Material Circularity Indicator Lab (2D)

Feedstock & Recovery

Recycled input fraction F_r 30%

End-of-life collection rate F_c 55%

Recycling process efficiency E_r 70%

Product lifetime L / L_av 1.0×

Circularity Metrics

0.0 linearMCI = 0.001.0 circular

Linear Flow Index

0.00

Utility factor X

0.00

Material now in loop (virgin : recycled)

— : —

Virgin material
Recycled feedstock / recovered
Unrecoverable waste (fades out)

How it works

The Material Circularity Indicator (MCI), developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, scores a product from 0 (fully linear: take → make → waste) to 1 (fully circular: no virgin input, no waste). It combines a Linear Flow Index with a utility bonus for products that are used longer or more intensively than average:

LFI = [ (1 − F_r) + (1 − F_c · E_r) ] / 2
X   = (L / L_av + U / U_av) / 2   (here U/U_av fixed at 1)
F(X) = 0.9 / X
MCI = max(0, 1 − LFI · F(X))

F_r — the fraction of new production feedstock that is recycled or reused material rather than freshly extracted virgin material.
F_c — the fraction of the product actually collected for recycling once it reaches end of life.
E_r — the efficiency of the recycling process itself: how much of the collected material comes out as usable secondary feedstock.
L / L_av — the product's lifetime relative to the industry average for that product type; a longer-lived product needs fewer replacement units, so it earns a utility bonus that lowers its effective linear flow.

The 2D scene is a flat flow-chart version of the same two-loop model: a virgin-material loop (tan tokens from the quarry/well) and a recycled-feedstock loop (green tokens) both feed Manufacturing → Use → End-of-life. At end of life, each token is recycled back into the loop with probability F_c·E_r, or becomes unrecoverable waste (grey, fades out and respawns as new feedstock) otherwise. Drag the canvas to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom. It is a teaching model, not a literal mass-balance — real MCI accounting also tracks reuse streams and process losses separately.

drag to pan · scroll to zoom

Manufacturing → Use → End-of-life loop Waste branch