Indicators to Measure Efficiency in Circular Economies

Abstract

In this paper, a number of indicators are shown to measure economic efficiency in terms of circular economy (CE). The European Union affirms the need for a comprehensive model of indicators relating to CE in order to meet the needs of all participants (individual companies and industry, society, and the nation), to be based on three perspectives: environmental impact, economic benefit, and resource scarcity. Therefore, the objective of this work is to define these indicators and establish models for measuring the efficiency of processes and products of CE (through Data Envelopment Analysis, (DEA)) in its different manifestations. The models will be useful for both organizations and external users in relation to CE in order to facilitate the search for indicators for all users. Following the bibliographic review of official reports and different high impact works, our results demonstrate the ability to obtain information concerning the main indicators of CE and how the efficiency of CE models has been measured through the most frequently used inputs and outputs.

Perspectives of Circular Economy in Romanian Space

“…Monitoring is also considered necessary for other reasons: on one hand, in order to identify the success factors in countries and regions and, on the other hand, in order to evaluate the measures taken. This is possible due to the set of ten circulating economic indicators, which represent the "Monitoring Framework of the CE by the EU", launched in 2018 [4,7,37]. The entire monitoring process provides extremely valuable insights towards setting new priorities for different stakeholders over the long-term objective of a circular economy.…”

“…During the last years, it has been shown a growing interest by the academic and nonacademic environment to circular economy (CE), perceived as a concept in continuous evolution, which adjusts and consolidates its definition, boundaries, principles and associated practices [1]. According to the specialized literature, CE is assimilated to a concept currently widely promoted, both within the EU (Germany, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland) and by the national governments of countries such as China, Japan, Canada, the UK and the business environment everywhere [2][3][4][5][6][7]. CE is explained as "a new development paradigm, (supported by the European Union), which is, in fact, an "old" one moved upwards on a dialectical spiral so that it connects and resonates with the spirit and realities of our times" (p. 78 in [2]).…”

A New Mindset for Circular Economy Strategies: Case Studies of Circularity in the Use of Water

“…One of the main objectives of the CE is that the natural resources consumed in production have an unlimited life through reusing the waste generated by the production process itself and reusing the products themselves once they become waste; achieving unlimited life could solve the growing demand for natural resources that are increasingly scarce [18]. In particular, water efficiency has become a key issue at the EU Action Plan for a circular economy [24].…”

“…In order to efficiently shift the classic management of companies towards the new economic paradigm, the development of specific CE indicators and integrated management models are needed [18,19]. However, only a few of the circular indicators attempt to provide a more holistic approach that considers both intrinsic circularity and its effects [20].…”

“…However, this indicator is not popular in practice. Sanchez-Ortiz et al [18] found that challenges include establishing indicators, the difficulty of defining the indicators and the impossibility of obtaining the data. To monitor all the resources used throughout the entire product life cycle, there is a need for data and information circulation [16,20].…”