Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States

Abstract The major purpose of this research is to empirically assess the level of the circular economy in the EU Member States. The empirical research revealed that the major criteria for assessing the level of the circular economy in the EU, according to the experts, are material footprint, patents...

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Main Authors: Rita Remeikienė, Ligita Gasparėnienė, Justina Bankauskienė
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-07-01
Series:Discover Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00719-z
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author Rita Remeikienė
Ligita Gasparėnienė
Justina Bankauskienė
author_facet Rita Remeikienė
Ligita Gasparėnienė
Justina Bankauskienė
author_sort Rita Remeikienė
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The major purpose of this research is to empirically assess the level of the circular economy in the EU Member States. The empirical research revealed that the major criteria for assessing the level of the circular economy in the EU, according to the experts, are material footprint, patents related to waste management and recycling, and material import dependency, while intra EU trade and private investment in the circular economy sector are considered least important. All the methods indicated Germany as the EU leader in the area of circular economy, Italy and the Netherlands also being high rated. The lowest ranks were estimated for Bulgaria, Romania, Finland and Estonia, which could improve their situation by adopting the best practices of the leading countries (e.g. use innovative business models at the stage of product development, strengthen cooperation between business companies, governmental agencies, NGOs and academic communities). Research limitations: subjective nature of the expert evaluation, which could lead to different indicator weights if similar research is conducted in other countries; insufficiency of the statistical data.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2662-9984
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Springer
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spelling doaj-art-2e6f5598fa264f5082d96f2b1d4d2cf82025-08-20T03:42:19ZengSpringerDiscover Sustainability2662-99842025-07-016111910.1007/s43621-024-00719-zAssessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member StatesRita Remeikienė0Ligita Gasparėnienė1Justina Bankauskienė2Mykolas Romeris universityMykolas Romeris universityMykolas Romeris UniversityAbstract The major purpose of this research is to empirically assess the level of the circular economy in the EU Member States. The empirical research revealed that the major criteria for assessing the level of the circular economy in the EU, according to the experts, are material footprint, patents related to waste management and recycling, and material import dependency, while intra EU trade and private investment in the circular economy sector are considered least important. All the methods indicated Germany as the EU leader in the area of circular economy, Italy and the Netherlands also being high rated. The lowest ranks were estimated for Bulgaria, Romania, Finland and Estonia, which could improve their situation by adopting the best practices of the leading countries (e.g. use innovative business models at the stage of product development, strengthen cooperation between business companies, governmental agencies, NGOs and academic communities). Research limitations: subjective nature of the expert evaluation, which could lead to different indicator weights if similar research is conducted in other countries; insufficiency of the statistical data.https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00719-zCircular economyCircular economy indicatorsMultiple-criteria methodsEuropean Union
spellingShingle Rita Remeikienė
Ligita Gasparėnienė
Justina Bankauskienė
Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States
Discover Sustainability
Circular economy
Circular economy indicators
Multiple-criteria methods
European Union
title Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States
title_full Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States
title_fullStr Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States
title_full_unstemmed Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States
title_short Assessment of the circular economy indicators in the EU Member States
title_sort assessment of the circular economy indicators in the eu member states
topic Circular economy
Circular economy indicators
Multiple-criteria methods
European Union
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-024-00719-z
work_keys_str_mv AT ritaremeikiene assessmentofthecirculareconomyindicatorsintheeumemberstates
AT ligitagaspareniene assessmentofthecirculareconomyindicatorsintheeumemberstates
AT justinabankauskiene assessmentofthecirculareconomyindicatorsintheeumemberstates