Circularity assessment in companies: conceptual elements for developing assessment tools

Circularity assessment is a relatively new term that started to be used by organisations promoting the circular economy, but that has not been adequately defined in the scientific literature yet. Different actors have recently... [ view full abstract ]

Circularity assessment is a relatively new term that started to be used by organisations promoting the circular economy, but that has not been adequately defined in the scientific literature yet. Different actors have recently developed proposals for circularity assessment at the company level. Having an assessment tool that could be used as a measuring stick has been suggested as the first step in the transition towards a circular economy. Existing proposals for circularity assessment tools have different approaches to what should be evaluated, risking their potential for meaningful comparisons. To contribute to minimise the gap between tools, this paper provides a general framework of what a circularity assessment at the company level should include, based on input from expert sources. The framework was used to evaluate four existing circularity assessment proposals at the company level developed by four (4) stakeholders, Circle Economy and PGGM, Ellen Macarthur Foundation, Viktoria Swedish ICT and VBDO, resulting in the identification of alignments and misalignments. From this examination, it is possible to conclude that the main disagreements relate to what principles and criteria of circularity are used in the proposals, while scale and purpose of the assessment are the most agreed upon elements. Our results suggest that there is still room for improvement of existing circularity assessment tools for companies if they aim at supporting the implementation of a comprehensive circular economy strategy.