A Standards-Guided Approach for Formalizing Product Circularity Assessment Metrics

Published

July 3, 2025

Author(s)

Junwon Ko, Sandwana Sneethan, Gisele Bortolaz Guedes, Fazleena Badurdeen, I.S. Jawahir, Buddhika Hapuwatte, Katherine Morris

Abstract

The industrial transition towards a more sustainable Circular Economy (CE) emphasizes the need for products that align with CE principles and robust methods for assessing their circularity performance. However, ambiguities between metrics vs. indicators are not yet addressed in the current discussion of product circularity assessment (PCA). Most PCA methods also lack clarity in the metrics used, including their selection and description, which leads to confusion and limited industry adoption. To address these gaps, this paper proposes clear definitions for indicators and metrics and adapts standards to establish a structured approach for developing PCA metrics. This process involves establishing the objective or purpose of each metric, identifying candidate metrics from literature sources or existing PCA methods, and defining them with detailed context (e.g., description, formula, range) and content information (e.g., notes, references, standards/guidelines). To effectively compile and communicate the developed metrics, an Excel-based database consisting of attributes, indicators, and metrics (AIM) was developed and presented. The results highlight the identification and characterization of over 80 relevant metrics for measuring product circularity, organized under the AIM database with sufficient detail. The standards-guided approach and database proposed in this paper formalize the development of metrics for PCA and aid data collection processes, enhancing their practical application in the industry. The findings in this paper further contribute to the successful transition toward product-level CE.

Proceedings Title

Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering: Proceedings of 20th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing

Conference Dates

October 9-11, 2024

Conference Location

Binh Duong, VN

Conference Title

20th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93891-7_95

Local Download

Keywords

Circular economy, Product circularity, Indicators, Metrics

Citation

Ko, J. , Sneethan, S. , Bortolaz Guedes, G. , Badurdeen, F. , Jawahir, I. , Hapuwatte, B. and Morris, K. (2025), A Standards-Guided Approach for Formalizing Product Circularity Assessment Metrics, Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering: Proceedings of 20th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Binh Duong, VN, [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93891-7_95, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=958429 (Accessed July 21, 2025)