Plastic material inputs
Measurement answer
What this metric measures
Weight or volume of plastic used as a material input to produce or package primary products and services during the reporting period, retained by polymer family, use role, sourcing route, physical state, and measurement method.
Specification
Metric specification
- Result format
- Structured table
- Unit
- Structured table — see field-level units
- Reporting basis
- Plastic material inputs during the reporting period
- Aggregation
- Add compatible rows only after taxonomy deduplication; do not infer mass from volume
- Pillar
- Environmental
- Topic
- Circular materials and waste
- Controlled domain
- Materials, circularity and waste
- Entity type
- Metric
Reporting boundary
Plastic used as an input within the declared GRI 301 materials-used boundary for primary products, services, or packaging. This input quantity remains distinct from plastic placed on the market, plastic present in waste, plastic packaging waste, recycled-content share, and microplastic release.
Verified source occurrences
Framework coverage
This is one canonical metric. The bindings below show every verified framework occurrence without creating duplicate metric pages. Edition, disclosure, role, and relationship remain source-specific.
- Adopting DisclosureSource evidence
GRI Standards
- Publisher
- Global Reporting Initiative
- Edition
- 2016 edition; effective 1 July 2018; publisher file retrieved 15 August 2026
- Requirement
- Not Specified
- Relationship
- Defines Disclosure
- Mapping outcome
- Direct Evidence
- Source locator
- Edition and rights pages 1–2; Disclosures 301-1 to 301-3 pages 8–10; glossary pages 11–12
Value structure
Dimensions and units
- Unit
- Structured table — see field-level units
- Reporting basis
- Plastic material inputs during the reporting period
Unit meaning: This metric is reported as a structured table; each field carries the unit stated in the table fields below.
Table fields and units
- Polymer family or declared plastic category, product or packaging use role, and product category
- Virgin, recycled, or other evidenced input status; sourcing route; site; and taxonomy edition
- Input quantity (t — metric tonnes, where 1 t = 1,000 kg; kg — kilograms; or m³ — cubic metres of the named plastic)
- Physical condition, composition-allocation method, direct or estimated status, reporting period, source, and assurance
- Lifecycle profile: material input only, kept separate from market placement, waste, recycled content, and microplastic release
Published dimensions
- Polymer or plastic category, use role, product, input status, sourcing route, physical state, unit, and period
Disclosure method
Formula information
- Status
- Not applicable
- Formula type
- Structured Disclosure
Disclosure form
No single formulaPopulate the structured fields from qualifying source observations and retain each field-level unit, boundary, status, and method; do not collapse the disclosure into one calculated value.
Verified sources
Evidence and status sources
Sustopedia checked each record-specific claim directly against primary publisher material. Labels distinguish current measurement authority from future compatibility and corroborative, legal, edition, or method status context. Corroborative evidence can support a stated limitation but cannot establish the core measurement by itself.
Measurement evidence
- Measurement evidenceChecked 15 August 2026
GRI 301: Materials 2016
- Publisher
- Global Reporting Initiative
- Edition
- 2016 edition; effective 1 July 2018; publisher file retrieved 15 August 2026
- Locator
- Edition and rights pages 1–2; Disclosures 301-1 to 301-3 pages 8–10; glossary pages 11–12
Supports: Official publisher reference linked specifically to the Sustopedia metric “Plastic material inputs”; interpret it with the source-edition basis and limitations shown on this page.
Open official source
Use with context
Interpretation boundaries
Method disclosures required
Source-edition basis: Effective GRI 301: Materials 2016 with binding ESRS E5 composition context and the distinct plastic-packaging definitions and categories in applicable Regulation (EU) 2025/40.
- Name polymer or declared plastic category, product or packaging use role, product category, input status, sourcing route, and site.
- Use one source-native unit per row: t — metric tonnes (1 t = 1,000 kg), kg — kilograms, or m³ — cubic metres of the named plastic in its stated physical condition.
- State taxonomy, composition-allocation method where needed, physical state, direct or estimated status, estimation method, period, source, and assurance.
- Keep input, market-placement, waste, recycled-content, and microplastic-release quantities separate.
Record-specific limitations
- This record is not a lifecycle-wide plastic total or evidence of plastic placed on the market, waste generated, recycling, or microplastic release.
- Mass and volume are not interchangeable without a material-specific density and physical-state method.
- Resin, additives, components, and composite packaging require a documented taxonomy and allocation method; biobased and biodegradable are not synonyms.
Interpret this metric with the stated reporting boundary, period convention, value shape, and unit. Results prepared with different boundaries or conventions may not be directly comparable.
Measurement evidence supports the core record-specific claims described above. Corroborative evidence can support limitations, while compatibility and status sources provide their separately labelled context. None of these cards by itself determines an organisation's legal applicability, filing readiness, assurance status, or compliance conclusion.