Developing a circular economy index to measure the macro level of circular economy implementation in Indonesia

Circular economy (CE) is an interesting approach by many countries to address global environmental problems while gaining economic benefits. The implementation of CE is expected to minimize the use of resources and materials, thus contributing to sustainable development. Much literature has discussed CE assessment indicators and their evaluation, however to date, no single indicator has been proposed that can comprehensively measure the macro level of CE implementation. This study aims to develop a CE index to measure CE implementation at macro levels. In addition, it provides an overview of the impact of CE implementation on the financial, social, and environmental aspects of the economy. To this end, first, an in-depth literature review and descriptive analysis is conducted to identify existing global CE indicators and classify them into financial, social, and environmental categories based on available primary and secondary data. Then, the CE index is constructed using a mathematical equation by considering the CE framework, a single indicator of each aspect as a variable, and the variable’s weighting. Finally, the CE index is applied to evaluate the level of CE implementation of CE in Indonesia at macro level. This index is expected to be a valuable tool for measuring CE implementation and therefore improving CE performance.