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      Circular economy indicators: What do they measure?

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          Highlights

          • Indicators are useful to support circular economy progress.

          • Circular economy has different definitions entailing challenges for indicators.

          • A classification framework to understand what indicators measure is proposed.

          • Most of the analysed indicators focus on the preservation of materials.

          • None of the analysed indicators focuses on the preservation of functions.

          Abstract

          Circular Economy (CE) is a growing topic, especially in the European Union, that promotes the responsible and cyclical use of resources possibly contributing to sustainable development. CE is an umbrella concept incorporating different meanings. Despite the unclear concept, CE is turned into defined action plans supported by specific indicators. To understand what indicators used in CE measure specifically, we propose a classification framework to categorise indicators according to reasoning on what (CE strategies) and how (measurement scope). Despite different types, CE strategies can be grouped according to their attempt to preserve functions, products, components, materials, or embodied energy; additionally, indicators can measure the linear economy as a reference scenario. The measurement scope shows how indicators account for technological cycles with or without a Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) approach; or their effects on environmental, social, or economic dimensions.

          To illustrate the classification framework, we selected quantitative micro scale indicators from literature and macro scale indicators from the European Union ‘CE monitoring framework’. The framework illustration shows that most of the indicators focus on the preservation of materials, with strategies such as recycling. However, micro scale indicators can also focus on other CE strategies considering LCT approach, while the European indicators mostly account for materials often without taking LCT into account. Furthermore, none of the available indicators can assess the preservation of functions instead of products, with strategies such as sharing platforms, schemes for product redundancy, or multifunctionality. Finally, the framework illustration suggests that a set of indicators should be used to assess CE instead of a single indicator.

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          Most cited references44

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          Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions

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            Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy

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              Product services for a resource-efficient and circular economy – a review

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Resour Conserv Recycl
                Resour Conserv Recycl
                Resources, Conservation, and Recycling
                Elsevier B.V
                0921-3449
                1879-0658
                1 July 2019
                July 2019
                : 146
                : 452-461
                Affiliations
                [a ]Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000, Gent, Belgium
                [b ]Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 5, 8500, Kortrijk, Belgium
                [c ]European Commission – Joint Research Centre, Sustainable Resources Directorate, Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027, Ispra, Italy
                [d ]Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001, Leuven, Belgium
                Author notes
                [* ]Corresponding author. fabrice.mathieux@ 123456ec.europa.eu
                Article
                S0921-3449(19)30151-X
                10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.03.045
                6559262
                31274959
                df76a566-a562-4758-b575-59647d85a90a
                © 2019 The Authors

                This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 9 November 2018
                : 30 January 2019
                : 28 March 2019
                Categories
                Article

                circular economy,indicators,sustainability,life cycle thinking

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