Determinants of Progress in Circular Economy: A Comparative Multi-Criteria Analysis of EU Member States and Türkiye with a Special Focus on Production and Consumption Indicators

Abstract

As the global population continues to grow, it is reasonable to anticipate a rise in production and consumption levels, leading to increased waste generation. With the aim of achieving sustainable development and transitioning towards a circular economy (CE), nowadays, there has been a paradigm shift away from the traditional linear economic model towards prioritizing waste management practices that emphasize the reintegration of valuable resources into the economic system. In this sense, transitioning to a CE requires substantial changes in production and consumption frameworks, prompting the EU to incorporate eight relevant criteria, including material footprint, resource productivity, and waste generation per capita, to assess countries' progress towards CE from the production and consumption perspective. To ascertain the current status of EU member states and Türkiye, this study conducts a comparative multi-criteria analysis. The results indicate that Croatia consistently ranked at the top in both analyses, followed by Latvia and Slovakia. In certain years, countries like Czechia, the Netherlands, and Spain demonstrated notable performances. On the other hand, Türkiye showed a moderate performance from 2008 to 2020, invariably hovering around the 10th position throughout much of the period.