A Critical Review of Academic Approaches, Methods and Tools to Assess Circular Economy at the Micro Level

Transitioning from the current linear economic development model to a circular economy (CE) is a hot topic in academic literature, public governance, and the corporate domain. Actors have implemented CE strategies to reduce their resource use and its associated impacts, while boosting economic competitiveness and generating positive social impact. Companies are identified as key actors in transitioning to a CE, and many academics have proposed tools to assess CE and guide them in this process. This paper critically reviews such academic ‘assessment approaches’ at the micro level in order to reflect on their key properties. Seventy-four approaches are inventoried through a systematic literature review of academic literature. A critical review framework is constructed and applied, containing four perspectives: A general perspective, a descriptive perspective (methodological aspects), a normative perspective (connections to Sustainable Development), and a prescriptive perspective (implementation-focused). Methodologically, the 74 approaches are highly diverse, having various connections to previously established methodologies. Eighteen of the reviewed assessment approaches include all three dimensions of Sustainable Development (SD), in addition to a ‘circular’ dimension. Roughly one quarter of the approaches apply a participatory design approach. Suggested key desired properties of CE assessment approaches include making use of existing assessment methodologies such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and a closer collaboration between science and practitioners to consider end-user needs in the design of CE assessment approaches

In search for ground rules for product-oriented full cost accounting methods: Ensuring construct validity

Product value chains cause environmental and social impacts, of which many are currently unaccounted for in the price of products. Several methods exist to calculate the pressures of such impacts, as well as their monetization. In the context of life cycle assessment (LCA), expressing environmental and social impacts in monetary terms allows for aggregation and easier communication. Many methods for monetization exist, with fundamental differences in their underlying monetization approach, accuracy, availability and application. Scientific and private sector initiatives have introduced full cost accounting methods that also use different monetization approaches. We reflect on the differences between such existing methods. First, we review the foundations of monetization and introduce a new categorization to align terminologies. We summarize the connections between monetization and life-cycle assessment methods, since both categories of methods can be seen as the building blocks of existing full cost accounting methods. We then sketch the monetization landscape and its challenges. Next, we inventory current product-oriented full cost accounting methods and, through interviews with their developers, provide insights into their underlying monetization philosophy, data sources and quality, scoping, aggregation, and transparency. From this review, we propose four provisional ground rules for product-oriented full cost accounting methods in the discussion section, addressing theoretical framing, the time dimension, the integration of positive impacts and the methods’ transparency

Towards a framework for corporate disclosure of circular economy : Company perspectives and recommendations

Circular economy (CE) is becoming an increasingly mandatory material issue within corporate sustainability reporting, however, what remains unaddressed within literature are the perspectives and capacities of the companies which must soon adapt to meet the evolving reporting requirements. This research aims to capture insights from companies engaged with CE in order to develop recommendations that support the integration of CE within corporate sustainability reports. To do this, a series of semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with companies operating in Italy or the Netherlands, not limited by sector. The results provide a list of challenges experienced-and benefits gained-by companies from externally communicating CE. Companies are urged to consider not only risks associated with staying in the linear economy but also those associated with the implementation of new circular practices, to communicate potential sustainability trade-offs and reduce potential claims of CE-related greenwashing. Practical recommendations are offered for developing targets and indicators for CE as well as identifying and reporting CE-specific risks and opportunities

Assessing the social sustainability of circular economy practices: Industry perspectives from Italy and the Netherlands

Despite the frequent association of circular economy (CE) with sustainability, most CE practices have yet to prove they actually contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and social aspects in particular. To attain the consensually established targets in the SDG framework, it is vital to assess the impact of CE practices. As most of these practices are carried out in a network of actors, sustainability assessment approaches from the fields of industrial ecology and supply chain management are particularly suitable. However, both fields are known for their limited inclusion of the social dimension. While scholars have already started to explore the assessment of social sustainability within the context of CE practices, little is known about the perspectives and experiences concerning social assessment of businesses actively involved with CE. Thus, the authors conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with frontrunner companies engaged with CE in Italy and the Netherlands to obtain a better picture of (1) how these firms view the importance of the social dimension as part of the assessment of CE practices, (2) what the barriers to conducting social assessment are, and (3) whether they have experience with assessing social sustainability aspects within their companies and supply chains. Through a thematic analysis, it was found that most companies deem the social dimension to be relevant to CE assessment and either consider it an integral part of CE or of sustainability. However, a majority of the firms did not conduct any type of social assessment. Most companies which implemented assessments did so in a qualitative manner or used industry-based sustainability indicator frameworks. Notwithstanding the prevalence of social life cycle assessment in the academic realm, almost all interviewees mentioned barriers to its application related to its complexity and the lack of a standardised approach

