Performance indicators of circular economy in the agriculture and food industry

Among the main challenges over the past few years has been to capture and analyze the progress made towards the transition to circular economy (CE), since ensuring that the transition is successful requires monitoring progress. As a result of the enormous amount of harmful waste produced by the olive oil industry in the Mediterranean region, monitoring and evaluating circularity has become the basis for economic development measures. An understanding of the degree of circularity is crucial to improving extraction processes. Additionally, this type of measurement could prove useful for driving policies on the topic and improving sustainability, since CE is often used as a potential tool to support sustainable development. This research provides a consistent review of the CE indicators used in agro-industry sector, based on the scientific literature and practice, identifying those who could assess circularity in the olive oil industry. Circularity refers to reducing waste and using by-products in the olive oil industry and in general in the food supply chain. The purpose of this review is to assess the success of CE strategies and to remove some of the ambiguity surrounding CE in practice. Despite the fact that the indicators of circular economy have aroused substantial attention globally, there is not much conceptual and empirical research focusing on the development of indicators in practice.