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Measure circularity by first defining the system and decision you are assessing, then documenting the boundary, period, data, indicators, assumptions and limitations. Use a product material-flow method such as the Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) when the question concerns what enters a product and what happens to it after use. Use an organization-level framework such as the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI), the Global Circularity Protocol for Business (GCP) or the ISO 59020 framework when management needs to understand operations, strategy, value-chain flows and performance.
No single circularity score is a complete sustainability assessment. Circularity indicators should be accompanied by relevant climate, nature, social and economic measures, with the method and exclusions disclosed so another person can reproduce and interpret the result.
What circularity measurement actually measures
Circularity measurement describes how materials, products, components, services and business activities retain value and reduce dependence on virgin resource extraction and waste. The word “circularity” does not identify one universal variable. A product score can describe material inputs and end-of-life routes while saying little about a company’s repair strategy, worker outcomes or total greenhouse-gas emissions. A business framework can cover those management questions but may not provide the same product-level detail.
The first question is therefore not “Which score should we use?” It is “What decision must this measurement support?” A design team may need to compare recycled and virgin inputs. Procurement may need evidence about supplier traceability. An executive team may need to prioritize reuse, repair, lifetime extension or recycled sourcing across a portfolio. A reporting team may need indicators aligned with a disclosure requirement. Each use case can require a different unit of assessment and indicator set.
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ISO’s current working-draft description captures the discipline required: a framework should guide users through “system boundary setting and choice of indicators, as well as processing and interpreting data in a consistent and reproducible manner to generate meaningful and verifiable results.” In practice, a score without its boundary, date, method version and data-quality explanation is not a reliable basis for comparison.
Start with the unit of assessment and the decision
Write a one-sentence assessment brief before collecting data. It should name the object, the decision, the reporting period and the intended audience. For example: “Compare the material circularity of two versions of this appliance for design approval using data for the 2026 production year.” That statement prevents a product calculation from being presented as a company-wide result.
| Unit of assessment | Typical decision | Methods that may fit | What it will not answer by itself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single product or component | Choose materials, design for disassembly, or compare end-of-life routes | Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) | Whether the whole company has a circular strategy or positive social outcomes |
| Product family or portfolio | Prioritize redesign and compare offerings | MCI applied consistently across products; a business framework for portfolio context | Detailed impacts outside the defined products and flows |
| Business unit or organization | Set operational targets, prioritize actions and communicate performance | CTI, GCP or an ISO 59020-based assessment | A definitive product-level score for every item unless product data are collected |
| Regional, interorganizational or wider system | Assess networks, infrastructure or policy interventions | ISO 59020 framework when applicable, with complementary impact methods | Fine-grained management actions inside one company without additional data |
Define whether the assessment covers one site, all owned sites, a legal entity, a business line, contracted operations, suppliers, customers or post-use partners. State whether figures describe a calendar year, financial year, product lifetime, sales cohort or another period. Keep the unit and period stable when comparing results; otherwise, a changed boundary can look like improved circularity.
Choose a method that matches the question
Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) for products and portfolios
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation describes MCI as a free, Excel-based tool for measuring the circularity of a product’s material flows. It examines inputs—what a product is made from and where components come from—and outputs—what happens to those materials at end of life. A company can compare products or portfolios and aggregate results to company level, but the underlying measure remains focused on material flows.
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MCI is suitable when a design, procurement or portfolio question can be answered with traceable material-input and end-of-life data. It does not, on its own, represent every business enabler, social effect, environmental impact or economic result.
Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) for business performance
WBCSD designed CTI as a quantitative framework for assessing circular performance at business level. The v3.0 page, published 11 May 2022, added a method for measuring the greenhouse-gas-reduction impact of recycled sourcing, two indicators related to lifetime extension and guidance for prioritizing scale-up actions. That page also identifies an online CTI tool developed with Circular IQ.
WBCSD’s v4.0 page, published 30 May 2023, presents CTI as a way to quantify and communicate climate and nature benefits and identify operational actions that can increase circularity. Because editions and online services can change, record the CTI edition, publication date and tool version used. Do not mix indicators from different editions without explaining the change.
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Global Circularity Protocol for Business (GCP) for integrated assessments
WBCSD published GCP v1.0 on 11 November 2025 with the UNEP-hosted One Planet Network. Its stepwise process is to frame, prepare, measure, manage and communicate progress. The protocol can be applied at material, product or business level and addresses material flows alongside impacts across climate, nature, equity and business performance.
WBCSD reports that more than 150 experts from 80 organizations contributed to development. It also describes alignment with CTI, GRI, ISO 59020, ESRS, IFRS S1/S2 and the GHG Protocol. Alignment does not make indicators automatically interchangeable: map definitions, boundaries and calculation rules before combining results.
ISO 59020 and its current working draft
ISO’s page lists ISO/WD 59020, Edition 2, as under development and says it is intended to replace ISO 59020:2024. The working draft covers mandatory and optional indicators and a process for defining boundaries, selecting indicators, processing data and interpreting results consistently. Its stated scope ranges from regional and interorganizational systems to organizations and products.
