Measuring Sustainability in Circular Manufacturing: Introducing the GRETA Assessment Tool
Transitioning from traditional linear production models to circular manufacturing requires more than innovative technologies; it also requires clear and measurable sustainability indicators. Understanding the environmental impact of manufacturing processes is essential for companies aiming to reduce waste, optimise resources, and design more sustainable products and supply chains.
Within the CIRCULOOS project, this challenge is addressed through the development of GRETA, a sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tool designed to evaluate the environmental performance of manufacturing processes and products. The tool enables manufacturers to analyse how their operations impact the environment and identify opportunities to improve circularity and resource efficiency.
GRETA operates as a web-based microservices application that assesses sustainability across different stages of a product’s lifecycle. By combining manufacturing data with lifecycle assessment methodologies, the platform allows users to evaluate production scenarios, compare alternatives, and understand how environmental impacts are distributed across different lifecycle phases, from raw material sourcing and production to logistics and end-of-life processes.
A key advantage of the tool is its support for early-stage decision-making in product and process design. Manufacturers can simulate different production configurations and compare sustainability performance through visual dashboards and analytical charts. For example, assessment charts and radar diagrams help users compare environmental indicators across alternative manufacturing scenarios, enabling companies to identify more sustainable design choices during the eco-design process.
The GRETA tool is also designed to integrate seamlessly within the broader CIRCULOOS digital ecosystem. Through its integration with the RAMP platform and other project tools, GRETA can automatically collect data from industrial systems, IoT devices, databases, or APIs. This enables sustainability assessments using near-real-time operational data, improving the accuracy of environmental evaluations and enabling continuous monitoring of sustainability performance.
One of the main indicators currently analysed within the platform is CO₂ equivalent emissions (CO₂e), a key metric used to measure the global warming potential of industrial activities. By calculating emissions associated with materials, energy consumption, logistics, and production processes, GRETA supports optimisation strategies to reduce environmental impact across supply chains.
The tool is being tested across several industrial pilots in the wood, leather, and plastic sectors, where companies are exploring circular strategies such as material reuse, waste valorisation, and closed-loop recycling systems. By providing measurable insights into sustainability performance, GRETA enables these pilots to identify more efficient processes, evaluate circular alternatives, and move closer to climate-neutral manufacturing models.
By combining lifecycle assessment methodologies with real industrial data, the GRETA sustainability tool provides manufacturers with a powerful decision-support system. It helps companies not only measure their environmental impact but also actively design more sustainable, circular production systems, supporting the broader goal of creating resilient, resource-efficient manufacturing ecosystems.