Measuring the Circular Economy - Developing a Circular Economy assessment for company level

Abstract

The Circular Economy has been gaining more attention in recent years. The concept has started to evolve from resource efficiency and closing material loops to a broader scope that covers the economic, social and environmental dimension. A large variety of assessments to measure circularity at different levels of analysis have been developed. However, especially assessments to measure circularity at a company level have not yet reacted to the shift of covering all three sustainability dimensions equally. Furthermore, existing assessments require in many cases a sophisticated analysis of the results, which remains a barrier to a higher usage of these assessments. The aim of this research was to develop a new, easy to use assessment to measure the circularity of companies, while covering the economic, social and environmental dimension. Circular Economy assessments are regarded to give guidance for companies on their transition to a Circular Economy, which they are currently lacking. This research was conducted by using a three step Circular Economy assessment development model, which consists of mapping, selection and validation. Using this process, the researcher mapped the indicators used by more than 35 existing assessments, then selected indicators for the new assessment based on a number of criteria and validated the indicators of the new assessment through interviews with Circular Economy experts from academia, companies and governmental institutions. This research gives a good overview over the existing Circular Economy assessments and, especially, the use of social impact indicators. The newly developed assessment is a first step to including the economic, social and environmental impact dimension into a company level Circular Economy assessment.