An analysis of European Union’s circular economy indicators with focus on materials: implications for the manufacturing industry

Abstract

The paper aims to emphasize the contribution that manufacturing industry can have to meet the Circular Economy (CE) scope related to the use of resources. First, we presented the CE concept and the framework in Europe, the monitoring framework and also, we noted some aspects of manufacturing industry related to CE. Then, we performed an analysis of the secondary raw material data, which is one of the representative indicators of CE, in order to see the state of circular economy related to the resources in European Union Member States. The results showed that the resource circularity is lowest in Europe, the states which can be remarked are Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium. Highlighting these aspects, some conclusions were formulated, the most evident is that the manufacturing industry has a very important role on the CE transition, consisting in the resources fact implicated. The manufacturing industry can choose to use secondary raw materials instead of virgin raw materials, can improve resource efficiency through the technologies used in production processes and can address the circularity of a product, being an important CE actor.