ISO 59000: what it is and why it matters to your business

The circular economy has become a central goal for businesses, municipalities and funders. Until recently, however, something essential was missing: a common way to define, measure and prove it. This gap is now filled by a new family of international standards: ISO 59000.

What the ISO 59000 family is

It is a series of international standards published from 2024 onwards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). They provide common terminology, principles, measurement methods and information-exchange rules for the circular economy, so that everyone speaks the same language: the production engineer, the procurement manager, the customer and the investor.

The key standards at a glance

Standard	What it covers	How it helps you
ISO 59004	Terminology, principles and implementation guidance	Start right, with a common language
ISO 59010	Transitioning business models and value networks	Design circular models: reuse, repair, services instead of products
ISO 59020	Measuring and assessing circularity performance	Get numbers: how circular a product or process really is
ISO 59014	Sustainability and traceability of secondary materials	Prove where recovered materials come from
ISO 59040	Product Circularity Data Sheet (PCDS)	Exchange standardised information with customers and suppliers

Is it a certification?

Not in the way ISO 14001 or ISO 9001 are. The ISO 59000 standards are mainly a framework for guidance, measurement and data exchange. Their value is not a certificate on the wall, but that they make circularity measurable, comparable and verifiable.

Why it matters to your business now

Customers want data

Large customers and supply chains increasingly ask for data on recycled content, repairability and recyclability. ISO 59040 provides a ready, standardised format for this information.

Green claims need proof

Under the new EU rules on environmental claims, a “circular” product must be able to prove it. Measurement according to ISO 59020 is a credible basis. Read more in our article on Directive 2024/825.

Financing and tenders

Banks, funding programmes and public buyers increasingly assess environmental performance. Documented circularity data makes the difference in an application.

Costs and resources

Measurement reveals where materials and value are lost. The first gains are often simple: less waste, use of by-products, lower raw-material costs.

Where to start

1. Map your material flows: what goes in, what leaves as product, what becomes waste.
2. Measure a baseline with circularity indicators according to ISO 59020, for one product or one site.
3. Identify the opportunities: reuse, recycled materials, by-product valorisation, new models according to ISO 59010.
4. Integrate the principles into your existing management system, e.g. ISO 14001, so circularity becomes part of daily operations.
5. Communicate with evidence to customers, funders and the market.

This article is for information only. For the full content of each standard, refer to the official ISO texts.