Towards circular economy: analysis of indicators in the context of sustainable development

Purpose – Circular economy is quite new approach in European Union in dealing with main global challenges. Circular economy evaluation system should show results that could be used by decision makers: it could be used at national, local or enterprise level. This paper analyzes how circular economy evaluation systems reflect basic circular economy principals and sustainable development components. Design/methodology/approach – analysis based on assessment whether circular economy evaluation systems do or do not include indicators of basic circular economy principles and sustainable development components. Findings – at micro and meso levels circular economy evaluation systems do not include social component indicators of sustainable development approach, even there are some systems that even do not include all basic circular economy principles. At macro level there are two evaluation systems that covers both circular economy principles and sustainable development component, but statistical data availability should be analyzed in further studies. Research limitations/implications – In European Union circular economy evaluation systems and their methodology are still developing. In Eastern Asia these evaluation systems are broadly implemented but there is a risk, that not all circular economy evaluations systems are analyzed, because of language barrier: not all Asian evaluation systems are translated into English. The analysis does not go into deep details of circular economy evaluation systems methodology. Practical implications – the findings of the research can be used in further studies and also applied by national authorities to determine actions that could be funded in order to develop more complex circular economy evaluation system that could give more holistic approach. Originality/Value – Analysis is important and valuable as circular economy evaluation systems are not analyzed by researches in a context of sustainable development. This approach to evaluation systems could lead to new and more complex evaluations systems, that could give information for decisions makers on further strategy formation.