Contributing to a Circular Economy: Insights and Indicators for the Evaluation of Circular Regional Policies

Abstract

This study explores the evaluation of the deployment of policy instruments by regional governments in the Netherlands in the transition to a circular economy. The circular economy is a new policy field for Dutch regional governments (provinces, water authorities, environmental protection agencies, regional cooperation’s and municipalities) which are now deploying a wide range of policy instruments to help the transition move forward. This raises the question how regional governments can evaluate their effort aimed at contributing to the Dutch Circular economy Goals: 100% circular in 2050 and 50% reduction of raw material input in 2030. Evaluation is important to steer and improve policies to contribute to a more effective intervention to help move away from our current linear economy system towards a circular economy. This study investigated how regional governments in the Netherlands are currently evaluating their circular policies and what indicators could be used to help with this evaluation. This was done by semi-structured interviews of nine policymakers on the regional level and the carrying out of an indicator assessment in which circular economy indicators from existing macro level frameworks were assessed to determine their relevance for circular regional policy evaluation. The results show that currently, not much emphasis is being placed on the evaluation of circular policies by regional governments. Evaluation is viewed as important, but complex. Furthermore, the indicators assessment provided 37 indicators that have been found that could help evaluate CE policies for regional governments. The results are an important step in creating an evaluation framework for circular policies on the regional level. However, more research is needed to find and/or create additional suitable indicators for the evaluation and test the practical application of such an evaluation system on the regional level.