IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v150y2018icp297-306.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Longevity and Circularity as Indicators of Eco-Efficient Resource Use in the Circular Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Figge, Frank
  • Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson
  • Givry, Philippe
  • Canning, Louise
  • Franklin-Johnson, Elizabeth

Abstract

Natural resources are limited. The circular economy is one of several different concepts that has been useful in the quest to understand how resources can be used most efficiently. It proposes that closing loops and repeatedly using resources has the potential to procure maximum eco-efficiency. To track society's progress towards a circular economy, indicators and measures are needed. The majority of these aim to capture the circularity of resource flows, yet fail to simultaneously consider the length of time for which a resource is in use. More recently, a longevity indicator has been proposed, but similarly, it fails to take into account how many times a resource is used. Both longevity and circularity are needed for sustainable resource use, but to date, no measure that combines both approaches is in use. Based on existing measures we develop and further develop indicators for both circularity and longevity that focus on the contribution that organisations and other resource users make to the sustainability of resource use. By combining both indicators we enhance their explanatory power.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:150:y:2018:i:c:p:297-306
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.04.030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800917315653
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.04.030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roland Geyer & Brandon Kuczenski & Trevor Zink & Ashley Henderson, 2016. "Common Misconceptions about Recycling," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(5), pages 1010-1017, October.
    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. Matthew J. Eckelman & Barbara K. Reck & T. E. Graedel, 2012. "Exploring the Global Journey of Nickel with Markov Chain Models," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(3), pages 334-342, June.
    4. York, Richard & Rosa, Eugene A. & Dietz, Thomas, 2003. "STIRPAT, IPAT and ImPACT: analytic tools for unpacking the driving forces of environmental impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 351-365, October.
    5. May, Gökan & Stahl, Bojan & Taisch, Marco, 2016. "Energy management in manufacturing: Toward eco-factories of the future – A focus group study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 628-638.
    6. Pimentel, David & Pimentel, Marcia, 2006. "Global environmental resources versus world population growth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 195-198, September.
    7. Jukka Hoffrén & Eeva-Lotta Apajalahti, 2009. "Emergent eco-efficiency paradigm in corporate environment management," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(4), pages 233-243.
    8. Daly, Herman E., 1990. "Toward some operational principles of sustainable development," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-6, April.
    9. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    10. 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.
    11. Bailey, Reid & Bras, Bert & Allen, Janet K., 2008. "Measuring material cycling in industrial systems," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 643-652.
    12. Figge, Frank & Givry, Philippe & Canning, Louise & Franklin-Johnson, Elizabeth & Thorpe, Andrea, 2017. "Eco-efficiency of Virgin Resources: A Measure at the Interface Between Micro and Macro Levels," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 12-21.
    13. Malthus, Thomas Robert, 1798. "An Essay on the Principle of Population," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number malthus1798.
    14. Peng, Hongsong & Zhang, Jinhe & Lu, Lin & Tang, Guorong & Yan, Bingjin & Xiao, Xiao & Han, Ya, 2017. "Eco-efficiency and its determinants at a tourism destination: A case study of Huangshan National Park, China," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 201-211.
    15. Zhang, Bing & Bi, Jun & Fan, Ziying & Yuan, Zengwei & Ge, Junjie, 2008. "Eco-efficiency analysis of industrial system in China: A data envelopment analysis approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1-2), pages 306-316, December.
    16. David I. Green, 1894. "Pain-Cost and Opportunity-Cost," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 8(2), pages 218-229.
    17. 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.
    18. Leontief, Wassily, 1991. "The economy as a circular flow," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 181-212, June.
    19. 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.
    20. Reid Bailey & Bert Bras & Janet K. Allen, 2004. "Applying Ecological Input‐Output Flow Analysis to Material Flows in Industrial Systems: Part II: Flow Metrics," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 8(1‐2), pages 69-91, January.
    21. Eckelman, Matthew J. & Daigo, Ichiro, 2008. "Markov chain modeling of the global technological lifetime of copper," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 265-273, September.
    22. Behrens, Arno & Giljum, Stefan & Kovanda, Jan & Niza, Samuel, 2007. "The material basis of the global economy: Worldwide patterns of natural resource extraction and their implications for sustainable resource use policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 444-453, December.
    23. Krausmann, Fridolin & Gingrich, Simone & Eisenmenger, Nina & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Haberl, Helmut & Fischer-Kowalski, Marina, 2009. "Growth in global materials use, GDP and population during the 20th century," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 2696-2705, August.
    24. Mateusz Lewandowski, 2016. "Designing the Business Models for Circular Economy—Towards the Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-28, January.
    25. 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.
    26. T. E. Graedel & Julian Allwood & Jean‐Pierre Birat & Matthias Buchert & Christian Hagelüken & Barbara K. Reck & Scott F. Sibley & Guido Sonnemann, 2011. "What Do We Know About Metal Recycling Rates?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 15(3), pages 355-366, June.
    27. Reid Bailey & Janet K. Allen & Bert Bras, 2004. "Applying Ecological Input‐Output Flow Analysis to Material Flows in Industrial Systems: Part I: Tracing Flows," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 8(1‐2), pages 45-68, January.
    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. Cris Garcia-Saravia Ortiz-de-Montellano & Yvonne Meer, 2022. "A Theoretical Framework for Circular Processes and Circular Impacts Through a Comprehensive Review of Indicators," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 23(2), pages 291-314, June.
    2. Lafforgue, Gilles & Lorang, Etienne, 2022. "Recycling under environmental, climate and resource constraints," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Hu, Xiaoqian & Wang, Chao & Lim, Ming K. & Chen, Wei-Qiang, 2020. "Characteristics of the global copper raw materials and scrap trade systems and the policy impacts of China's import ban," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    4. Anna Schulte & Daniel Maga & Nils Thonemann, 2021. "Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Assessment to Analyze Environmental Impacts of the Medical Remanufacturing of Electrophysiology Catheters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Gustavo Pineiro-Villaverde & María Teresa García-Álvarez, 2020. "Sustainable Consumption and Production: Exploring the Links with Resources Productivity in the EU-28," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-13, October.
    6. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson & Manzhynski, Siarhei, 2021. "Between you and I: A portfolio theory of the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Purvis, Ben & Genovese, Andrea, 2023. "Better or different? A reflection on the suitability of indicator methods for a just transition to a circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    9. Gutberlet, Melissa & Preuss, Lutz & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson, 2023. "Macro level matters: Advancing circular economy in different business systems within Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    10. Chhimwal, Madhukar & Agrawal, Saurabh & Kumar, Girish, 2023. "Markovian approach to evaluate circularity in supply chain of non ferrous metal industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. L. Rocchi & L. Paolotti & C. Cortina & F. F. Fagioli & A. Boggia, 2021. "Measuring circularity: an application of modified Material Circularity Indicator to agricultural systems," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.
    12. Hinrika Droege & Andrea Raggi & Tomás B. Ramos, 2021. "Overcoming Current Challenges for Circular Economy Assessment Implementation in Public Sector Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-22, January.
    13. Erik Roos Lindgreen & Roberta Salomone & Tatiana Reyes, 2020. "A Critical Review of Academic Approaches, Methods and Tools to Assess Circular Economy at the Micro Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-27, June.
    14. Peter A. Kumble, 2019. "Reflections on Service Learning for a Circular Economy Project in a Guatemalan Neighborhood, Central America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-23, September.
    15. repec:spr:circec:v:2:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s43615-022-00159-9 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson & Good, Jason, 2021. "Us before me: A group level approach to the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    17. van Loon, Marloes P. & Vonk, Wytse J. & Hijbeek, Renske & van Ittersum, Martin K. & ten Berge, Hein F.M., 2023. "Circularity indicators and their relation with nutrient use efficiency in agriculture and food systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).

