Circular Economy, Recycling & Remanufacturing worked example

Circular Design Readiness with design-for-circularity gap severity score of 4 score: a worked example

This worked example runs the circular design readiness numbers for a tougher week than the baseline: design-for-circularity gap severity score of 4 score instead of the typical 8 score. Score design readiness risk for disassembly, repairability, recycled content, material marking, and end-of-life recovery.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Design-for-circularity gap severity score: 4 score (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 8)
  • Likelihood the gap affects recovery score: 4 score (held at the documented default)
  • Weakness of current design review controls score: 5 score (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Circular Design Readiness score = design-for-circularity gap severity score × likelihood the gap affects recovery score × weakness of current design review controls score.
  • Circular Design Readiness score works out to 4.25 score at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Design-for-circularity gap severity score works out to 4 score at these inputs.
  • Likelihood the gap affects recovery score works out to 4 score at these inputs.
  • Weakness of current design review controls score works out to 5 score at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where design-for-circularity gap severity score sits at 8 score and the headline result is 5.85 score, this scenario comes in 27.35% below the baseline at 4.25 score.
  • Use it during design reviews, gate stage-gates, or supplier component approvals to rank which circularity gaps to remediate before a design is frozen. A result at this level usually justifies acting on the stressed input before touching anything else, because every other figure in the table is downstream of it.

Results at a glance

  • Circular Design Readiness score: 4.25 score (headline result)
  • Design-for-circularity gap severity score: 4 score
  • Likelihood the gap affects recovery score: 4 score
  • Weakness of current design review controls score: 5 score

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Circular Design Readiness calculator, set design-for-circularity gap severity score to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.