The page gives 4 March 2026 for project approval and registration, 10 July 2026 for working-draft study initiation and 4 September 2026 for the close of the comment period. Those dates describe a work-in-progress, not a published replacement standard. Check the current ISO status before citing Edition 2 as a requirement or certification basis.
Circulytics as a historical indicator resource
Circulytics organized indicators into Enablers and Outcomes, with themes including strategy, innovation, people and skills, operations, external engagement, products and materials, services, assets, water, energy and finance. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that submissions to its platform closed on 31 August 2023 and that it no longer offers the performance assessment. Its resources can still inform indicator collection, but Circulytics should not be described as an open assessment service.
Comparison of the principal options
| Option | Primary level | Core emphasis | Current status identified |
|---|---|---|---|
| MCI | Product or portfolio | Material inputs and end-of-life outputs | Excel-based tool; methodology update noted in 2019 |
| CTI | Business | Quantitative circular performance and operational actions | v4.0 published 30 May 2023; verify latest tool materials |
| GCP | Material, product or business | Flows, impacts and communication through a five-stage process | v1.0 published 11 November 2025 |
| ISO 59020 | System, organization or product | Boundary setting, indicator choice, processing and interpretation | ISO/WD 59020 Edition 2 under development; not yet the published replacement |
| Circulytics | Business | Enablers and Outcomes across organizational themes | Platform submissions closed 31 August 2023; reference resources remain |
These options answer different questions. A company may use MCI for a product redesign and CTI or GCP for the management system around that product. Present the outputs as complementary evidence, not as scores that can be averaged into a universal ranking.
A practical measurement workflow
1. Name the decision and assessment unit
Specify the product, portfolio, business unit, legal entity or wider system. Identify the decision owner and what action a result should trigger. A result that cannot change a design, purchasing choice, target, investment or disclosure is likely collecting more data than it can use.
2. Set the boundary and reporting period
List included materials, sites, operations, value-chain stages, products, suppliers, customers and post-use flows. State exclusions and explain why they were necessary. Record the period and whether data are measured over production, sales, use or product lifetime. If a boundary changes between years, show the old and new boundaries rather than presenting an unadjusted trend.
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3. Select indicators and a method version
Use MCI for a defined material-flow question. For organizational performance, evaluate CTI and GCP against the company’s management and reporting needs, and check applicable sector requirements. For a system-wide assessment, examine whether the ISO framework is appropriate. Write down mandatory, optional and locally added indicators. Never label a locally invented ratio as CTI, MCI or an ISO indicator.
4. Build a traceable data register
For every input and output, record the data owner, source, unit, period, geographic or facility scope, estimation method and quality rating. Keep invoices, bills of materials, production records, supplier declarations, waste-transfer documents and take-back records connected to the line item they support. Distinguish measured data from estimates and avoid hiding missing information inside a single precise-looking number.
5. Calculate without losing definitions
Use the selected method’s instructions and preserve the original calculation file. Store intermediate values, conversion factors, allocation rules and exclusions. If one material serves several products, document the allocation basis. If a supplier reports a recycled-content percentage without explaining whether it is mass balance, physical recycled content or another claim, record that limitation rather than silently treating the values as equivalent.
6. Interpret change and uncertainty
Explain what drove a change: material substitution, longer life, greater reuse, improved collection, a new supplier, better data or a boundary revision. Identify which conclusions are robust and which depend on assumptions. A higher circularity indicator can coexist with higher energy use, toxicity, land pressure or social risk; the indicator does not settle those questions.
7. Turn findings into managed actions
Assign an owner, target date and evidence requirement to each priority. Examples include redesigning a component for disassembly, negotiating verified secondary-material supply, establishing a repair service, improving return logistics or closing a data gap. Recalculate on a defined schedule and preserve the prior method so performance changes remain interpretable.
What data a credible assessment needs
Material inputs
Capture material type, mass or another stated unit, origin, recycled or renewable share where relevant, component location and supplier or site. For biological-origin materials, confirm that the chosen method handles them consistently; the MCI methodology update in 2019 specifically expanded its scope to include them.
Product life and use-stage information
Where lifetime extension is part of the decision, document expected service life, repair, refurbishment, upgrade, sharing or second-use pathways and the evidence supporting those assumptions. Do not claim that a product lasts longer merely because it is technically repairable; distinguish design potential from observed or contractually supported use.
End-of-life outputs
Separate reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling, composting or other recovery routes from disposal. Identify the receiving process and geography where that affects the result. A take-back promise is not the same as a recorded flow, so report the difference between intended and evidenced outcomes.
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Organizational enablers and outcomes
Business frameworks may require information about strategy, investment, skills, operations, external engagement, services, assets, water, energy and finance. Keep these management indicators distinct from physical material-flow results. The separation helps readers see whether a company has the capability to improve circularity and whether that capability is producing measurable outcomes.
