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MetricWater and marine resources

Water recycled and reused

Measurement answer

What this metric measures

Water recycled and reused is the reporting-period volume of water or wastewater used more than once before it leaves the reporting boundary. Recycled water returns to the same process, while reused water serves another process or facility before discharge.

Specification

Metric specification

Result format
Single value
Unit
Cubic metres (m³)
Reporting basis
Reporting period
Aggregation
Sum under the declared cycle-count policy
Pillar
Environmental
Topic
Water and marine resources
Controlled domain
Water and marine resources
Entity type
Metric

Reporting boundary

Water or wastewater used more than once within the declared own-operations boundary before final discharge, with the metering point, process path, cycle-count rule, and internal-transfer treatment stated.

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 Disclosure

    Revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards

    water-recycled-reused
    Publisher
    European Commission / EFRAG
    Edition
    Commission delegated act adopted 3 July 2026; application from 1 January 2027 after Official Journal publication
    Requirement
    Conditional
    Relationship
    Reuses Canonical Metric
    Mapping outcome
    Reused
    Source locator
    ESRS E3 E3-4 paragraph 16 e (ESRS26_E3-4_05)
    Open official framework source
  • Adopting Disclosure

    European Sustainability Reporting Standards

    Source evidence
    Publisher
    European Commission
    Edition
    Consolidated text as of 1 January 2025, document version 001.001
    Requirement
    Not Specified
    Relationship
    Defines Disclosure
    Mapping outcome
    Direct Evidence
    Source locator
    Annex I, ESRS E3-4, paragraph 28(c) and (e), application requirements AR 29 to AR 30, and Annex II definition of water recycled and reused
    Open official framework source
  • Adopting Disclosure

    European Sustainability Reporting Standards

    esrs_WaterRecycledAndReused
    Publisher
    EFRAG
    Edition
    ESRS Set 1 XBRL Taxonomy dated 22 December 2023
    Requirement
    Not Specified
    Relationship
    Reuses Canonical Metric
    Mapping outcome
    Reused
    Source locator
    esrs-set1-2023:esrs_WaterRecycledAndReused
    Open official framework source
  • Adopting Disclosure

    TNFD sector guidance

    FA.A2.4
    Publisher
    Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
    Edition
    Version 1.0, June 2024
    Requirement
    Recommended
    Relationship
    Reuses Canonical Metric
    Mapping outcome
    Reused
    Source locator
    Page 76, Section 3.3, Table 12
    Open official framework source
  • Adopting Disclosure

    TNFD Recommendations

    9dae7ede0fcc0eb4f523
    Publisher
    Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
    Edition
    September 2023
    Requirement
    Not Specified
    Relationship
    Reuses Canonical Metric
    Mapping outcome
    Reused
    Source locator
    Page 91, metric A3.2
    Open official framework source

Value structure

Dimensions and units

Unit
Cubic metres (m³)
Reporting basis
Reporting period

Unit meaning: One cubic metre equals 1,000 litres of volume.

Published dimensions

  • Volume
  • Site
  • Process
  • Recycled or reused

Calculation method

Formula information

Status
Specified
Formula type
Sum

Formula

T = Σqᵢ

Sum only non-overlapping qualifying observations that use compatible units, boundaries, periods, classifications, and method editions.

Variables

SymbolVariableDefinitionUnit
qᵢqualifying observationEach compatible observation within the qualifying population and boundary defined for Water recycled and reused.

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

    Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 supplementing Directive 2013/34/EU as regards sustainability reporting standards

    Publisher
    European Commission
    Edition
    Consolidated text as of 1 January 2025, document version 001.001
    Locator
    Annex I, ESRS E3-4, paragraph 28(c) and (e), application requirements AR 29 to AR 30, and Annex II definition of water recycled and reused

    Supports: Official publisher reference linked specifically to the Sustopedia metric “Water recycled and reused”; 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: Current in-force ESRS E3 consolidated as of 1 January 2025; the adopted 2026 amendment is compatibility context only.

  • Metering point and cycle-count convention
  • Included processes, sites and reporting boundary
  • Recycled-versus-reused classification
  • Internal-transfer and treatment-state policy
  • Measurement, extrapolation or estimation basis

Record-specific limitations

  • The result depends on the declared metering point and whether repeated cycles are counted once or more than once.
  • Internal transfers must be reconciled so the same physical volume is not counted repeatedly across facilities.
  • This volume is not a claim about avoided withdrawal and must not be presented as a percentage under this metric identity.

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.