Mineralne surowce wtórne : problemy polskiego nazewnictwa i klasyfikacji w związku z realizacją gospodarki o obiegu zamkniętym

One of the challenges of today’s economies in the world is the need to increase the use of waste materials as secondary raw materials that are suitable for further use. This constitutes a core of the circular economy. This allows on the one hand to minimize the risk of price volatility and availability of resources, on the other, to meet the increasing global environmental requirements, creating the core of circular economy. This applies in particular to mineral resources. Circular economy implementation requires a number of problems. The basic one concern the development of clear definitions of waste/recyclables (secondary resources), as now many of the terms are used interchangeably or imprecise, resulting in information chaos and the inability to quantify the source data. Next are: to develop standards describing particular typical waste products (secondary) arising in subsequent recovery phases, then - keeping records and balancing the amount of processed waste and recovered secondary raw materials. This publication focuses on the problem of terminology and definitions, due to its importance and urgency for already conducted activities related to the preparation of raw materials policy of the country. The Polish naming and waste management legislation has been reviewed, against the background of European regulations. The definition of recycled materials (secondary resources) has been proposed for their classification strictly linked to the current classification of waste.