Key performance indicator system for evaluating the circular economy along the value chain

Climate change, growing consumer awareness of sustainability, and legislation require companies to abandon the linear economy. This "make-take-waste" model is being replaced by the circular economy (CE), which minimizes resource use by reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling materials and products. The transformation requires circular products and new processes involving value-creation partners along the value chain. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential to monitoring the success of this transformation. Initial approaches to assessing company circularity exist but are limited to post-consumer or post-industrial material without considering the entire value chain. Economic and ecological indicators are often not related and are developed specifically for use cases. There is no overarching KPI system for evaluating the circularity of the entire value chain. To create such a KPI system, the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) was applied, supported by a systematic literature review (SLR), and validated through feedback from an industrial application. The KPI system helps companies along the value chain assess their circularity and monitor the transformation process. For researchers, it provides an overview of previous work and serves as a basis for in-depth studies on the management of the circular economy.