CEA’s role in developing a robust methodology for circular economy practices

By Quentin Aubert, CEA

As analysed in a previous article, within the DaCapo project, CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) is focusing on the development of a robust methodology for sustainable and circular economy practices. A key aspect of this endeavor involves devising a comprehensive set of indicators to facilitate the tracing of material flows and the measurement of sustainability and circularity in manufactured products. 

In this context, a set of recommended indicators was defined for implementation in the methodology and later in the Digital Product Passport (DPP). More than 100 indicators were extracted from existing published and peer reviewed work. Consortium partners’ suggestions were also included, according to the scope. After discussion with the DaCapo use cases, RACER (Relevant Acceptable Credible Easy Robust)-inspired criteria were used to restrict the list to 28 indicators. They follow the three sustainability pillars and the different strategies of circular economy. The following figure depicts the repartition of the indicators relative to their sustainability or circularity category.