A circularity measurement toolkit for manufacturing SMEs

Garza-Reyes, Jose Arturo; Valls, Ailin Salom�; Nadeem, Simon Peter; Anosike, Anthony; Kumar, Vikas

Abstract

The development and adoption of the concept of circular economy in the last two decades have been remarkable. However, despite its widespread adoption, little progress has been made regarding its measurement, especially in manufacturing SMEs. This paper, therefore, proposes a Circularity Measurement Toolkit (CMT) which enables the assessment of the degree of circularity in manufacturing SMEs. A conceptual CMT framework, which provided the basis for the proposed tool and that defined the different types of circular practices and a classification or levels of circularity was developed from an extensive literature reviewed. To ensure the structure’s accuracy of the proposed CMT in terms of requirements to be measured, the monitoring process and actions involved, the tool was verified through a Delphi-study. Furthermore, its practicality was validated through a case study approach in a manufacturing SME. This paper contributes by filling a gap in the CE measurement field through the proposal of the CMT. Besides providing an evaluation of the degree of circularity in the practices of manufacturing SMEs, companies can also employ the proposed CMT to identify corrective actions or future efforts for the adoption of CE practices.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 11, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Dec 24, 2018
• Publication Date: Nov 26, 2019
• Deposit Date: May 23, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 25, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of Production Research
• Print ISSN: 0020-7543
• Electronic ISSN: 1366-588X
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 57
• Issue: 23
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1559961
• Keywords: circular economy, circularity, manufacturing SMEs, measurement, environmental
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/855681
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1559961
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Production Research on 24th December 2018, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2018.1559961.
• Contract Date: May 23, 2019