Development of a Circular Economy Index for a Pavement Management System

A pavement management system (PMS) is crucial to providing the best services for the transportation of freights and people while concerning the environment and waste management. The concept of circular economy has emerged in the PMS, especially in pavement materials. However, there has not been a holistic circular economy perspective into all phases of the PMS to date. The main aim of this study is to develop a PMS index under the umbrella of the circular economy concept. First, PMS phases are defined based on their relation to the circular economy. After that, circular economy indices are introduced for each PMS phase. Finally, a universal circular economy index is proposed using a weighted summation of indices introduced for each phase, and its application is presented through a case study. It is concluded that by applying the data required for circular economy assessment, each PMS can be evaluated using the proposed index.