Circular Economy Indicators in Policy Practice: Bridging Informational Needs and Expanding Systemic Coverage

Editors: Luc Alaerts¹, Karel Van Acker^1,2, Hanne Vrebos^1,3, Michiel Pauwels^1,2,4, Sofie Férauge¹, An Vercalsteren⁴, Wim Van Opstal⁴

Keywords: Circular Economy Governance, Policy Indicators, Information Systems, Policy Cycle Analysis, Indicator Design, Stakeholder Engagement, Decoupling, Footprint-Based Assessment, Multi-Level Policy

Aim of Special Issue

The circular economy has firmly established itself as a central policy objective from the international to the local level, and governments at all levels are widely recognised as key actors in steering this transition through target setting, policy design and evaluation. Yet despite sustained policy attention, progress towards a circular economy remains limited, suggesting that current policy instruments, including monitors, indicators and targets, are not yet adequately supporting transformative policy action. This special issue responds to that gap by examining circular economy indicators through an information perspective, addressing two central and interrelated avenues.

The first avenue concerns the alignment of indicators with policymakers' informational needs and with policy processes themselves. Many indicators originate from academic research or knowledge institutions and, while conceptually sound, remain insufficiently connected to decision-making contexts, institutional constraints and the stages of the policy cycle. The implicit assumption that such indicators would automatically guide policy once data became available has proven unrealistic; effective application is further complicated when relevant data are non-monetary. Instead, indicator design and use need to be understood from an information system perspective, shaped from the outset by the information requirements of policymakers across agenda setting, design, implementation and evaluation.

The second avenue concerns the systemic scope of indicators already embedded in policy. Many of these remain centred on waste and resource-efficiency parameters, reflecting a longer-standing institutional focus on waste management. Such indicators can support incremental improvements but are less suited to informing the broader transformations associated with a circular economy. Expanding indicator frameworks to capture systemic effects cannot be treated as a purely conceptual exercise. Indicators that are analytically robust but disconnected from policy operationalisation risk repeating the same disconnect this issue seeks to address.

Crucially, these two avenues are not pursued independently. More holistic, systemic indicators will only contribute meaningfully to policy if their alignment with policymaking is considered from the onset of their development, rather than added retrospectively to indicators designed as a data-first exercise. Contributions are invited that critically examine how circular economy indicators are designed, interpreted and used, and that explore new approaches to developing indicator systems capable of structuring policy processes, informing decisions and enabling accountability.

Themes and Topics

We welcome theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions that address one or both of the following thematic avenues.

1. Circular Economy indicators and Policy Information Needs

This theme focuses on the relationship between indicator development and policy practice, with particular attention to the informational dimension of circular economy governance.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

• - Analysis of information needs across the policy cycle, including policy design, implementation and evaluation;
• - Approaches to information requirements gathering and their implications for indicator design;
• - The role of indicators within policy processes, including agenda setting, target setting and performance management;
• - Institutional and political dynamics shaping the uptake and use of indicators;
• - Stakeholder mobilisation, interpretation and contestation of indicators in policy contexts;
• - The application of concepts from information systems research, including information architectures, affordances and action design research, to circular economy monitoring;
• - Case studies that analyse successes and failures in the integration of indicators into policy practice.

2. Expanding the Scope of Circular Economy Indicators

This theme addresses the conceptual and empirical limitations of current indicator systems and explores pathways towards more comprehensive and transformative metrics, while keeping the connection with operationalisation at the side of policy makers.

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

• - Critical assessment of existing indicator frameworks and their ability to capture circular economy performance;
• - Development of indicators that go beyond efficiency and recycling metrics towards systemic effectiveness;
• - Integration of footprint based approaches and global perspective into circular economy monitoring;
• - Indicators for decoupling, sufficiency and absolute reductions in material use;
• - Linking circular economy indicators to broader societal outcomes, including wellbeing and resilience;
• - Embedding indicators within institutional frameworks, including target setting and monitoring systems;
• - The role of modelling approaches, including stock flow modelling and scenario analysis, in supporting indicator development and interpretation;
• - Multi-level and cross-sectoral indicator systems, including local, regional and international applications.

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ESEE 2026 Conference

For those attending the European Society for Ecological Economics 2026 conference, there will be a corresponding open special session 1.6: “Rethinking Circular Economy Metrics: Towards Greater Societal and Policy Relevance”, within the conference track: Conceptual and Methodological Advances in Circular Economy Monitoring and Indicators. More information about the conference can be found here.

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Contribution Types

Submissions are invited in the following formats:

• - Perspectives (critical or forward-looking perspectives on indicator design and policy alignment)
• - Methodological contributions (frameworks, tools or approaches for developing, applying or evaluating indicators)
• - Empirical case studies (analyses of indicator use, uptake or impact within specific policy contexts)
• - Comparative analyses (cross-country, cross-sectoral or cross-level comparisons of indicator systems)

Interdisciplinary approaches connecting environmental science, economics, public policy and information systems are particularly encouraged.

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Submission Guidelines

Extended Abstract should be submitted by emailing Luc Alaerts at luc.alaerts@kuleuven.be

Full manuscripts should be submitted via the journal’s online system, selecting “Circular Economy Indicators in Policy Practice: Bridging Informational Needs and Expanding Systemic Coverage”.

All submissions must adhere to the Journal of Circular Economy’s guidelines and terms including publication fees. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the journal’s author guidelines. Submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. Both conceptual and empirical papers are welcome.

Format and word count

Review Articles: 4,500–6,000 words

Research Articles: 3,500–6,000 words

Case Studies / Comparative Analyses: 3,500–5,000 words

Perspectives: 800–1,000 words

All word counts exclude tables, illustrations, and references.

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Submission Deadlines

Call for abstracts opens: 1 July 2026 

Extended abstracts due (500–750 words): 15 September 2026 

Notifications of accepted abstracts: 15 October 2026 

Full papers due: 31 January 2027

Expected publication: 31 July 2027 (rolling publication upon acceptance)

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Contact

Questions: editor@circulareconomyjournal.org & luc.alaerts@kuleuven.be

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