Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Circularity for circularity's sake?: Scoping review of assessment methods for environmental performance in the circular economy.
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Sweden.
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Sweden; KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.
RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Built Environment, System Transition and Service Innovation.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0485-8376
2021 (English)In: Sustainable Production and Consumption, ISSN 2352-5509, Vol. 26, p. 172-186Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The Circular Economy (CE) concept is receiving increasing global attention and has captivated many disciplines, from sustainability through to business and economics. There is currently a strong drive by companies, academics and governments alike to implement the CE. Numerous “circularity indicators” have emerged that measure material flow or recirculated value of a system (e.g. product or nation). However, if its implementation is to improve environmental performance of society, the action must be based on scientific evidence and quantification or it may risk driving “circularity for circularity's sake”. This paper, therefore, aims to review the recent circular economy literature that focuses on assessing the environmental implications of circularity of products and services. To do this we divide the system levels into micro (product level), meso (industrial estate/symbiosis) and macro (national or city level). A scoping literature review explores the assessment methods and indicators at each level. The results suggest that few studies compare circularity indicators with environmental performance or link the circularity indicators between society levels (e.g. the micro and macro-levels). However, adequate tools exist at each level (e.g. life cycle assessment (LCA) at the micro-level and multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis at the macro-level) to provide the ability to adequately assess and track the CE performance if placed within a suitable framework. The challenge to connect the micro and macro-levels remains. This would help understand the link between changes at the micro-level at the macro-level, and the environmental consequences. At the meso-level, industrial symbiosis continues to grow in potential, but there is a need for further research on the assessment of its contribution to environmental improvement. In addition, there is limited understanding of the use phase. For example, national monitoring programmes do not have indicators on stocks of materials or the extent of the circular economy processes (such as the reuse economy, maintenance and spare parts) which already contribute to the CE. The societal needs/functions framework offers a promising meso-level link to bridge the micro and macro-levels for assessment, monitoring and setting thresholds. © 2020 The Authors

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier B.V. , 2021. Vol. 26, p. 172-186
Keywords [en]
Circular economy, circularity indicators, environmental assessment, indicators, life cycle assessment, Economics, Environmental impact, Environmental management, Industrial research, Life cycle, Business and economics, Environmental consequences, Environmental implications, Environmental improvements, Environmental performance, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Micro and macro levels, Products and services, Sustainable development
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-52197DOI: 10.1016/j.spc.2020.09.018Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85092302634OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-52197DiVA, id: diva2:1528099
Note

Funding details: Naturvårdsverket; Funding details: 802-0097-17; Funding text 1: This work was performed under the project “Linking circularity metrics at product and society level” (LinCS) project no 802-0097-17 , funded by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency .

Available from: 2021-02-12 Created: 2021-02-12 Last updated: 2023-05-16Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Diener, Derek

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Diener, Derek
By organisation
System Transition and Service Innovation
In the same journal
Sustainable Production and Consumption
Natural Sciences

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 76 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf