IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v10y2021i12p129-d703979.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic Indicators in Water and Wastewater Sector Contributing to a Circular Economy (CE)

Author

Listed:
  • Marzena Smol

    (Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wybickiego 7A Str., 31-261 Cracow, Poland)

  • Renata Koneczna

    (Mineral and Energy Economy Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wybickiego 7A Str., 31-261 Cracow, Poland
    ERBEKA Foundation, Kazimierza Morawskiego 5/222C Str., 30-102 Cracow, Poland)

Abstract

Protection and sustainable management of water was indicated as one of the strategic tasks in the process of transformation towards a circular economy (CE) in the European Union (EU), therefore, the water and wastewater sector plays an important role in this process. At the same time, the European Commission (EC) strongly underlined the importance of the possibility to assess the transformation process toward the CE, and developed a set of CE indicators that are available on the Eurostat website. However, these indicators have limited ability to assess the transformation progress in the water and wastewater sector. This paper presents a set of indicators for assessing the economic progress of transformation towards the CE in this sector. The proposed economic CE indicators were grouped into the following actions of the CE model in the water and wastewater sector: reduction, reclamation (removal), reuse, recycling, recovery and landfilling. The selection of specific indicators was based on a systematic review of the literature presenting economic indicators developed by international organisations and researchers (covering different thematic areas, scopes and potential applications). The selected economic CE indicators were assigned to three groups of the cash flow: income (revenues, expenses), costs, and investment financing. The proposed CE indicators can be used by water supply and sewage companies (i.e., supplying water to the public and wastewater treatment plants, and companies that use water in their production processes) to assess the level of the transformation toward the CE at a microeconomic level. An important aspect of future application and usage of the proposed set of CE economic indicators is the collection and processing of data needed for their reporting. The proposed set of CE economic indicators refers to information that are reported by the companies to prove its revenues, costs and investment outlays, and are collected by companies anyway. The proposed set of economic CE indicators is flexible, allowing the adaptation of indicators and areas of interest to maintain effectiveness throughout the transition period from linear to the CE model.

