Operational Circular Economy Criteria for SMEs

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This report is based on a study commissioned by the public economic agency of the Brussels-Capital Region. It suggests an approach for local and regional authorities to recognise circular companies while taking into consideration the fact that circular economy is de facto plural and covers multilple facets. It offers a multi-criteria grid that can be fulfiled completely or partially by companies according to the reality of their activities. 3 types of criteria are illustrated:

• Good practices criteria: evaluating the implementation of various management approaches in a proven way (such as zero waste; eco-design: sustainable raw materials; short circuits; and products designed "from cradle to cradle");
• Business models: evaluating the adoption of an approach considered to be working towards the establishment of a circular economy (such as resource recovery; extension of products warranty; extension of the life of the products; product-service system; sharing platform);
• Material flow: evaluating how companies are tracing their material flows and demonstrate the low proportion of virgin materials and waste in relation to the total quantity of manipulated materials (evaluated through tonnages or via an accounting approximation).

*The full version of this report is available only for ACR+ members.