Micro-level measurement of the circularity of organizations: the Italian innovative standardized approach applied to the public sector.

Purpose – This study analyses the implementation of a circularity measurement methodology at the University of Piemonte Orientale (UPO) in the early stages of the development of the UNI1608856 project “Measuring circularity - Methods and indicators for measuring circular processes in organizations”, the first attempt to assess an organization’s circularity under a standardized framework in an Italian University. Design/methodology/approach – The single-case study examines the organization’s implementation of the framework followed by an in-depth discussion of the phenomenon under study. The circularity measurement metrics applied to the UPO case have been extracted from a draft standard prepared by the Italian standardization body (UNI). Findings – The UPO case study takes into account the general propositions of the draft with a focus on the metrics related to the management of human resources, assets, policy, and sustainability. Some useful insights emerge from the critical analysis of the norm proposal, both as regards the adoption of different types of measures as well as the implementation of the circularity measurement in terms of the organization’s readiness in collecting data for the metrics. Originality – As this study deals with a new methodology applied to a public Organisation, several issues come to light. The first implementation of UNI1608856 allows discussing the effective measurement of circularity at the micro level and how an organization’s managerial processes need to evolve to provide the data required to measure circularity.