Conceptualising Circular economy performance with non-traditional valuation methods: Lessons for a post-Pandemic recovery

ABSTRACT

The circular economy (CE) has gained importance in the post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Businesses, while realising the CE benefits, have challenges in justifying and evaluating the CE benefits using available performance measurement tools, specifically when considering sustainability and other non-traditional benefits. Given the rising institutional pressures for environmental and social sustainability, we argue that organisations can evaluate their CE implementation performance using non-market-based environmental goods valuation methods. Further, the effectiveness of the CE performance measurement model can be enhanced to support supply chain sustainability and resilience through an ecosystem of multi-stakeholder digital technologies that include a range of emerging technologies such as blockchain technology, the internet-of-things (IoT), artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and tracking technologies. Accordingly, a CE performance measurement model (CEPMM) is conceptualised and exemplified using seven COVID-19 disruption scenarios to provide insights that can be addressed through CE practices. Analyses and implications are presented along with areas for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• For indexing: sustainability
• circular economy
• performance measurement
• logistics
• COVID-19
• digitization
• Environmental Economics

Acknowledgments

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For more details about the ReSOLVE framework, please refer: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications/delivering-the-circular-economy-a-toolkit-for-policymakers).