Extract

There has been an increasing interest towards measuring the environmental performance of circular economy (CE) strategies. To this end, a wide range of software tools (STs) has been developed, each one with different guidelines that rely on specific indicators and approaches to measure the environmental performance of CE strategies. An overview of this topic is, however, missing in the literature. This paper aims to address this gap by providing an updated picture of the research landscape on current indicators and STs available for measuring the environmental performance of CE at the material/product level. A scoping review is conducted to provide a comprehensive list of available STs for measuring the environmental performance of CE strategies at the material and product level, and identifying the overarching guidelines and indicators STs are based on. Findings demonstrate a comparative analysis of the benefits and weaknesses of each ST and overarching guidelines. Besides providing a list of the most common environmental assessment techniques, this scoping review explores the level of expertise required for each ST based on the STs interactions, available guidelines and learning sources. This paper contributes to the field by providing an updated picture of current STs. As the first attempt of this kind, this article reveals the availability of STs for measuring the environmental performance of CE at the material and product level, providing a fertile ground for future research. In practical terms, a comprehensive point of reference for measuring the environmental performance of CE is offered for policymakers and practitioners.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, circular economy, tools, indicators.

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