Why does this matter?
Tourism traditionally follows a linear model: take, use, dispose. In contrast, circularity (a system that keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible) shows how efficiently a tour uses resources instead of generating waste.
Increasing circularity:
- Reduces dependence on virgin raw materials
- Lowers carbon emissions linked to manufacturing
- Reduces waste sent to landfill or incineration
- Strengthens environmental credibility and brand resilience
How is it calculated?
This indicator shows the share of the tour's materials that are recycled or reused and compares it with the EU benchmark to assign a score from 0 to 5. Benchmark: 12.2% (EU average)
What takes into account?
The indicator assesses materials used to deliver the tour. It shows which portion is from recycled materials.
It then compares the mass of circular materials to the total mass of materials used (both virgin and recycled).
The operator relies almost exclusively on virgin materials.
The tour includes occasional circular practices but still uses a high proportion of virgin materials.
The tour uses some recycled and reused materials.
The tour uses recycled and reused materials consistently.
The tour uses a high proportion of recycled and reused materials.
Most of materials used in the tour are recycled or reused.
Developed with the support of
Touristic Footprint Index (TFI) by
Portugal Outdoor Alliance (POA)
is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
