Integration of a circular economy metric with life cycle assessment: methodological proposal of compared agri-food products

Purpose Based on the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) as effective circular and environmental measurement tools, respectively, the purpose of this article is firstly to propose an approach in which to apply the mentioned tools to correlate circularity with environmental impacts. Secondly, it is to test and analyze the model through compared case studies and assess its applicability as an effective product circularity-environmental assessment tool. Methods To propose a methodology that correlates circularity and environmental impacts, the methodologies underlying MCI and LCA were considered the most recognized in the literature. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggestion to use complementary indicators (calculated using the LCA methodology) together with the MCI was received to obtain an in-depth analysis of the circular and environmental performance of the products. As a result, an integrated MCI-LCA methodological integration model was proposed in which compared case studies were selected in the agri-food sector since their products encompass both biological and technical materials. Results and discussion From the examination of the graphical representation patterns of the interpretation of results phase, five scenarios for the circular-environmental assessment of compared products were detected depending on the characteristics of the trend line: scenarios no. 1 and 2 where circularity led to higher environmental impacts, scenario no. 3 where circularity did not affect environmental impacts, and scenarios no. 4 and 5 where circularity led to lower environmental impacts. Compared to studies in the current literature, the added value of the application of the proposed model was to allow a comprehensive and holistic assessment through an innovative circular and environmental assessment panel of coupled products belonging to the same product category. Conclusions What the authors expected from the principles of the proposed model and the results achieved make the model applicable. Environmental Product Declarations of coupled products were used as an information source for both circular and environmental evaluations. Circularity did not always lead to a reduction of environmental impact, as it depended on the type of impact category and product. More compared case studies are required to be applied to the proposed integrated model to strengthen the assumption made in the study, determine eventual adjustments in the weighing system of the MCI methodology, and for the detected circular-environmental scenarios to try to bridge the gap of standardized regulations on circularity measurement framework, which have led to the current nonuniform indicator approaches.