A Multi-Criteria Evaluation Method of Product-Level Circularity Strategies

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) can drive sustainability. For companies to select and implement circularity strategies, they need to evaluate and compare the performance of these strategies both in terms of progress towards CE but also based on their feasibility and business outcomes. However, evaluation methods for circularity strategies at the product level are lacking. Therefore, this research proposes a multi-criteria evaluation method of circularity strategies at the product level which can be used by business decision-makers to evaluate and compare the initial business of the company, transformative and future circularity strategies. This multi-criteria evaluation method aims to assist business decision-makers to identify a preferred strategy by linking together a wide variety of criteria, i.e., environmental, economic, social, legislative, technical, and business, as well as by proposing relevant indicators that take into consideration, where possible, the life cycle perspective. It also allows for flexibility so that criteria, sub-criteria, and weighing factors can be altered by the business decision-makers to fit the needs of their specific case or product. Two illustrative examples based on case companies are presented to verify and illustrate the proposed method.

Circular Economy Performance Measurement in Manufacturing Firms: A Systematic Literature Review with Insights for Small and Medium Enterprises and New Adopters

“…Environmental indicators often show a life-cycle perspective [96], including cumulative energy demand, global-warming potential, and water-stress index [98]. Some authors focus on the dimension of material utilization, as CE promises to minimize resource consumption: Rossi et al [13] list reduction of raw material, renewability, recyclability, reduction of toxic substances, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishment, product longevity, stakeholder structure, and diversity; Sánchez-Ortiz et al [14] develop an environment-focused system, including indicators ranging from material consumption, toxicity of materials, generation of waste, and recycling rate and quality.…”

“…Some studies apply the analytic hierarchy process [87,124], use fuzzy methods [125,126], or a combination of them [123]. Others propose the use of the multi-criteria evaluation method [96,105]. The majority of the studies, nonetheless, develop their index according to a ratio of quantities, considering the quantity of a particular material used over the total weight of a product [97] or the correspondent economic value [99].…”

An Innovative Visualization Tool to Boost and Monitor Circular Economy: An Overview of Its Applications at Different Industrial Sectors

“…Clearly identifying the set of KPIs and the way with which combining them is a challenge, but assessing the macro level is fundamental for the establishment and monitoring of policy coherence and achievement of the targets at regional, national, and international scale. Probably, the use of multi-criteria decisionmaking methods, as tools able to solve complex problems by simultaneously taking into consideration multiple and different criteria, could be the solutions, as already proposed for the definition of circular business strategies in [56] (micro-level application). In particular, the authors are currently working on how to aggregate KPIs used in the described applications of the ViVACE® tool to evaluate their contribution to important international strategies, such as the new EU Circular Economy Action Plan, the Green Deal, and the SGDs.…”

Designing Immortal Products: A Lifecycle Scenario-Based Approach

“…Considering the practical implementation of circular economy, several authors agree on the fact that business models and design strategies will need to go hand in hand. According to Den Hollander et al [9] and Alamerew et al [17], a business built around product life extension and resource recovery cannot operate without products specifically designed to support that strategy. Therefore, different framework propositions emerged in the literature to consider both business and design strategies.…”