Assessing the circularity performance in a European cross-country comparison

Abstract

Reuse and recycling are two of the most important strategies involved in the practical implementation of the circular economy (CE). Even if several indices have been defined to quantify the performance of waste management, none of them has integrated a mix of waste streams such as waste from electrical and electronic equipment, end-of-life vehicles, and municipal solid waste. The present paper proposes a new Waste Circularity Index (WCI) generated by a weighted average, with weights established through pairwise comparison using the analytic hierarchy process methodology. Nine indices (three for each waste stream) are combined, and three measurement logics are adopted. Results show that the 28 European Member States (MSs) can be clustered into six groups, with a reference to the European average. Denmark emerges as the best performer within the 2014–2018 timeframe. In addition, there are also contradicting results about certain waste streams in western MSs.