Thermodynamic rarity of electrical and electronic waste: Assessment and policy implications for critical materials

The strategic relevance of extracting raw materials from waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the EU is increasing due to value chain risks caused by geopolitical instability, accessibility of specific minerals, and decreasing reserves due to growing extraction rates. This article examines the quantities of so-called critical raw materials (CRMs) originating within WEEE streams from a depletion perspective. Presently, current recycling targets are based solely on mass collection and recycling rates. We examine the potential limitations of this approach using an exergy-based indicator named thermodynamic rarity. This indicator represents the exergy costs needed for producing materials from the bare rock to market. The case of Italy is used to explore the application of the indicator at the macro (national) and micro (company) level for the product categories “small electronics” and “screens and monitors.” Our estimations show significant differences between the mass and rarity of materials within Italian WEEE streams. While iron accounts for more than 70% of the weight of the product categories analyzed, it accounts for less than 15% of the rarity. Similarly, several CRMs with a small mass have a higher rarity value, for example, tungsten with less than 0.1% of the mass and over 6% of the rarity. The policy context is reflected upon, where it is argued that thermodynamic rarity can provide novel insights to support end-of-life WEEE decision-making processes, for example, target development and recycling standards setting to help prioritize material monitoring and recovery options

What Is the Relation between Circular Economy and Sustainability? Answers from Frontrunner Companies Engaged with Circular Economy Practices

The circular economy (CE) concept has become a major interest for companies, promising new business opportunities and a decrease in environmental impacts. Though research on circular business models has recently increased, few scholars have investigated how companies engaged with CE view the connection between CE and sustainability. To address this gap, this paper uses a semi-quantitative survey and semi-structured interviews conducted with companies based in Italy and the Netherlands. Purposive sampling was employed to target firms associated with national and international CE networks, as these companies already engage with CE practices. The survey was distributed online to over 800 firms, of which 155 provided information on their understanding of the CE concept and its relationship with sustainability. The survey results are complemented through findings from 43 interviews with a subset of the survey respondents. The survey answers show that companies view CE as one of the tools to achieve sustainable development, particularly in the environmental domain, where the focus lies on environmentally friendly resource use. Yet, the respondents are less confident whether CE increases economic and social benefits of firms. Interviews show that a majority of respondents position sustainability as the overarching concept. However, most companies advocate that the private sector should strive for both sustainability and circularity, though the distinction between the two concepts in daily business operations seems synthetic and futile to some. These findings provide an important stepping stone for better understanding how firms could apply CE practices to move towards a more sustainable society

Exploring assessment practices of companies actively engaged with circular economy

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

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

PurposeMethods and tools to measure Circular Economy (CE) are in an early stage of development, especially on the micro level, and only limited guidance is available to companies’ decision-making processes related to CE solutions. In this context, the aim of this paper is to explore the suitability and effectiveness of grey literature CE indicators and the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method in measuring circularity at product or process level.MethodsThe analysis is based on two different comparative case-studies specifically related to the packaging sector, including glass and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, and to the food waste (FW) management sector, focusing on specific FW treatment activities. A review-of-reviews of CE metrics at the micro level is presented first in order to provide a theoretical overview on this specific theme and identify the available grey literature CE indicators and the role of LCA. Then, inventory data from both case studies are used as input to calculate LCA indicators as well as selected product-level grey literature CE indicators. Finally, the results are compared to critically analyze the potentiality in assessing circularity of these two streams of CE micro level assessment (LCA and CE indicators).Results and discussionThe main findings underscore that despite the common purpose of the selected CE indicators, the results related to the circularity performance may strongly vary depending on the evaluated case study and on the type of grey literature CE indicator that is applied. Regarding the application of the LCA method, the results highlight that, although a product may present high circularity performance, it does not necessarily carry lower environmental burdens. In addition, the LCA method allows obtaining useful information about both the environmental and circularity performance of the assessed case-studies.ConclusionsThe LCA method is presented as a suitable and effective method that businesses can apply to start a commitment towards CE. LCA can be considered the basic structured system on which to build a more complete metric framework for quantification of CE, specifically for companies that are aiming to operate more sustainably. On the contrary, grey literature CE indicators may not be always appropriate for assessing specific sectors or effectively contribute to assess environmental sustainability