Redefining Waste: R-Strategies and Metrics as a Framework for Driving Progress of Circular Economy Performance

The circular economy is more than just a concept; it represents a powerful mechanism for converting linear value creation into a circular model through a comprehensive and systemic approach to sustainable development. This model can contribute to the transformation of the economy by shaping production, consumption, and disposal processes to close material loops and establish a long-term regenerative system that ensures the security of supply within planetary boundaries. Efforts are underway to promote sustainable production and consumption by influencing economic trends, establishing institutional frameworks, harmonizing environmental regulations, and raising social awareness. The primary goal of the circular economy is to improve resource efficiency. A significant body of literature on monitoring the implementation of the circular economy has identified various challenges and incentives for improving the circularity of the system. The R-framework, which includes steps such as refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycle, and recover, provides a hierarchical approach to closing material loops and achieving greater sustainability. Each step in this framework is a crucial component of a complex puzzle. This paper delves into the drivers and obstacles to the practice of the circular economy and underscores the importance of R-strategies in the context of simpler monitoring of the realized degree of circularity of the system.