The Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) for a product measures the extent to which linear flow has been minimized, and restorative flow maximized for its component materials and how long
and intensively, it is used compared to a similar industry-average product.
INPUT
Data input into the model should ideally be based on knowledge
of the product being assessed. Where this information is not known, generic industry data or
best approximations may be used instead.
Virgin Feedstock
V=1- (Fr) – (Fu) – Fs
Fr- fraction of feedstock derived from recycled
Fu- fraction from reused sources
Fs- fraction of the biological materials used which originate from Sustained Production (adoption of regenerative practices)
Unrecoverable Waste
W= W0 + Wf+Wc/2
W= amount of unrecoverable waste going to landfills or energy recovery
Wc- quantity of waste generated in the recycling process
Wf- quantity of waste generated to produce any recycled content used as feedstock
Wo- Mass of unrecoverable material going into landfill, waste to energy, and any other type of process where the materials are no longer recoverable
Linear Flow Index- measures the proportion of material flowing in a linear fashion,
that is, sourced from virgin materials and ending up as unrecoverable waste. The index takes a value between 1 and 0, where 1 is a completely linear flow and 0 a
completely restorative flow.
LFI= V + W /2M
LFI- Linear Flow Index
V- Amount of virgin feedstock
W- Amount of unrecoverable waste
M- Total mass flow
Utility Factor, X
The utility factor has two components: one accounting for the length of the product’s use phase.
(life-time) and another for the intensity of use (functional units). The length component L/Lav accounts for any reduction (or increase) in the waste stream in a given amount of time for products that have a longer (or shorter) lifetime L than the industry average Lav. The intensity of use component U/Uav reflects the extent to which a product is used to its full capacity. Increasing a product’s use intensity results
in more efficient use of any resources that take a linear path in the material flow and hence
an improvement in the final Material Circularity Indicator.
X= L/Lav . U/Uav
L- Lime time of a product
Lav- average lime time of that product according to industry
U- the number of functional units achieved during the use of a product
Uav-the number of functional units achieved during the use of an industry-average product of similar type
OUTPUT
The Material Circularity Indicator of a product can now be defined by considering the Linear Flow Index of the product and a factor X, built as a function F of the utility X that determines the influence of the product’s utility on its MCI.
FORMULA
The equation used to calculate the MCI of a product is:
MCI = 1- LFI . F(X)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The referenced paper can be found MCI Company