Consumables are goods that are intended to be consumed. Disposable products are a particular, extreme case of consumables, because their end-of-life is reached after a single use.

Consumables are products that consumers use recurrently, i.e., items which “get used up” or discarded. For arc welding, as an example, one uses a consumable electrode. This is an electrode that conducts electricity to the arc but also melts into the weld as a filler metal.