    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. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson & Good, Jason, 2021. "Us before me: A group level approach to the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson, 2019. "The symbiotic rebound effect in the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 61-69.
    3. 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.
    4. Peter A. Kumble, 2019. "Reflections on Service Learning for a Circular Economy Project in a Guatemalan Neighborhood, Central America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-23, September.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. repec:spr:circec:v:1:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s43615-021-00021-4 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. 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.
    9. Gilbert Silvius & Aydan Ismayilova & Vicente Sales-Vivó & Micol Costi, 2021. "Exploring Barriers for Circularity in the EU Furniture Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-25, October.
    10. Wisdom Kanda & Martin Geissdoerfer & Olof Hjelm, 2021. "From circular business models to circular business ecosystems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(6), pages 2814-2829, September.
    11. Florian Lüdeke‐Freund & Stefan Gold & Nancy M. P. Bocken, 2019. "A Review and Typology of Circular Economy Business Model Patterns," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 23(1), pages 36-61, February.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. Anna Schulte & Daniel Maga & Nils Thonemann, 2021. "Combining Life Cycle Assessment and Circularity Assessment to Analyze Environmental Impacts of the Medical Remanufacturing of Electrophysiology Catheters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.
    16. Hashimoto, Seiji & Daigo, Ichiro & Eckelman, Matthew & Reck, Barbara, 2010. "Measuring the status of stainless steel use in the Japanese socio-economic system," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(10), pages 737-743.
    17. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson & Manzhynski, Siarhei, 2021. "Between you and I: A portfolio theory of the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    18. Frank Figge & Andrea Stevenson Thorpe & Siarhei Manzhynski, 2022. "Value creation and the circular economy: A tale of three externalities," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(5), pages 1690-1700, October.
    19. 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).
    20. Pauliuk, Stefan & Kondo, Yasushi & Nakamura, Shinichiro & Nakajima, Kenichi, 2017. "Regional distribution and losses of end-of-life steel throughout multiple product life cycles—Insights from the global multiregional MaTrace model," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 84-93.
    21. 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.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:ecolec:v:150:y:2018:i:c:p:297-306. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.