In recent years, Circular Economy (CE) has become a popular topic on policy agendas as a promising, innovative avenue to enhance resource efficiency and economic prosperity. Thanks to a determined encouragement by the European Union, the measurement and assessment of circularity performances are starting to catch up at various levels. However, there is not yet any suitable method or assessment tool that allows to properly address the sustainability of circularity for decision-making at an organisation and government/regional levels. To find a solution to this problem, the idea of integration of methods, indicators, and assessments became popular to abate the shortcomings of single-method applications. In such a rapidly changing research environment where new attempts are being made to better assess the sustainability of circular processes, the misplaced use of assessment methods and tools has become quite an issue amongst practitioners. To address such a risk, this paper attempts to detect, through a critical literature review, which are the existing CE-based sustainability assessment method combinations proposed in the literature. Through a rigorous analysis based on the key findings from the review, we devise a set of matrices that could serve as a positioning framework to help practitioners (stakeholders, policymakers, businesses) in their selection of the right tools and methods for measuring their sustainable transition towards a CE pattern.

This paper argues that attempts to mitigate rebound effects within growth-orientated economic systems are self-defeating. This arises because rebound effects contribute to economic expansion and individual 'welfare' improvements (i.e., they are welcome and even desirable) and they flourish in traditional market systems where resource allocation is conducted in an ex-post fashion. As such, in the context of the transition towards more sustainable societies, we suggest that ex-ante economic planning and coordination mechanisms are needed to help eliminate rebound effects. Specifically, we argue that mechanisms adopted in contemporary supply chains demonstrate the technical feasibility of economic planning. Such techniques, framed within a democratic economic planning architecture, could therefore encourage moves towards a future that allows us to live within biophysical limits. An interdisciplinary research agenda is proposed to this end.

The transition to a circular economy can be undermined by rebound effects, which could mean secondary production does not fully displace virgin raw materials. So called ‘circular economy rebound’ is under examined in the academic literature and thus requires greater attention if it is to be successfully estimated and mitigated by decision and policy makers. Accordingly, this paper undertakes a systematic review of the methods that have been deployed to measure rebound effects of all types and identifies those quantitative tools that have yet to be utilised in the nascent area of circular economy rebound but which could have application in this context. In so doing, the paper also reflects on the data needs of different methods, as well as the magnitude of the different rebounds identified and potential mitigating strategies. Findings suggest clear research gaps within the rebound literature and identify areas in which estimation of the circular economy rebound specifically could benefit from this wider body of work on rebound assessment.

This paper explores the role of institutional pressures and supply chain integration in the adoption of Circular Economy practices. Using a Delphi-like approach and leveraging on a panel of 30 experts in the field of Circular Economy, this study aims to gain additional insights into how coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures can drive the implementation of circular supply chains. The findings reveal a hierarchy of institutional pressures, with coercive market and regulatory pressures having a greater impact compared to normative and mimetic pressures. Additionally, the study identifies various responses to these pressures, illustrating different trajectories towards the implementation of Circular Economy practices. Furthermore, the research investigates the role of supply chain integration. Generally, a higher level of supply chain integration can amplify the effect of institutional pressures, promoting the adoption of incremental Circular Economy practices. However, it is noteworthy to mention that supply chain integration may also hinder the adoption of more radical Circular Economy approaches, favouring the retention of linear supply chains.

Linear climate mitigation models look into aggregated economic sectors and model greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disregarding downstream value chains, making particular sectors accountable for downstream (or upstream) GHG emissions. Hence, the present climate mitigation models inconsistently account for indirect GHG emissions; underrepresent upstream and downstream value chains; do not address Circular Economy (CE) practices; do not cover resource consumption, thus not considering materials’ circularity. To provide curated policy support for decision-making for carbon neutrality and other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), models need to shift from linear to circular. To achieve this, a link between energy-climate mitigation modelling and cradle-to-cradle assessment CE analytical tools must be established. This is the core issue covered in the CO 2 NSTRUCT Horizon project (2022-2026). CO 2 NSTRUCT proposes a framework to supplement the well-established JRC-EU-TIMES model, using a highly comprehensive technological representation with CE measures. The framework will apply CE measures to the value chain of six carbon-intensive construction materials (i.e., cement, steel, brick, glass, wood, and insulation materials) and will provide new components to the JRC-EU-TIMES model, including citizen behaviour; societal impacts; rebound effects; supply and value chains. The results will be used for policy approaches integrating CE into climate change mitigation actions.

The circular economy has the potential to promote systemic change towards a sustainable future. However, the dominance of technical and market-oriented considerations has placed the circular economy as part of an eco-modernist agenda, which retains growth in gross domestic product as the overarching priority. In this context, we analyse 12 existing macroeconomic indicators, developed and implemented by governments and international organisations, and determine if they could enact alternative notions of circularity. Specifically, we focus on the performative role that indicators can play in both defining and surmounting such reductionist views, thus helping us to address the world we want to create. We find that many of these indicators are agents of the status quo, but that some could disrupt the omnipotence of GDP thereby getting the macroeconomic conditions right for a more ambitious understanding of the circular economy.

Food additives constitute an integral ingredient of food production and processing operations, as their functional properties are paramount to not only improving the organoleptic qualities but also preventing spoilage thus prolonging food products' shelf life. Despite their cardinal role in the food industry as key facilitators of global food supply and distribution, aspects related to the food additives supply chain remain an underdeveloped research area. Using as a case study a food processing company in Greece that specialises in the production of meat additives, the objective of this paper is twofold. First, to assess the environmental performance of the company's production process, identifying the main hotspots and drivers for environmental impacts by means of the Life Cycle Assessment method. Second, following the identification of employed circular economy practices, to discuss corresponding managerial implications. The latter will attempt to contribute to the enrichment of circular economy in the context of food supply chains relevant literature through exploring strategies of reducing meat additives surpluses, shading light on the underexplored yet paramount industry between the stages of food production and processing. In addition, some social considerations based on the obtained Life Cycle Assessment results will be given, to discuss the consequences of productive behaviours and to understand how they perform in the national context.

The Circular Economy aims at fostering the development of a new economic system characterised by regener-ative and cyclical flows of materials and energy. Such a paradigm shift is expected to signal an industrial transformation that will incorporate different product designs and end-of-life strategies intending to narrow, slow, and close resource loops. Within this context, the development of circular supply chains extends beyond traditional linear supplier-manufacturer-customer networks to include new actors and facilitate horizontal collaboration across different industrial sectors. The current literature has identified collaboration and coordi-nation as fundamental components of a systemic transition to a Circular Economy. Thus, it is imperative to increase the capacity of companies involved in the supply chain to share information and knowledge in order to reduce uncertainty and resource dependency. While the literature points towards the role of supply chain integration in facilitating the adoption of Circular Economy practices, this concept has typically been defined within traditional linear supply chains. As such, the objective of this paper is to critically examine the supply chain integration concept and assess its suitability for the analysis of circular supply chains. To this aim, by using the case of four real-life companies, we point to the direction of the arcs of integration as a tool that could enable the simultaneous examination of the level of integration for both forward and reverse supply chains. According to the results, three propositions are then developed based on the type and degree of supply chain integration, which pave the way for implications and future research avenues.