Skip to the disclosure focus
Courses

London Reporting Academy ESRS E5 · Resource Use and Circular Economy · Disclosure Requirement E5-4

Applicable from FY2027

This revised ESRS edition applies from reporting year 2027. For reporting years 2024–2026, use the ESRS 2023 edition.

Resource inflows

E5-4 · mandatory · metrics + narrative

E5-4 has four topical requirements: identify and concisely describe key materials used, including critical and strategic raw materials contained in them; report total weight of all key materials; provide a weight or percentage breakdown for each key material; and report secondary resources used by weight or as a percentage of total key-material weight.

Start preparing ↓ Official European Commission source ↗

Disclosure focus

The topical metrics are accompanied by the methodology and context required by GDR-M. Internal fields for operational use, material type or procurement category may support preparation but are not separate E5-4 requirements.

A secondary resource is a previously used non-virgin material reintroduced into production cycles. Recovered input does not necessarily capture the full definition.

This LRA educational guidance supports disclosure preparation. For the exact requirements, always refer to the official European Commission source.

Prepare

What to collect before drafting

Tick each field as the evidence lands. Owners are the teams that usually hold the source files.

  • Key materials

    Environment / Sustainability reporting

    Identify and concisely describe each key material used and the critical or strategic raw materials it contains.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting key materials.

    Watch for The published response for key materials is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Total weight of key materials

    Environment / Sustainability reporting

    Report the total weight of all key materials.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting total weight of key materials.

    Watch for The published response for total weight of key materials is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Breakdown by key material

    Environment / Sustainability reporting

    Report each key material by weight or as a percentage of total key-material weight.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting breakdown by key material.

    Watch for The published response for breakdown by key material is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Secondary resources

    Environment / Sustainability reporting

    Report secondary resources used by weight or as a percentage of total key-material weight.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting secondary resources.

    Watch for The published response for secondary resources is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Metric and unit

    Sustainability reporting

    State the metric and unit of measurement.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting metric and unit.

    Watch for The published response for metric and unit is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Relationship to material matters

    Sustainability reporting

    Explain the metric's relationship to material impacts, risks or opportunities and to policies, actions or targets where relevant.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting relationship to material matters.

    Watch for The published response for relationship to material matters is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Methodology and sources

    Sustainability reporting

    Describe the measurement or calculation methodology, source data and significant assumptions.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting methodology and sources.

    Watch for The published response for methodology and sources is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Scope and boundary

    Sustainability reporting

    State the reporting boundary, scope limitations and any applicable ESRS 1 relief.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting scope and boundary.

    Watch for The published response for scope and boundary is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Validation

    Sustainability reporting

    State whether and how the metric was validated by an external body other than the assurance provider.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting validation.

    Watch for The published response for validation is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

  • Comparatives and changes

    Sustainability reporting

    Provide required comparative information and explain changes in definitions or methodologies where applicable.

    Evidence Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting comparatives and changes.

    Watch for The published response for comparatives and changes is incomplete or does not match the supporting records.

Before you start

  • Determine key materials relative to material IROs and use the applicable ESRS reporting boundary.
  • Use an applicable ESRS relief for partial scope; an internal selection of convenient sites or procurement categories is not sufficient.
  • Have the supporting records and the final response been reconciled?
＋ Show E5-4 sub-elements (LRA working checklist)

How to prepare it

Determine key materials relative to material IROs and use the applicable ESRS reporting boundary.
Collect and reconcile the records for: Key materials; Total weight of key materials; Breakdown by key material; Secondary resources; Metric and unit; Relationship to material matters; Methodology and sources; Scope and boundary; Validation; Comparatives and changes.
Use an applicable ESRS relief for partial scope; an internal selection of convenient sites or procurement categories is not sufficient.
Draft the response using the defined terms shown in the disclosure focus; do not substitute broader internal labels.
Review the final wording against every requirement and the supporting governance or data records before sign-off.

Request the data

Request the disclosure evidence

Translate the disclosure into an internal business question — then adapt it to your organisation's own language.

Provide the key-material inventory, critical and strategic raw-material mapping, total and category weights, secondary-resource classification, boundary reconciliation, methodology, assumptions, validation and comparatives.

Use the organisation's own role and document names, but preserve the defined ESRS terms and the scope described above.

Better request

Provide the key-material inventory, critical and strategic raw-material mapping, total and category weights, secondary-resource classification, boundary reconciliation, methodology, assumptions, validation and comparatives.

Draft your disclosure

Notes that turn data into a disclosure

LRA training templates — adapt them to your organisation, and check the official source before sign-off.

Method note

Reconcile material categories to the total, document units and conversion factors and apply the revised ESRS definition of secondary resource.

Context note

Energy carriers used for material purposes may be relevant; energy consumed as energy belongs primarily to E1 and water as a physical resource to E3.

Download Centre

Preparation tools & forms

Download preparation tools for E5-4 with free verified email access for 24 hours. Source-report links remain public.

Free · Email access
01XLSPrep & Assurance workbookDatapoints, risks, evidence to check, owner and evidence pack.Get it free ↧ 02XLSData-request packRequest email, message template, response fields and sign-off structure.Get it free ↧ 03PDFLibrary CardPrintable one-page summary of this disclosure card.Get it free ↧

Check

For each claim, check the evidence

  • Key materials is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates key materials.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting key materials.

  • Total weight of key materials is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates total weight of key materials.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting total weight of key materials.

  • Breakdown by key material is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates breakdown by key material.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting breakdown by key material.

  • Secondary resources is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates secondary resources.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting secondary resources.

  • Metric and unit is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates metric and unit.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting metric and unit.

  • Relationship to material matters is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates relationship to material matters.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting relationship to material matters.

  • Methodology and sources is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates methodology and sources.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting methodology and sources.

  • Scope and boundary is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates scope and boundary.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting scope and boundary.

  • Validation is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates validation.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting validation.

  • Comparatives and changes is reported accurately and completely.

    Risk The response omits, misclassifies or overstates comparatives and changes.

    Evidence to check Dated source records, governance papers and approval evidence supporting comparatives and changes.

Evidence pack to prepare

Common reporting gaps

  • Using the old official source.
  • Presenting sixteen internal fields as topical requirements.
  • Omitting critical and strategic raw materials.
  • Using recovered input as a complete proxy for secondary resources.
  • Selecting a partial scope without an ESRS basis.
✓ Knowledge Hub AI Assistant · Human-in-the-loop
Dr Ross Kurinko

Ask the Knowledge Hub AI Assistant about this disclosure

Get practical answers for your reporting context.

Try How do I prepare E5-4? What data do I need to collect? What mistakes should I avoid?

Framework references

Relevant ESRS requirements and related disclosures

ESRS

E5-4

within ESRS E5: Resource Use and Circular Economy

Open official source →

Guides that settle this question

ESRS E5 and S1–S4 Implementation Registers →ESRS E5 Resource Use and Circular Economy: Material Flows, Waste and Circularity Metrics →

Related & explore

Policies → CardActions & Resources → CardTargets → CardResource Outflows → CardBrowse all disclosures →

More in ESRS E5 →Browse full catalogue →Search all disclosures →

How this library is built 1,211 published reports indexed 315,012 pages with page-level citations 272 published cards in the active catalogue
/en/knowledge-hub/disclosure-cards/esrs-e5-4/