Comparing European countries' performances in the transition towards the Circular Economy

The aim of the present research is to compare the performances of the 28 EU Member States in the period 2006-2016 in order to assess their progress towards the achievement of circular economy objectives. This study overviews the conceptual background, that informed the implemented measures so as to create an accumulation of knowledge which focuses on the one hand on Reduction, Reuse, Recycling actions, and on the other hand on the main impact areas of circular economy activities. Furthermore, the evaluation of these actions and their impacts were carried out correlating Growth Domestic Products in Purchasing Power Standards data with quantitative indicators: Produced Municipal Waste - PMW, Produced Food Waste - PFW, Municipal Waste Recycling rate - MWRr, Domestic Material Consumption - DMC, Production Material Reuse rate - PMRr, Market rate of Recyclable Raw Materials - MrRRM. These indicators allow assessing the degree of transition achieved by the member states in the implementation of circular economy. The analysis shows that different strategies were adopted by the 28 EU Member States and that only a few of these could be considered effective in meeting the challenges of the circular economy in European Union. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.