Understanding the Value of Data Ecosystems for Circular Economy Metrics

The Circular Economy is considered a key approach to addressing resource scarcity, rising raw material prices, and the need for more resilient value chains. However, its practical implementation is often hindered by the lack of suitable and standardized metrics, as well as by high requirements for horizontal and vertical data integration. This white paper illustrates, through selected Manufacturing-X projects, how federated data ecosystems can help establish Circular Economy metrics as an effective management instrument for growth, margin protection, and resilience. Based on literature, industrial practice, and demonstrators, Circular Economy metrics are structured into four groups: overarching assessment approaches, disassembly-related indicators, lifetime-oriented metrics, and end-of-life and recycling-focused indicators. Use cases from Construct-X, Decide4ECO, Fluid 4.0, Chem-X, and other Manufacturing-X initiatives demonstrate the benefits of data-driven approaches for product, component, and material loops. At the same time, they reveal a current lack of interoperable, cross-industry standards for both metrics and data models. The white paper concludes that data ecosystems such as Manufacturing-X are a key enabler for scaling circular business models. In particular, shared cross-sector frameworks for metrics, standardized information models based for example on the Asset Administration Shell, and the integration of circular metrics into existing systems and processes are essential. The work presented therefore marks an important step toward a data-driven and economically viable Circular Economy.