Suggested Citation

  • Marzena Smol & Renata Koneczna, 2021. "Economic Indicators in Water and Wastewater Sector Contributing to a Circular Economy (CE)," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:10:y:2021:i:12:p:129-:d:703979
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/10/12/129/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/10/12/129/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marzena Smol & Joanna Duda & Agnieszka Czaplicka-Kotas & Dominika Szołdrowska, 2020. "Transformation towards Circular Economy (CE) in Municipal Waste Management System: Model Solutions for Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Rosenau-Tornow, Dirk & Buchholz, Peter & Riemann, Axel & Wagner, Markus, 2009. "Assessing the long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials--a combined evaluation of past and future trends," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 161-175, December.
    3. Erik Pauer & Bernhard Wohner & Victoria Heinrich & Manfred Tacker, 2019. "Assessing the Environmental Sustainability of Food Packaging: An Extended Life Cycle Assessment including Packaging-Related Food Losses and Waste and Circularity Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Edgar Towa & Vanessa Zeller & Wouter M. J. Achten, 2021. "Assessing the circularity of regions: Stakes of trade of waste for treatment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(4), pages 834-847, August.
    5. Marzena Smol & Paulina Marcinek & Joanna Duda & Dominika Szołdrowska, 2020. "Importance of Sustainable Mineral Resource Management in Implementing the Circular Economy (CE) Model and the European Green Deal Strategy," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-21, May.
    6. Di Maio, Francesco & Rem, Peter Carlo & Baldé, Kees & Polder, Michael, 2017. "Measuring resource efficiency and circular economy: A market value approach," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 163-171.
    7. Marzena Smol, 2020. "Inventory of Wastes Generated in Polish Sewage Sludge Incineration Plants and Their Possible Circular Management Directions," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-24, July.
    8. Edgar Battand Towa Kouokam & Vanessa Zeller & Wouter Achten, 2021. "Assessing the circularity of regions: Stakes of trade of waste for treatment," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/332186, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    9. World Bank, 2017. "The Little Green Data Book 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 27466.
    10. Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes & Ailin Salomé Valls & Simon Peter Nadeem & Anthony Anosike & Vikas Kumar, 2019. "A circularity measurement toolkit for manufacturing SMEs," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(23), pages 7319-7343, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nikolay Didenko & Djamilia Skripnuk & Viktor Merkulov & Kseniia N. Kikkas & Konstantin Skripniuk, 2023. "Methodology for the Formation of a Digital Model of the Life Cycle of an Offshore Oil and Gas Platform," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, July.
    2. Diego Copetti, 2023. "Integration of Water Quantity/Quality Needs with Socio-Economical Issues: A Focus on Monitoring and Modelling," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-4, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Agnieszka Nowaczek & Ewa Dziobek & Joanna Kulczycka, 2023. "Benefits and Limitations of Indicators for Monitoring the Transformation towards a Circular Economy in Poland," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-21, February.
    2. Liliana Topliceanu & Petru Gabriel Puiu & Catalin Drob & Vlad Vasile Topliceanu, 2022. "Analysis Regarding the Implementation of the Circular Economy in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-32, December.
    3. Zhou, Yue, 2024. "Natural resources and green economic growth: A pathway to innovation and digital transformation in the mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Rachel Greer & Timo Wirth & Derk Loorbach, 2023. "The Circular Decision-Making Tree: an Operational Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 693-718, June.
    5. Smol, Marzena, 2022. "Is the green deal a global strategy? Revision of the green deal definitions, strategies and importance in post-COVID recovery plans in various regions of the world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Lee, Sir Yee & Hu, Jiayao & Lim, Ming K, 2021. "Maximising the circular economy and sustainability outcomes: An end-of-life tyre recycling outlets selection model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    7. Rohit Agrawal & Vishal A. Wankhede & Anil Kumar & Sunil Luthra, 2021. "Analysing the roadblocks of circular economy adoption in the automobile sector: Reducing waste and environmental perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1051-1066, February.
    8. Franco Fassio & Chiara Chirilli, 2023. "The Circular Economy and the Food System: A Review of Principal Measuring Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    9. Christina G. Siontorou, 2023. "Fair Development Transition of Lignite Areas: Key Challenges and Sustainability Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-14, August.
    10. Agata Mlonka-Mędrala, 2023. "Recent Findings on Fly Ash-Derived Zeolites Synthesis and Utilization According to the Circular Economy Concept," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-21, September.
    11. Joanicjusz Nazarko & Ewa Chodakowska & Łukasz Nazarko, 2022. "Evaluating the Transition of the European Union Member States towards a Circular Economy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.
    12. Kateryna Redko & Olena Borychenko & Anatolii Cherniavskyi & Volodymyr Saienko & Serhii Dudnikov, 2023. "Comparative Analysis of Innovative Development Strategies of Fuel and Energy Complex of Ukraine and the EU Countries: International Experience," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(2), pages 301-308, March.
    13. Fabio De Felice & Antonella Petrillo, 2021. "Green Transition: The Frontier of the Digicircular Economy Evidenced from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-26, October.
    14. Nagamani Subramanian & M. Suresh, 2022. "Social Sustainability Factors Influencing the Implementation of Sustainable HRM in Manufacturing SMEs," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 469-507, December.
    15. Andreea Loredana Bîrgovan & Elena Simina Lakatos & Andrea Szilagyi & Lucian Ionel Cioca & Roxana Lavinia Pacurariu & George Ciobanu & Elena Cristina Rada, 2022. "How Should We Measure? A Review of Circular Cities Indicators," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-16, April.
    16. Vitiana L'Abate & Nicola Raimo & Benedetta Esposito & Filippo Vitolla, 2024. "Examining the impact of circular economy disclosure on the cost of debt: A signaling theory approach via social media," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 4007-4019, September.
    17. Marie K. Schellens & Johanna Gisladottir, 2018. "Critical Natural Resources: Challenging the Current Discourse and Proposal for a Holistic Definition," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-28, December.
    18. Mathivathanan, Deepak & Mathiyazhagan, K. & Khorana, Sangeeta & Rana, Nripendra P. & Arora, Bimal, 2022. "Drivers of circular economy for small and medium enterprises: Case study on the Indian state of Tamil Nadu," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 997-1015.
    19. Henrik Florén & Johan Frishammar & Anton Löf & Magnus Ericsson, 2019. "Raw materials management in iron and steelmaking firms," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 32(1), pages 39-47, April.
    20. Marzena Smol, 2023. "Circular Economy in Wastewater Treatment Plant—Water, Energy and Raw Materials Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-18, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:10:y:2021:i:12:p:129-:d:703979. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.