Circularity is not the same as sustainability impact
Circularity indicators describe movement toward circular principles; they do not automatically quantify total environmental, social or economic impact. ISO identifies complementary methods for those impact categories. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s reporting guidance calls for progress across three circular-economy principles: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials at their highest value, and regenerating nature.
For a climate decision, add an appropriate greenhouse-gas assessment. For nature, consider relevant land, water, biodiversity or pollution measures. For social performance, examine labor, equity, health and community effects. For economic performance, use measures suited to revenue, cost, resilience, jobs or investment. GCP explicitly frames impacts across climate, nature, equity and business performance, but the circularity result still needs to show which impact methods were used and which were outside scope.
Reporting results so they can be used
Put the score or indicator in a short results panel, then place the method information next to it rather than in an inaccessible appendix. At minimum, report:
- Assessment unit, organizational scope and geography.
- Boundary, reporting period and lifecycle stages included.
- Method name, edition or version and calculation date.
- Indicator definitions, units and aggregation rules.
- Data sources, estimates, allocation choices and uncertainty.
- Excluded flows and the reason for each exclusion.
- Results, comparison baseline and the management action they inform.
- Complementary climate, nature, social or economic measures where material to the decision.
Choose the metric set for the audience. A 2025 Ellen MacArthur Foundation resource, developed with input from the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, identifies seven benefit areas and more than 50 possible metrics for circular business models. It emphasizes that the appropriate mix depends on the audience, business model and strategy. That is a menu, not a universal scorecard.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A worked example without pretending to have a universal score
Imagine a manufacturer assessing a refillable household container. The design team wants to compare two material options; operations wants to know whether collection is viable; the board wants a company-level target. These are three decisions, so one number would be misleading.
- The design team defines each container as the unit, lists every material and supplier, and uses MCI to compare input and end-of-life flows for the same reporting period.
- Operations documents actual return rates, cleaning capacity, losses and the geography covered. It reports intended routes separately from evidenced routes.
- Management uses CTI or GCP to examine the wider business: sourcing, lifetime extension, services, operational actions, impacts and governance.
- The report links the product result to climate and nature measures and identifies data gaps, such as uncertain collection outcomes in a new market.
- Next year’s comparison keeps the boundary and method stable or clearly explains every change.
This approach lets each audience act on relevant evidence without presenting a product material-flow result as proof that the entire business is sustainable.
Common mistakes and how to correct them
Using a product score as a company score
Problem: One product has favorable material flows, so the company claims circularity. Correction: label the result as product or portfolio circularity and use a business framework for organization-wide claims.
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Changing the boundary to improve the trend
Problem: A site, supplier or lifecycle stage disappears from the denominator. Correction: publish the boundary change, recalculate the baseline where possible and show like-for-like and reported results separately.
Combining unlike indicators
Problem: MCI, CTI and an internal ratio are averaged as if they measured the same construct. Correction: keep each method’s result distinct and provide a qualitative interpretation of how they relate.
Confusing commitments with outcomes
Problem: A repair policy or take-back program is counted as completed circular flow. Correction: report policy, capacity, participation and verified physical outcomes as separate evidence.
Presenting a draft standard as a requirement
Problem: ISO/WD 59020 Edition 2 is cited as though it were already published. Correction: identify it as under development and verify the status before publication or assurance work.
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Problem: Circulytics is presented as an available submission platform. Correction: state that submissions closed on 31 August 2023 and use remaining resources only as reference material.
Keeping the measurement current
Frameworks, tools and online services change. Record access dates, document versions and preserve the files used for each reporting cycle. CTI v4.0 is the latest edition identified here, while GCP v1.0 was published in 2025 and ISO/WD 59020 Edition 2 remains a draft under development. Recheck official status before a new assessment, especially when a result will support a public claim, assurance process or regulatory filing.
Review the boundary whenever the business acquires a site, changes its product mix, outsources a process, enters a new geography or introduces a take-back model. Review indicators when the decision changes. A measurement system is useful when it remains decision-relevant and reproducible, not when it simply accumulates more metrics.
Final checklist
- Have you named the decision, audience and unit of assessment?
- Are the boundary, period, geography and lifecycle stages explicit?
- Does the selected method fit product, portfolio, business or system scope?
- Are method edition, definitions, assumptions and exclusions recorded?
- Can each material input and output be traced to an owner and source?
- Are measured values, estimates, commitments and observed outcomes separated?
- Have you explained uncertainty and any boundary change?
- Are climate, nature, social and economic impacts assessed with complementary methods where needed?
- Does every result lead to an assigned management action or decision?
- Can another analyst reproduce the calculation from the retained files?
The most defensible circularity assessment is not the one with the largest score or the longest indicator list. It is the one whose purpose, boundary, data, method and limitations are clear enough for a decision-maker to act and for another analyst to verify.
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