Abstract

Materials are a multitude of objects of labour which humans transform during the flow of work turning them into products of labour. Both source substances for manufacturing of products and auxiliaries for carrying out productive process are materials. Depending on the amount of labour expended and functions of materials in productive process the following kinds of materials are recognised. Raw material is an object of labour which was previously affected by labour and is subject to further processing, e.g. iron ore at a metallurgical works or cotton at a textile factory etc. Raw material is of animal, plant, mineral, or other origin. Initial raw material is an object on which labour was expended; secondary raw material is waste of production, physically or morally obsolete commodities subject to processing.