CSR and regeneration glossary

154 terms on CSR, climate, nature, work and reporting, defined in a few sentences and linked to a reference source.

C

Circular economy Resources and circularity

An economic model that keeps products and materials in use as long as possible (sufficiency, reuse, repair, recycling) rather than discarding them after use.

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E

Ecodesign Resources and circularity

Integration of environmental impacts from the design stage of a product or service, across its whole life cycle, usually based on a life cycle assessment. In the EU, Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ESPR) allows requirements to be set on durability, reparability, recycled content and efficiency, together with a digital product passport.

See also: Life cycle assessment (LCA)

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F

Functional economy Resources and circularity

A business model that sells the use or performance of a good rather than the good itself (leasing, subscription, pay-per-use), with the supplier retaining ownership. It creates an incentive to design durable, repairable, well-maintained products; ADEME speaks of a functional and cooperative economy when several local stakeholders are involved.

See also: Circular economy

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I

Industrial and territorial ecology Resources and circularity

A collective approach in which businesses in the same area optimise resource use by exchanging flows of materials, energy or water (substitution synergies, where one firm’s waste or by-products become another’s inputs) or by pooling equipment, services and purchasing (pooling synergies). It is also known as industrial symbiosis.

See also: Circular economy

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L

Land sufficiency Resources and circularity

A planning principle that limits the consumption of natural, agricultural and forest land by favouring urban renewal, densification, the reuse of brownfields and vacant buildings, and shared use of space. The operational lever of France’s no-net-land-take objective, it also applies to businesses (sites, extensions, car parks).

See also: No net land take (ZAN)

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Low-tech Resources and circularity

An approach to designing goods, services and organisations that are useful, accessible and sustainable, using techniques that are as simple, resource-sparing and repairable as possible. ADEME frames it as questioning needs as much as technology; it is not, in principle, opposed to innovation.

See also: Sufficiency

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P

Plastic pollution Resources and circularity

The accumulation of plastics and microplastics in soils, freshwater, oceans, air and living organisms throughout the life cycle of plastics, from production to end of life. A legally binding international treaty has been under negotiation under UNEP since 2022; in the EU, Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (EU) 2025/40 has applied since August 2026.

See also: AGEC law (Anti-Waste for a Circular Economy)

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R

Re-use of waste Resources and circularity

Under French law (Article L541-1-1 of the Environmental Code), any operation by which substances, materials or products that have become waste are used again, after preparing for re-use (checking, cleaning, repair). French law distinguishes it from réemploi (reuse), which concerns items that never acquired waste status.

See also: Reuse

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Recycling Resources and circularity

Any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances, whether for their original or other purposes (Directive 2008/98/EC). Energy recovery and backfilling are excluded. Recycling ranks below prevention and re-use in the waste hierarchy because it consumes energy and often degrades material quality.

See also: Waste hierarchy

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Repair (repair fund and repair bonus) Resources and circularity

Restoring a faulty product to working order to extend its period of use. France’s AGEC law created repair funds, financed by the producer responsibility organisations of certain EPR schemes, which pay a “repair bonus” deducted from the bill at certified repairers: since late 2022 for electrical and electronic equipment and since late 2023 for textiles and footwear. Directive (EU) 2024/1799 strengthens the right to repair.

See also: Repairability index (and durability index)

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Reuse Resources and circularity

Under French law (Article L541-1-1 of the Environmental Code), any operation by which substances, materials or products that are not waste are used again for the same purpose for which they were conceived: donation, second-hand resale, returnable reusable packaging. It extends the period of use without the item ever becoming waste.

See also: Re-use of waste

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RGESN (French eco-design standard) Resources and circularity

The French general reference framework for the eco-design of digital services, set by the regulators Arcep and Arcom with ADEME (2024 version). Greencelium follows it: light pages, no trackers or web fonts, little JavaScript.

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S

Short supply chain Resources and circularity

A way of marketing farm products through direct sale from producer to consumer or indirect sale involving at most one intermediary (the definition used in France since 2009). It limits the number of intermediaries but does not in itself imply geographical proximity or a lower environmental footprint.

See also: Sustainable procurement

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Sufficiency Resources and circularity

A set of measures and daily practices that avoid demand for energy, materials, land and water while delivering human well-being for all within planetary boundaries (IPCC definition, 2022). Unlike efficiency, which reduces consumption per unit of service, it questions the level and nature of needs themselves.

See also: Low-tech

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Sustainable IT (responsible digital) Resources and circularity

Approach aimed at reducing the environmental and social footprint of digital technology, most of which stems from equipment manufacturing: extending device lifetimes, reuse, sufficiency in usage and ecodesign of services. In France, the REEN law of 15 November 2021 and the RGESN guidelines frame this approach.

See also: RGESN (French eco-design standard)

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W

Waste hierarchy Resources and circularity

The order of priority set by Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC and transposed in Article L541-1 of the French Environmental Code: prevention, preparing for re-use, recycling, other recovery (notably energy recovery) and disposal. Higher options should be preferred unless life-cycle thinking justifies departing from this order for specific waste streams.

See also: Reuse

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Water cycle Resources and circularity

The continuous movement of water between oceans, atmosphere, soils, aquifers and rivers (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff), known as the “large cycle”. The “small cycle” refers to the human-managed loop: abstraction, drinking-water treatment, distribution, and collection and treatment of wastewater before its discharge.

See also: Water stress

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Water footprint Resources and circularity

An indicator of the volume of freshwater used, directly and indirectly, by an organisation or to produce a good or service, distinguishing green water (rainwater stored in soils), blue water (withdrawn from aquifers and surface water) and grey water (needed to dilute pollution). ISO 14046:2014 sets out an impact-based assessment grounded in life cycle assessment.

See also: Water stress

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Water stress Resources and circularity

A situation in which water demand exceeds or approaches the available resource. At territorial level it is measured as the share of renewable freshwater resources withdrawn by all economic activities (SDG indicator 6.4.2); for a plant, it refers to a water deficit that limits growth. Climate change increases its frequency and intensity.

See also: Water footprint

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Definitions checked in October 2026 against the sources cited. Spotted an error or a regulatory change? Report it in the Agora.

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