Circular bioeconomy indicators for utilization of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste

For a sustainable development it is necessary to promote the actions inherent to circular economy (CE), such as the proper management and use of municipal solid waste (MSW) including its organic fraction (OFMSW) to obtain products with commercial relevance. Nonetheless, the criteria and metrics to evaluate circularity of products and processes present a variety of forms and references, and in some cases, they lack a clear methodological framework that allows to apply them in a concrete way in circular bioeconomy (CBE), what means the treatment of materials of biological origin through bioprocesses. In this work, we critically reviewed the published indicators that are used to evaluate the CE processes to collect the appropriate indicators for their application in circular bioeconomy systems, particularly those that involve the treatment of the OFMSW. These indicators can be quantitative or qualitative and provide decision makers with elements on economics, environment, society, and productive efficiency aspects. The group of selected indicators from our review process consists of 17 metrics and indicators that were chosen regarding the relevance of the variables they involve and their potential for application to OFMSW treatment bioprocesses. This study is a contribution to the organization of the existing technical information on this type of indicators and provides useful information for a conceptual framework that fosters the progress of the circular bioeconomy and its application to OFMSW.