Circular supply chain partnership performance indicators in the paint and coating industry using a sustainable balanced scorecard framework

Circular supply chains depend on collaboration among manufacturers, suppliers, and downstream partners, yet many industries still lack partnership-level performance measures that can guide the shift from linear “take–make–dispose” practices to circular operations. This study develops and validates a set of circular partnership performance indicators for the paint and coatings sector using a sustainable balanced scorecard logic. An expert-based hybrid approach was applied in the Indian paint and coatings industry to screen indicators from the literature and to model their cause–and–effect relationships. The results validate 23 indicators across six perspectives and show that resource and energy efficiency, financial strategy, and technology competency act as key drivers that shape stakeholder transparency, internal strategy, and risk management. The validated indicators provide a practical basis for monitoring circular supply chain partnerships and for prioritising capability-building efforts when firms face limited resources. The driving indicators that propel the CSC partnership to the practitioners include resource cycling, reduction of costs, quality enhancement, value co-creation, integration of technology, and the innovation that is green.