Materials and Circularity Taxonomy

1. Purpose

This section defines the Materials and Circularity Disclosure Intent (CDI) taxonomy for materials-related sustainability disclosures within Canonical ESG.

The Materials and Circularity taxonomy captures the semantic meaning of commonly requested information related to material inputs, material flows, and circular practices across global sustainability reporting frameworks.

The taxonomy:

  • is framework-agnostic,
  • does not prescribe disclosure obligations,
  • does not validate circularity performance or claims,
  • is intended to be reused across frameworks via Canonical Mapping Packs (CMPs).

Materials and Circularity CDIs focus on operational material flows and practices, not on product design, lifecycle assessment, or regulatory compliance.

2. Taxonomy Structure

Materials and Circularity disclosure intents are grouped into the following logical domains:

  1. Material Inputs
  2. Material Consumption and Throughput
  3. Recycled and Secondary Materials
  4. Material Efficiency and Intensity
  5. Material Recovery and Circular Practices
  6. Governance, Policies, and Methodology

Each disclosure intent:

  • has a unique identifier,
  • represents a single semantic concept,
  • may be quantitative, narrative, or hybrid,
  • may reference one or more canonical data elements.

3. Materials and Circularity Disclosure Intents

3.1 Material Inputs

CDI-MATR-01
Total material input

The total mass or volume of materials used by the organisation during the reporting period.

CDI-MATR-02
Material input by category

Material inputs disaggregated by broad material category (e.g. metals, plastics, biomass, minerals, chemicals).

CDI-MATR-03
Material input by named material

Material inputs disclosed by specific named materials where tracked operationally.

3.2 Material Consumption and Throughput

CDI-MATR-04
Material consumption

The quantity of material consumed or transformed through organisational operations during the reporting period.

CDI-MATR-05
Material throughput

The flow of materials through operations, including inputs, processing, and outputs.

CDI-MATR-06
Changes in material use

Changes in material inputs or consumption compared to a prior reporting period.

3.3 Recycled and Secondary Materials

CDI-MATR-07
Use of recycled materials

The quantity or proportion of recycled materials used as inputs.

CDI-MATR-08
Use of secondary materials

The quantity or proportion of secondary (non-virgin) materials used as inputs.

CDI-MATR-09
Share of recycled or secondary material inputs

The proportion of total material inputs that are recycled or secondary materials.

3.4 Material Efficiency and Intensity

CDI-MATR-10
Material efficiency initiatives

Actions undertaken to reduce material use, losses, or inefficiencies.

CDI-MATR-11
Material intensity metric

Material use normalised by a relevant activity, output, or revenue metric.

CDI-MATR-12
Material loss or waste reduction

Reductions in material losses, scrap, or inefficiencies achieved during the reporting period.

3.5 Material Recovery and Circular Practices

CDI-MATR-13
Material recovery practices

Practices implemented to recover materials from operational outputs or waste streams.

CDI-MATR-14
Material reuse practices

Reuse of materials within organisational operations.

CDI-MATR-15
Material recycling practices

Recycling of materials generated through organisational operations.

CDI-MATR-16
Material recovery rate

The proportion of material outputs that are recovered, reused, or recycled.

3.6 Governance, Policies, and Methodology

CDI-MATR-17
Materials and circularity policy

The existence and scope of organisational policies related to materials use and circular practices.

CDI-MATR-18
Materials management responsibility

Assignment of responsibility for materials and circularity management within the organisation.

CDI-MATR-19
Material reporting boundary

Organisational and operational boundaries applied to materials data.

CDI-MATR-20
Methodology and assumptions for materials data

Methodologies, estimation approaches, and assumptions used in materials and circularity reporting.

4. Taxonomy Characteristics

  • Materials and Circularity CDIs are operational and descriptive, not evaluative.
  • CDIs do not determine circularity performance, impact, or benefit.
  • Framework-specific interpretations are handled exclusively through CMPs.
  • Quantities represent physical flows, not normative thresholds.
  • Deprecated CDIs remain referenceable for historical disclosures.

5. Summary

The CDI v1 Materials and Circularity Taxonomy defines a stable semantic vocabulary for expressing materials-related disclosure meaning across sustainability reporting frameworks.

By separating material flows and practices from product-level claims and lifecycle assertions, the taxonomy enables consistent data modelling, transparent interpretation, and reuse across frameworks without embedding judgement or compliance logic.

Materials and Circularity Taxonomy Version: v1.0.0

Materials and Circularity CDI v1 Status

The Materials and Circularity Disclosure Intent taxonomy defined in this document is frozen as CDI v1.

No new Materials and Circularity CDIs will be added to v1.
Future extensions or refinements will be introduced only through subsequent major versions.

Existing Materials and Circularity CDIs will remain stable and referenceable for use in Canonical Mapping Packs and historical disclosures.

Status: Frozen
Effective version: CDI v1

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