IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i11p4483-d365838.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Indicators to Measure Efficiency in Circular Economies

Author

Listed:
  • Jaime Sánchez-Ortiz

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Cádiz, Avda. Duque de Nájera, 8, 11002-Cádiz, Spain)

  • Vanesa Rodríguez-Cornejo

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Cádiz, Avda. Duque de Nájera, 8, 11002-Cádiz, Spain)

  • Rosario Del Río-Sánchez

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Cádiz, Avda. Duque de Nájera, 8, 11002-Cádiz, Spain)

  • Teresa García-Valderrama

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Cádiz, Avda. Duque de Nájera, 8, 11002-Cádiz, Spain)

Abstract

In this paper, a number of indicators are shown to measure economic efficiency in terms of circular economy (CE). The European Union affirms the need for a comprehensive model of indicators relating to CE in order to meet the needs of all participants (individual companies and industry, society, and the nation), to be based on three perspectives: environmental impact, economic benefit, and resource scarcity. Therefore, the objective of this work is to define these indicators and establish models for measuring the efficiency of processes and products of CE (through Data Envelopment Analysis, (DEA)) in its different manifestations. The models will be useful for both organizations and external users in relation to CE in order to facilitate the search for indicators for all users. Following the bibliographic review of official reports and different high impact works, our results demonstrate the ability to obtain information concerning the main indicators of CE and how the efficiency of CE models has been measured through the most frequently used inputs and outputs.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaime Sánchez-Ortiz & Vanesa Rodríguez-Cornejo & Rosario Del Río-Sánchez & Teresa García-Valderrama, 2020. "Indicators to Measure Efficiency in Circular Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4483-:d:365838
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4483/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/11/4483/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Walter R. Stahel, 2010. "The Performance Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 0, number 978-0-230-28884-3, March.
    2. Fenna Blomsma & Geraldine Brennan, 2017. "The Emergence of Circular Economy: A New Framing Around Prolonging Resource Productivity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 603-614, June.
    3. Nancy M. P. Bocken & Elsa A. Olivetti & Jonathan M. Cullen & José Potting & Reid Lifset, 2017. "Taking the Circularity to the Next Level: A Special Issue on the Circular Economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 476-482, June.
    4. Ring, Irene, 1997. "Evolutionary strategies in environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 237-249, December.
    5. Stuart Walker & Nick Coleman & Peter Hodgson & Nicola Collins & Louis Brimacombe, 2018. "Evaluating the Environmental Dimension of Material Efficiency Strategies Relating to the Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Huppes, Gjalt & Ishikawa, Masanobu, 2009. "Eco-efficiency guiding micro-level actions towards sustainability: Ten basic steps for analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1687-1700, April.
    7. R. J. Welford, 1998. "Editorial: Corporate environmental management, technology and sustainable development: postmodern perspectives and the need for a critical research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(1), pages 1-12, February.
    8. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    9. Winans, K. & Kendall, A. & Deng, H., 2017. "The history and current applications of the circular economy concept," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 825-833.
    10. Walter R. Stahel, 2010. "The Performance Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, edition 2, number 978-0-230-27490-7, March.
    11. Mateusz Lewandowski, 2016. "Designing the Business Models for Circular Economy—Towards the Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-28, January.
    12. Marian Chertow & John Ehrenfeld, 2012. "Organizing Self‐Organizing Systems," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(1), pages 13-27, February.
    13. Zengwei Yuan & Jun Bi & Yuichi Moriguichi, 2006. "The Circular Economy: A New Development Strategy in China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 10(1‐2), pages 4-8, January.
    14. Willi Haas & Fridolin Krausmann & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Markus Heinz, 2015. "How Circular is the Global Economy?: An Assessment of Material Flows, Waste Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 765-777, October.
    15. Vincent Moreau & Marlyne Sahakian & Pascal Griethuysen & François Vuille, 2017. "Coming Full Circle: Why Social and Institutional Dimensions Matter for the Circular Economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 497-506, June.
    16. Melanie Haupt & Carl Vadenbo & Stefanie Hellweg, 2017. "Do We Have the Right Performance Indicators for the Circular Economy?: Insight into the Swiss Waste Management System," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 615-627, June.
    17. Marcus Linder & Steven Sarasini & Patricia Loon, 2017. "A Metric for Quantifying Product-Level Circularity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 545-558, June.
    18. Ayres, Robert U., 1999. "The second law, the fourth law, recycling and limits to growth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 473-483, June.
    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. Nestor Shpak & Oleh Kuzmin & Olga Melnyk & Mariana Ruda & Włodzimierz Sroka, 2020. "Implementation of a Circular Economy in Ukraine: The Context of European Integration," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, August.
    2. Rosa M. Llácer-Iglesias & P. Amparo López-Jiménez & Modesto Pérez-Sánchez, 2021. "Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    3. Konstantin Gomonov & Svetlana Ratner & Inna Lazanyuk & Svetlana Revinova, 2021. "Clustering of EU Countries by the Level of Circular Economy: An Object-Oriented Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Marta Negri & Alessandra Neri & Enrico Cagno & Gabriele Monfardini, 2021. "Circular Economy Performance Measurement in Manufacturing Firms: A Systematic Literature Review with Insights for Small and Medium Enterprises and New Adopters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-27, August.
    5. Elisabeth Viles & Javier Santos & Tamara Fernández Arévalo & Martín Tanco & Florencia Kalemkerian, 2020. "A New Mindset for Circular Economy Strategies: Case Studies of Circularity in the Use of Water," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-12, November.
    6. Susanna Vanhamäki & Satu Rinkinen & Kati Manskinen, 2021. "Adapting a Circular Economy in Regional Strategies of the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, February.
    7. Elena Rangoni Gargano & Alessia Cornella & Pasqualina Sacco, 2023. "Governance Model for a Territory Circularity Index," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-15, February.
    8. Lingaitienė Olga & Burinskienė Aurelija, 2023. "Formation the links between circularity and sustainability in the circular economy," Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability and Global Challenges, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Roman Lacko & Zuzana Hajduová & Marcin Zawada, 2021. "The Efficiency of Circular Economies: A Comparison of Visegrád Group Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-13, March.
    10. Horațiu Vermeșan & Alexandrina Mangău & Ancuța-Elena Tiuc, 2020. "Perspectives of Circular Economy in Romanian Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-29, August.
    11. Armand Kasztelan, 2020. "How Circular Are the European Economies? A Taxonomic Analysis Based on the INEC (Index of National Economies’ Circularity)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-11, September.

