Ratified

Agreement by individual nation states to be legally bound by a convention or treaty (14)

Recipient (of pollution)

The place or part of the environment or organisms affected by pollution (7)

Recovery

Of materials or energy from wastes, for example through composting and incineration (8)

Recycling

Use of discarded materials as raw materials that are taken back into a production process (8)

Reduction (waste)

Minimisation of waste by efficient use of raw materials and changing the technology for producing items (8)

Regulation

Level of law below proclamation; detailed descriptions of the provisions of proclamations (15)

Renewable resources

Resources that can be replenished naturally, if they are managed properly and not over-exploited (1)

Replacement level

Number of births to each generation required to replace the generation before (2)

Reproductive age group

All women aged 15-49 years (2)

Reservoirs

All stores or reserves of water (4)

Resilience

Ability of an individual, household, community, society or system to withstand, cope with and quickly recover from shocks and stresses (12)

Reuse

Using an item more than once (8)

River floods

When the water level in the river increases and water spills over the top of the river banks (10)

Run-off

Rainwater that 'runs off' the land i.e. flows over the land surface (4)