Highlights Indicators are useful to support circular economy progress. Circular economy has different definitions entailing challenges for indicators. A classification framework to understand what indicators measure is proposed. Most of the analysed indicators focus on the preservation of materials. None of the analysed indicators focuses on the preservation of functions.

Purpose This paper explains in details the rationale behind the choice of the end-of-life allocation approach in the European Commission Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organisational Environmental Footprint (OEF) methods. The end-of-life allocation formula in the PEF/OEF methods aims at enabling the assessment of all end-of-life scenarios possible, including recycling, reuse, incineration (with heat recovery) and disposal for both open-and closed-loop systems in a consistent and reproducible way. It presents how the formula builds on existing standards and how and why it deviates from them. Methods Various end-of-life allocation approaches and formulas, mainly taken not only from/based on existing environmental impact assessment methods and/or standards but also one original linearly degressive approach, were analysed against a predetermined set of criteria, reflecting the overall aim of the PEF/OEF methods. This

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