The ISO 59000 series: How these standards can help your company towards circularity performance

A circular economy provides a strategy to address the climate crisis, enhance our ability to adapt, and build a more sustainable and resilient society. Standards play a crucial role in supporting this transition.

The ISO 59000 series is a set of international standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to provide guidelines and frameworks for implementing circular economy principles. These standards aim to help organizations adopt more sustainable and resource-efficient practices by promoting the reuse, repair, recycling, and regeneration of products and materials.

The ISO 59000 series on Circular Economy will consist of a total of seven standards, during May 2024, three of them were published: 

ISO 59004: 2024, Circular economy — Vocabulary, principles and guidance for implementation, provides key terms and concepts, outlining a vision for a circular economy, elucidating core principles, and offering practical guidance for actionable steps towards sustainability.

ISO 59020: 2024, Circular economy — Measuring and assessing circularity performance sets requirements and guidance for organizations to measure and assess their circularity performance within defined economic systems. It provides a framework for collecting and calculating data using mandatory and optional circularity indicators, ensuring consistent and verifiable results. 

ISO 59010: 2024, Guidance on the transition of business models and value networks offers guidance for organizations looking to shift their value creation models and networks from a linear to a circular framework. This standard emphasizes business-focused strategies for implementing circular economy practices at both the organizational and inter-organizational levels.

In summary, all these standards and the upcomming ones, equips organizations with the knowledge and strategies to operate more sustainably and efficiently, benefiting both business operations and the environment. They provide the necessary framework to: 

• Shift to cicular models
• Enhance resource efficiency
• Support sustainability goals 
• Improve innovation and competitivennes within your organization
• Assess circularity performance and improve over time.

Contact us at business.assurance@intertek.com, to learn more about how Intertek can support your organisation transition towards a more circular business.