Circular business ranking

There are no official data sources as of yet which measure companies’ circularity performance, which is a complex endeavour. However, multiple analytical frameworks exist that can currently help businesses in capturing CE aspects. One example is the “Circulytics” approach created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This scheme, based on self-reported data, assesses: 1) factors that enable circularity (enablers, such as circularity strategies or innovation) and 2) companies’ circularity performance (outcomes, such as materials, energy, or water use). Companies can also measure their progress against specific targets. Companies, even if they are operating in different countries, are classified by world region depending on where their headquarters are located.

While a comparison of circularity performance between different years is not yet possible due to missing data, some selected results are available on the Circulytics website. Globally, 1,265 companies have signed up to complete a Circulytics assessment (60% headquartered in Europe) and 194 have completed their assessment (72% headquartered in Europe) (before August 2021, last data update). European companies perform slightly better in the “enablers” category (score: B-) than in the “outcomes” category (score: C-). This implies that many European companies are already engaged in developing critical aspects such as circularity strategies and innovations, but they are not yet fully advanced with regard to e.g., how products and materials or water are being used. Once data for additional years for a large number of companies have been published, this data might be used to track the circularity performance of EU companies over time.

To transition to a more circular economy, companies must embrace circularity across their entire chain of operations. Measuring and disclosing companies’ circularity could help improve their performance. It could also help consumers choose more circular products, in turn incentivising businesses, and creating a virtuous circle of increased circularity. This indicator informs about the number of companies that have signed up for and / or have completed a circularity assessment and provides first insights about their circularity performance, based on data from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 

From 2024 onwards, under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), large companies in the EU will need to publicly disclose information on resource use and circularity, among other environmental and social aspects. Once entering into force, the CSRD reporting standard may provide a powerful source of data and information, in a digital and machine-readable format, to measure companies’ circularity performance.