What type of study is this?

This is a Systematic Review study.

September 18, 2025Open Access

Measuring Circular Economy with Data Envelopment Analysis: A Systematic Literature Review

СРСветлана РатнерPeoples' Friendship University of Russia ALAndrey V. LychevNational University of Science and Technology EMElisaveta D. MuravlevaNational University of Science and Technology

Key Points

DEA models highlight strengths and weaknesses in assessing circular economy strategies, including recycling and recovery.
Analysis of 151 articles reveals that over 40% focus on China, indicating regional research disparities.
The review categorizes methodologies and evaluation criteria used in measuring circular economy performance.
Despite extensive literature on DEA approaches, critical evaluations remain scarce in the research landscape.

Abstract

This article presents a systematic literature review of data envelopment analysis (DEA) models used to evaluate circular economy (CE) practices. The review is based on 151 peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2024. By analyzing this collection, this review categorizes different DEA models and their levels of application, discusses the data sources utilized, and identifies the prevailing methodologies and evaluation criteria used to measure the CE performance. Despite the extensive literature on measuring the circular economy using DEA, a critical evaluation of existing DEA approaches that highlights their strengths and weaknesses is still missing. Our analysis shows that DEA models provide valuable insights when assessing circular strategies, namely, R2—Reduce, R8—Recycling, and R9—Recovering. Over 40% of the surveyed literature focuses on China, with nearly 20% on the European Union. Other regions are sparsely represented within our sample, highlighting a potential gap in the current research landscape.

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