    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. Armaghan Chizaryfard & Paolo Trucco & Cali Nuur, 2021. "The transformation to a circular economy: framing an evolutionary view," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 475-504, April.
    2. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    3. Animesh Ghosh & Prabha Bhola & Uthayasankar Sivarajah, 2022. "Emerging Associates of the Circular Economy: Analysing Interactions and Trends by a Mixed Methods Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-41, August.
    4. Fatima Khitous & Fernanda Strozzi & Andrea Urbinati & Fernando Alberti, 2020. "A Systematic Literature Network Analysis of Existing Themes and Emerging Research Trends in Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
    6. E. Sardianou & V. Nikou & K. Evangelinos & I. Nikolaou, 2024. "What are the key dimensions that CE emphasizes on? A systematic analysis of circular economy definitions," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 547-562, September.
    7. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson & Givry, Philippe & Canning, Louise & Franklin-Johnson, Elizabeth, 2018. "Longevity and Circularity as Indicators of Eco-Efficient Resource Use in the Circular Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 297-306.
    8. Ghinoi, Stefano & Silvestri, Francesco & Steiner, Bodo, 2020. "The role of local stakeholders in disseminating knowledge for supporting the circular economy: a network analysis approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    9. Jacopo Zotti & Andrea Bigano, 2019. "Write circular economy, read economy’s circularity. How to avoid going in circles," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(2), pages 629-652, July.
    10. Millar, Neal & McLaughlin, Eoin & Börger, Tobias, 2019. "The Circular Economy: Swings and Roundabouts?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 11-19.
    11. Jeff Mangers & Meysam Minoufekr & Peter Plapper & Sri Kolla, 2021. "An Innovative Strategy Allowing a Holistic System Change towards Circular Economy within Supply-Chains," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Claudia Marcela Betancourt Morales & Jhon Wilder Zartha Sossa, 2020. "Circular economy in Latin America: A systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2479-2497, September.
    13. Nancy Bocken & Lars Strupeit & Katherine Whalen & Julia Nußholz, 2019. "A Review and Evaluation of Circular Business Model Innovation Tools," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, April.
    14. Chembessi Chedrak & Gohoungodji Paulin & Juste Rajaonson, 2023. "“A fine wine, better with age”: Circular economy historical roots and influential publications: A bibliometric analysis using Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS)," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(6), pages 1593-1612, December.
    15. Hervé Corvellec & Alison F. Stowell & Nils Johansson, 2022. "Critiques of the circular economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(2), pages 421-432, April.
    16. Erik G. Hansen & Ferdinand Revellio, 2020. "Circular value creation architectures: Make, ally, buy, or laissez‐faire," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(6), pages 1250-1273, December.
    17. Raphaëlle Stewart & Monia Niero, 2018. "Circular economy in corporate sustainability strategies: A review of corporate sustainability reports in the fast‐moving consumer goods sector," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1005-1022, November.
    18. Alexandra Barón Dorado & Gerusa Giménez Leal & Rodolfo de Castro Vila, 2022. "Environmental policy and corporate sustainability: The mediating role of environmental management systems in circular economy adoption," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(4), pages 830-842, July.
    19. Clube, Rebecca K.M. & Tennant, Mike, 2020. "The Circular Economy and human needs satisfaction: Promising the radical, delivering the familiar," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    20. Mura, Rita & Vicentini, Francesca & Botti, Ludovico Maria & Chiriacò, Maria Vincenza, 2023. "Economic and environmental outcomes of a sustainable and circular approach: Case study of an Italian wine-producing firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

    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:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:11:p:4483-:d:365838. 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.