Economic Indicators in Water and Wastewater Sector Contributing to a Circular Economy (CE)
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Inventory and Classification of CE Indicators
3.2. CE Economic Indicators in the Water and Wastewater Sector
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Element of the CE Model | Description |
---|---|
Reduction (removal) | prevent wastewater generation in the first place by the reduction of water usage and pollution reduction at source |
Removal | application of effective technologies for the prevention of inclusion of hazardous pollutants into wastewater and removal of pollutants from water and sewage |
Reuse | reuse of wastewater as an alternative source of water supply (non-potable usage) |
Recycling | recovery or reclamation of water from wastewater for potable usage |
Recovery | recovery of resources as nutrients and energy from water-based waste |
Lanfilling | lanfilling of waste |
Rethink | rethinking how to use of resources to create a sustainable economy which is free of waste and emissions |
Programme | Thematic Area | Number of All Indicators | Number of Water-Related Indicators | Number of Economc Indicators | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
EEA. Digest indicators | 1. Climate state and impact indicators 2. Air pollutant emissions, 3. Energy indicators 4. Industrial pollution indicators 5. Land and soil indicators 6. Marine indicators 7. Outlook indicators 8. Sustainable consumption and production 9. Streamlining European biodiversity indicators 10. Transport and environment reporting mechanism 11. Water indicators 12. Water resource efficiency indicators 13. Waste indicators | 122 | 37 | 6 | [24] |
EEA. Circular economy in Europe | 1. Material input 2. Eco-design 3. Production 4. Consumption 5. Waste recycling | 18 | 0 | 0 | [29] |
EC. Raw Materials Scoreboard | 1. Raw materials in the global context 2. Competitiveness and Innovation 3. Framework conditions for mining 4. Circular economy and recycling 5. Environmental and social sustainability | 27 | 1 | 10 | [23] |
EC. Resource Efficiency Scoreboard | 1. Lead Indicator 2. Dashboard Indicators 3. Thematic indicator | 32 | 2 | 7 | [30] |
EUROSTAT. Circular Economy indicators | 1. Production and consumption 2. Waste management 3. Secondary raw materials 4. Competitiveness and innovation | 10 | 0 | 2 | [15] |
OECD. Green Growth indicators | 1. Environmental and resource productivity 2. Natural asset base 3. Environmental dimension of quality of life 4. Economic opportunities and policy responses | 153 | 17 | 56 | [31] |
Global reporting initiative (GRI) | 1. Environmental 2. Economic 3. Social | 91 | 3 | 9 | [21] |
The World Bank. Little Green data book | 1. Economic 2. Agriculture 3. Forests and biodiversity 4. Oceans 5. Energy and emissions 6. Water and sanitation 7. Environmental and health 8. National accounting aggregates | 43 | 8 | 9 | [32] |
UN. Sustainable Deve-lopment Goals | 1. No poverty 2. Zero hunger 3. Good health and well-being 4. Quality education 5. Gender equality 6. Clean water and sanitation 7. Affordable and clean energy 8. Decent work and economic growth 9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure 10. Reduce inequalities 11. Sustainable cities and communites 12. Responsible consumption and production 13. Climate action 14. Life below water 15. Life on land 16. Peace, justice and strong institutions 17. Partnership for the gols | 231 | 11 | 75 | [22] |
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) | 1. Close the Loop 2. Optimize the Loop 3. Value the Loop | 9 | 1 | 0 | [33] |
Indicator | Life Cycle Stages | Sustainability Pillars | Circular Level | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|
Circularity Measurement Toolkit (CMT) | Full life cycle | Environmental and Economic | Micro | [34,35,36] |
Improved Water Circularity Index (WCI) | Make, Recover | Environmental and Economic | Micro, Macro | [37] |
Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) | Full life cycle | Environmental | Micro, Macro | [38] |
Eco-costs Value Ratio (EVR) | Full life cycle | Economic | Micro, Macro | [39] |
Water Sustainable Development Index (WSDI) | Make | Environmental and Social | Micro, Macro | [40] |
Value-Based Resource Efficiency (VRE) | Full life cycle | Environmental and Economic | Macro | [41] |
Element of CE Model | Income (Revenues) | Expenses (Costs) | Investments (Investment Financing) |
---|---|---|---|
Unit [Euro/Year] | |||
Reduce | Net revenues from less water consumption | - | Investments in equipment for the optimization of water usage |
Reclamation (Removal) | Net revenues from sales of drinking water | Costs of water production | Investments in equipment for the water purification |
Net revenues from sales of wastewater treatment services | Costs of wastewater treatment services | Investments in equipment for the wastewater treatment | |
Reuse | Net revenues from sales of non-drinking water | Costs of non-drinking water production (costs of non-consumer water recovery) | Investments in equipment for the water reuse |
Net revenues for lower wastewater treatment services fees | |||
Net revenues from the reduced water abstraction from the waterworks | |||
Recycling | Net revenues from sales of drinking water | Costs of drinking water production (costs of consumer water recovery) | Investments in equipment for the water recycling |
Net revenues for lower wastewater treatment services fees | |||
Net revenues from the reduced water abstraction from the waterworks | |||
Recovery | Net revenues from sales of electricity | Costs of electricity production | Investments in equipment for the energy recovery |
Net revenues from the sale of fertilizers | Costs of fertilizers production | Investments in equipment for the nutrients recovery | |
Net revenues for lower wastewater treatment services fees | Costs of materials production | Investments in equipment for the materials recovery | |
Landfilling | - | fees for waste landfilling | Investments in infrastructure for waste landfilling |
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Smol, M.; Koneczna, R. Economic Indicators in Water and Wastewater Sector Contributing to a Circular Economy (CE). Resources 2021, 10, 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120129
Smol M, Koneczna R. Economic Indicators in Water and Wastewater Sector Contributing to a Circular Economy (CE). Resources. 2021; 10(12):129. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120129
Chicago/Turabian StyleSmol, Marzena, and Renata Koneczna. 2021. "Economic Indicators in Water and Wastewater Sector Contributing to a Circular Economy (CE)" Resources 10, no. 12: 129. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources10120129