Exploring the effectiveness of grey literature indicators and life cycle assessment in assessing circular economy at the micro level: a comparative analysis

Lindgreen, Erik Roos; Mondello, Giovanni; Salomone, Roberta; Lanuzza, Francesco; Saija, Giuseppe

doi:10.1007/s11367-021-01972-4

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Otherwise, well‐intended CE strategies might actually lead to unintended sustainability impacts and burden shifting (Blum et al, 2020; Corona et al, 2019). Indeed, Roos Lindgreen et al (2021) have found that applying resource‐focused CE metrics in isolation can lead to contradicting results when compared to impacts calculated through life cycle assessments (LCAs). Different terms for managing units of information are used in academic literature on sustainability or CE assessment, such as metric, variable, indicator, methodology or index (Saidani et al, 2019; Sala et al, 2013; Veleva & Ellenbecker, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring assessment practices of companies actively engaged with circular economy

et al. 2022

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An emerging research area is dedicated to developing approaches for assessing the 'circularity' of companies and their products, within the context of sustainability goals. However, empirical evidence on the uptake of these assessment approaches remains scarce. Using a purposive sampling, we conducted a survey receiving 155 responses and held 43 semi-structured interviews with Dutch and Italian companies active in circular economy (CE), pursuing three research aims: to explore the use of CE and sustainability assessment approaches; to study the process of developing assessment approaches; and to uncover benefits of-and barriers to-CE assessment.While we find high variability of assessment approaches, most often, companies develop tailor-made sustainability indicators and apply life cycle assessments to CE strategies. Importantly, assessment development for CE practices requires and facilitates collaboration with external stakeholders. Finally, we reflect on the paradox of standardisation versus tailoring of assessment approaches within the CE reality and recommend establishing company needs and capabilities before designing assessment approaches.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring assessment practices of companies actively engaged with circular economy

et al. 2022

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“…So, whilst a company might have a favourable CTI score overall, the environmental impact of it could still be less promising, depending on how and what kinds of materials are being circulated. Roos Lindgreen et al (2021) have shown in their paper, that the results of LCAs and circularity indicators (amongst others the CTI), do not necessarily point into the same directions. Hence, whilst the mass of the materials and products as well as the R‐strategies are relevant for conducting LCAs and applying the CTI, the additional step of evaluating the potential sustainability impacts of the new strategy should be an integral part of the assessment process (Das et al, 2022; Roos Lindgreen et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

A dynamic capabilities perspective on implementing the Circular Transition Indicators: A case study of a multi‐national packaging company

Walker

Vermeulen

Raggi

2023

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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The use of life cycle‐based assessment has been defined a crucial microfoundation to implement circular business models from a dynamic capabilities perspective. Through a case study of a multi‐national packaging corporation in the plastics sector, the application of an industry‐developed circularity assessment, the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI), is analysed in two manufacturing locations (Italy and China). The aim is to identify how this life cycle‐based assessment can amplify the company's capability to sense, seize and reconfigure its resources. Data were collected from a company placement, interviews, and sustainability reports. The CTI mainly contributed to the sensing microfoundations concerning the company's life cycle‐based perspective and the use of environmental management tools. It also proved to complement existing life cycle‐based approaches because it does not identify sustainability impacts, but only captures material flows. Furthermore, the results showed how the CTI implementation benefitted from existing microfoundations, such as the strategic collaboration with knowledge partners and previously collected sustainability and process efficiency data. Finally, it was also discussed for which microfoundations the CTI results could be most useful: to improve internal resource management processes and to support external circularity pledges. This paper contributes an empirical example to connect dynamic capabilities with life cycle management literature in a circular economy context.

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“…Regionalising food waste treatment scenarios is also fundamental for defining specific circular economy (CE) strategies at the local level. As pointed out by Roos Lindgreen et al (2021), LCA may be considered a suitable method for measuring circularity and its related environmental consequences. In this context, a dedicated and specific LCI for the end of life is needed in order to support the transition of local businesses towards CE.…”

Section: End Of Life and Circular Economy Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although LCA may help to solve the trade-offs among various ways to close (or open) the resource loops, the modelling of a dedicated LCI for the end-of-life phase does not allow taking into consideration the differences in terms of quality and physical properties between primary and secondary products (i.e. downgrading) (Roos Lindgreen et al 2021;Niero and Olsen 2016). This may lead to partial results that could highlight a potential environmental benefit without considering the lost quality value of the secondary product.…”

Section: End Of Life and Circular Economy Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle inventory data for the Italian agri-food sector: background, sources and methodological aspects

Notarnicola

Tassielli

Renzulli

et al. 2022

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Purpose For the development of any life cycle assessment study, the practitioner frequently integrates primary data collected on-field, with background data taken from various life cycle inventory databases which are part of most commercial LCA software packages. However, such data is often not generally applicable to all product systems since, especially concerning the agri-food sector, available datasets may not be fully representative of the site specificity of the food product under examination. In this context, the present work investigates the background, sources and methodological aspects that characterise the most known commercial databases containing agri-food data, with a focus on four agri-food supply chains (olive oil, wine, wheat products and citrus fruit), which represent an important asset for the Italian food sector. Methods Specifically, the paper entails a review of currently available LCI databases and their datasets with a twofold scope: firstly, to understand how agri-food data is modelled in these databases for a coherent and consistent representation of regional scenarios and to verify whether they are also suitable for the Italian context and, secondly, to identify and analyse useful and relevant methodological approaches implemented in the existing LCI databases when regional data are modelled. Results Based on the aforementioned review, it is possible to highlight some problems which may arise when developing an LCI pertaining to the four Italian agri-food supply chains, namely: 1. The need for specific inventory datasets to tackle the specificities of agri-food product systems. 2. The lack of datasets, within the existing DBs, related to the Italian context and to the abovementioned supply chains. In fact, at present, in the currently available LCI DBs, there are very few (or in some cases none) datasets related to Italian wine, olive oil, wheat-based products and citrus fruit. The few available datasets often contain some data related to the Italian context but also approximate data with that of product systems representing other countries. Furthermore, the present study allowed to identify and discuss the main aspects to be used as starting elements for modelling regional data to be included in a future Italian LCI database of the abovementioned four supply chains. Conclusions The results of the present study represent a starting point for the collection of data and its organisation, in order to develop an Italian LCI agri-food database with datasets which are representative of the regional specificities of four agri-food supply chains which play an important role in the Italian economy.

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Exploring the effectiveness of grey literature indicators and life cycle assessment in assessing circular economy at the micro level: a comparative analysis

Cited by 26 publications

References 57 publications

Exploring assessment practices of companies actively engaged with circular economy

Exploring assessment practices of companies actively engaged with circular economy

A dynamic capabilities perspective on implementing the Circular Transition Indicators: A case study of a multi‐national packaging company

Life cycle inventory data for the Italian agri-food sector: background, sources and methodological aspects

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