Glossary term

Mass balance

Mass balance describes the relationship between input and output of a specific substance within a system in which the output from the system cannot exceed the input into the system. First attempts were made by plastic raw material producers to claim their products renewable (plastics) based on a certain input of biomass in a huge and complex chemical plant, then mathematically allocating this biomass input to the produced plastic. These approaches are at least controversially disputed. [bM 04/14, 05/14, 01/15]