Measuring the circular economy in Europe: Big differences among countries, great opportunities to converge

Abstract

AbstractThe main aim of this article is to analyze the circular economy (CE) transition of European countries between 2014 and 2021, using the European Commission approach of production and consumption, waste management, secondary raw materials, and competitiveness and innovation. To do so, we have built a multidimensional Circular Economy Index that classifies European countries according to their progress towards a circular economy. We used data from the Eurostat database and extracted all circular economy indicators for the EU27 countries plus Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Iceland. The time series starts in 2014 and ends in 2021 and we have used 15 variables grouped in four dimensions by means of a second order factor analysis with a Promax rotation. We have also applied a hierarchical cluster analysis to group countries by circular economy performance. Our results suggest an improvement in circular economy performance between 2014 and 2021 in Europe. We likewise find there is a ‘four‐speed Europe’ in terms of a circular economy, highlighting the good results of the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Belgium.