The transition towards a circular economy in the water industry has increased the strategic importance of bioresources management, particularly in relation to renewable energy generation and sewage sludge treatment within wastewater services. Despite this relevance, techno-economic performance in bioresources activities has not been systematically assessed. To address this gap, this study introduces the Techno-Economic Bioresource Index (TEBI), a novel benchmarking indicator based on a non-radial Data Envelopment Analysis approach. The framework is applied to a sample of 50 observations operating in England and Wales. The results reveal substantial heterogeneity in performance, with TEBI values ranging from 0.124 to 1.000 and an average score of 0.76, indicating an average improvement potential of approximately 24%. Inefficiencies are found to be variable-specific rather than systemic, with energy utilization, energy export, and untreated sludge emerging as the main sources of inefficiency for several utilities. No relationship is observed between techno-economic efficiency and utility size. A super-efficiency analysis further discriminates among efficient utilities, enabling the identification of robust benchmarks. The findings demonstrate that efficient bioresources management can play a key role in supporting the transition towards a circular water industry, and that TEBI provides a transparent and operational tool to support regulatory benchmarking and evidence-based decision-making. • A synthetic index (TEBI) benchmarks techno-economic efficiency of bioresources. • First sector-wide assessment of bioresources performance in water utilities. • 24% average improvement potential identified across 50 utilities. • Inefficiencies are variable-specific, not scale-dependent. • Super-efficiency analysis identifies robust best-practice benchmarks.
Molinos-Senante et al. (Sat,) studied this question.