Journal ArticleDOI
Performance indicators for a circular economy: A case study on post-industrial plastic waste
TLDR
In this paper, the authors developed an indicator to quantify the circular economy performance of different plastic waste treatment options, based on the technical quality of the plastic waste stream and evaluates resource consumption by using the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method.Abstract:
A linear economy approach results in many environmental challenges: resources become depleted and end up as waste and emissions. One of the key strategies to overcome these problems is using waste as a resource, i.e. evolving toward a circular economy. To monitor this transition, suitable indicators are needed that focus on sustainability issues whilst taking into account the technical reality. In this paper, we develop such an indicator to quantify the circular economy performance of different plastic waste treatment options. This indicator is based on the technical quality of the plastic waste stream and evaluates resource consumption by using the Cumulative Exergy Extraction from the Natural Environment (CEENE) method. To illustrate the use of this new indicator, it was applied in a case study on post-industrial plastic waste treatment. The results show that the indicator can be a very useful approach to guide waste streams towards their optimal valorization option, based on quality of the waste flow and the environmental benefit of the different options.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
How do scholars approach the circular economy? A systematic literature review
TL;DR: A systematic literature review exploring the state-of-the-art of academic research on circular economy (CE) is presented in this paper, where the authors examine the CE body of literature with a systematic approach, to provide an exhaustive analysis of the phenomenon with rigorous and reproducible research criteria.
Journal ArticleDOI
Circular economy indicators: What do they measure?
Gustavo Longaray Moraga,Sophie Huysveld,Fabrice Mathieux,Gian Andrea Blengini,Luc Alaerts,Karel Van Acker,Steven De Meester,Jo Dewulf +7 more
TL;DR: A classification framework to understand what indicators measure is proposed and none of the analysed indicators focuses on the preservation of functions.
Journal ArticleDOI
A taxonomy of circular economy indicators
TL;DR: This study enriches the literature by giving a first need-driven taxonomy of C-indicators, and provides a synthesis and clarification to the emerging and must-needed research theme of CE, and sheds some light on remaining key challenges like their effective uptake by industry.
Journal ArticleDOI
Towards sustainable development through the circular economy—A review and critical assessment on current circularity metrics
TL;DR: This review aims to identify the foundations of circularity metrics used so far and their applications, evaluate the validity of currentcircularity metrics, based on predefined requirements and a CE definition anchored in the sustainability concept, and provide recommendations on how to measure circularity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Circular economy performance assessment methods: A systematic literature review
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a positioning framework for measuring and assessing the circularity degree of a company, based on a systematic literature review, which are the existing CE performance assessment methods proposed in literature.
References
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BookDOI
Physical properties of polymers handbook
TL;DR: Theoretical models and simulations of polymers have been used to study the molecular dynamics of different molecular architectures and properties of polymeric networks and gels as discussed by the authors, including the properties of different types of networks.
Journal ArticleDOI
Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities
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Journal ArticleDOI
Calculation of interfacial tension in polymer systems
TL;DR: In this paper, an equation based on reciprocal mean and force additivity was proposed to calculate the interfacial tension between polymers or between a polymer and an ordinary liquid, which can be used to predict accurately the surface tension and polarity of polymers.