ISO 16294:2025

International
Standard
ISO 16294
First edition
Basic chemical products — Basic
2025-08
chemicals resulting from chemical
recycling — General principles
Produits chimiques de base — Substances chimiques de base
résultant d'un recyclage chimique — Principes généraux
Reference number
© ISO 2025
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ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviations . 1
4 Principle . 2
4.1 General .2
4.2 Evaluation items .3
4.3 Quality assurance .3
4.4 Labels and declarations .4
Bibliography . 5

iii
Foreword
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iv
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to provide general requirements for basic chemicals produced by chemical
recycling, to help all stakeholder understand basic chemicals produced by chemical recycling properly and
to support the use of basic chemicals produced by chemical recycling. Chemical products are essential to
support various industries and our daily life. At the end of their life, these products can be valuable resources
which should be recaptured and are indispensable for sustainable economic growth.
Chemical recycling is an important solution to achieve a circular economy. New chemical products (the
recovered materials) can be produced by recovering resources through chemical recycling. The recovered
resources can be used as replacements for virgin materials, which are manufactured by conventional fossil
feedstock, such as coal or oil. Chemical recycling can contribute to resource circulation in circular economy
(see Figure 1).
Basic chemical(s) or raw material(s) of basic chemicals (BCRM), which are produced by chemical recycling
of organic material(s) (CR-BCRM) has been recognized as a challenge by purchasers of CR-BCRM. Given the
innovative and recent character of chemical recycling technologies, general principles are needed on quality
assurance, distribution of information such as CO emissions and the amount of residues generated by these
1)
processes, etc. CR-BCRM should be selected from the perspective of not only the price they offer, but also
effective use of resources, contribution to the environment, or the workplace environment they put value on
such as employment status or wage system.
To smooth the transition from virgin to recycled material, methods such as the mass balance method have
also been proposed. In light of the above, it is important to facilitate communication between purc
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