Measuring the adoption of circular economy at the company level: usefulness and applicability of the OCE index

ABSTRACT Several circular economy indicators have been proposed at the company level, but their applicability in industrial practice is limited. It is therefore necessary to assess the usefulness of existing metrics and refine their use through practical applications across different types of companies and industries. This study assesses the usability and usefulness of the Overall Circularity Effectiveness Index. The index was applied in three different companies, such as rubber, steel, and plastic companies. Then, the usability and usefulness of the index were analyzed through a qualitative assessment considering nine criteria based on the literature. The results showed the index demonstrated to be adaptable to different business, the data collection and index calculation were simple and not too time-consuming. However, the index’s usefulness can be improved concerning gaps identification and user experience. This study contributes to deep and advance CE assessment in companies due to lack on practical application of existing circular economy metrics. Graphical abstract