makes it possible to list the flows involved in each phase of a product’s life (raw materials, manufacturing, packaging, transport, sale, use … end of life) and convert them into environmental impacts. This methodology applies to all types of products and materials. It is ideally integrated upstream of the design process to guide the technical solutions to be implemented as soon as possible.

Biobased

Biobased materials are derived from biomass products and by-products, of animal or plant origin. For example, we find wood, cork, linen or even sheep’s wool. Materials of geological or fossil formation are not part of the biomass. They make it possible to manufacture biobased polymers (films and packaging) and composite agromaterials (coatings, automotive linings, insulation, etc.). Bio-based polymers are renewable and biodegradable materials that offer an alternative to plastic materials of fossil origin.

Waste

According to the Environmental French Code (art. L541-1) a waste qualifies “any residue of a production process of transformation or use any substance material produced or more generally any movable property abandoned or that its holder intended for ‘abandonment’. In other words, any element that is abandoned is waste. This does not mean that this element cannot be used as is or after modification. Only those that are qualified as ultimate waste are really unusable and must be stored to avoid pollution of the environment.

Eco conception

Integration of environmental criteria from the design phase of a product, in order to improve its environmental performance throughout its life cycle (from the extraction of raw materials to its disposal). All relevant environmental impacts and aspects related to the entire product life cycle must have been taken into account. Any eco-design claim must be explained. Ecodesign is defined in particular in a European directive (2009/125) as: “The integration of environmental characteristics into the design of the product with a view to improving its environmental performance throughout its life cycle. “The company must be able to provide relevant, significant, verifiable and concrete elements demonstrating that it has implemented an ecodesign approach.

Eco-material

Eco-materials are often the traditional materials that were used before the industrial age. Sometimes referred to as “natural” or “alternative” materials, “ecomaterials” is not a regulated designation. This is a building material whose energy required for its manufacture (its “energy content”) is as low as possible: the use of an eco-material has a low environmental impact.

Under-cycling

Consists of recovering materials or products in order to transform them into materials or products of inferior quality or usefulness (this is the example of clothing deposited in Relays which are transformed into insulation or rags).

Upcycling

Consists of recovering materials or products that are no longer used in order to transform them into materials or products of higher quality or utility (this is the reuse of your wood initially intended for incineration, without transformation major necessary but the product / material changes use.

Traceability

We use the term traceability to designate the possibility that is offered to us to follow the route of a product from the stages of its production to those of its marketing, including those of its transformation. Thus, traceability makes it possible, among other things, to trace the origin of a product and its components, to list the storage locations of a product and its components, to list the checks carried out on a product and its components, and to identify all the equipment used during the manufacturing cycle.

Transparency

Transparency is the key to the success of an eco-designed product. In order to meet the needs of consumers, companies now realize that it is necessary to offer products or services that have an environmental dimension. But many of them are engaged in greenwashing instead of establishing a real” green policy “as a prerequisite for the design of their products. Hence the need for transparency which induces consumer confidence.