Combining Organizational Life Cycle Assessment with Company-Level Circularity Indicators: Case Study of a Vegan Zero-Waste Restaurant

The transition to a circular economy (CE) challenges organizations from different backgrounds. This research performed a combined circularity and Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (OLCA) of a certified zero-waste vegan restaurant in Brazil. The circularity assessment was carried through the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) and Waste Hierarchy Index (WHI). Three scenarios were developed: Scenario 1 characterizes the real operations of the organization; Scenario 2 adds meat and dairy to the menu, and Scenario 3 disregards all circular practices applied by the restaurant. Scenario 1 performed better in eight out of nine impact categories assessed (ex: the carbon footprint of a regular restaurant was 26% higher than the reported organization). OLCA results point at the environmental benefit of following a plant-based menu and applying circular practices in the case of the targeted organization. CTI characterized the three scenarios as being 91%, 67%, and 62% circular, respectively. These results showed that avoiding meat and dairy, procuring agroecological food options, and implementing practices such as reuse, recycling, and composting directly improve the overall circularity of the system. WHI results were 51% for Scenarios 1 and 2, and -83% for Scenario 3, pointing at a drastic change in waste hierarchy through redirecting waste to different pathways other than the sanitary landfill. Due to the large variety of inputs needed by the restaurants, the production and procurement of goods were appointed as the main impact driver in all three methodologies. The influence of dietary changes, localism, and CE-related waste management practices is stressed in discussions of the article. Our research innovates by combining life cycle and circularity assessments at the organizational scale. This integrated approach equips decision-makers to understand the circularity, waste hierarchy, and environmental impacts of their business through a unified methodology. Future studies could bring our approach to other sectors and companies.