IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/sumafo/v33y2025i1d10.1007_s00550-025-00564-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tracking resource efficiency and circular economy performance — CERE-indicators for small and medium-sized companies

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandra Vogt

    (Pforzheim University)

  • Ingela Tietze

    (Pforzheim University)

  • Philipp Preiss

    (Pforzheim University)

  • Claus Lang-Koetz

    (Pforzheim University)

Abstract

The energy and raw material transition pose substantial challenges, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In the chemical and process industry, this transformation is especially demanding due to the need to transform complex production systems on top of inter- and intra-organizational processes towards sustainability, where a nexus perspective — linking energy, materials, and organizational systems — is essential. To address these challenges effectively, it is essential to employ tools that facilitate the systematic identification and selection of measures aimed at enhancing circular economy and resource efficiency practices within organizations. Indicators play a critical role in this context as they are a prerequisite for quantifying processes, assessing performance, and increasing transparency. They provide a foundation for strategic decision making and align measures to company goals. Accordingly, circular economy and resource efficiency indicators are indispensable for unlocking sustainability potentials within companies. This paper presents a set of (Circular Economy and Resource Efficiency) CERE indicators for SMEs in the chemical industry, with the objective of identifying suitable measures, consolidating results, and establishing a long-term key performance indicator (KPI) system to enhance resource efficiency and promote a circular economy. To address these targets, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify relevant sets of indicators associated the circular economy and resource efficiency. These sets were then assessed against defined requirements to determine the most suitable ones. The overarching CERE indicator set was developed, allowing for an overall assessment in organizations. While the developed set of CERE indicators has been demonstrated to be practical, the research highlights persistent structural gaps, particularly in the context of circular economy management within companies. These gaps still need to be overcome.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Vogt & Ingela Tietze & Philipp Preiss & Claus Lang-Koetz, 2025. "Tracking resource efficiency and circular economy performance — CERE-indicators for small and medium-sized companies," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:sumafo:v:33:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00550-025-00564-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s00550-025-00564-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00550-025-00564-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00550-025-00564-2?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.

    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:spr:sumafo:v:33:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s00550-025-00564-2. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.