CIRCULAR ECONOMY: MEASURING INNOVATION IN THE PRODUCT CHAIN Policy Report

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment describes a circular economy as an economic system based on the reusability of products and product components, recycling of materials, and on conservation of natural resources while pursuing the creation of added value in every link of the system. [...] Measuring CE transitions requires focus on their processes and effects The evaluation of the roles of innovation and socio-institutional change in CE transitions is used to determine the type of information needed to measure the progress of CE transitions in product chains. [...] Unlike the policy evaluation scheme (applied to the policy process), here we distinguish between the process to achieve a CE transition and the effects of the CE transition process on circularity, the environment and the economy. [...] 2.1 Goals for the transition towards a circular economy The Dutch Government recently released the Government-wide CE policy programme A circular economy in the Netherlands by 2050 (Ministry of IenM, 2016a), coordinated by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, which is the successor of the former policy programme From Waste To Resources (VANG). [...] It builds on the approach of the EEA (2016b), with modifications to enable the measuring of individual product chains, and it is complemented with diagnostic questions covering the entire CE transition process and the effects on the environment and the economy.