Assessment and measurability of circular economy indicators in the agro-industrial complex of Kazakhstan: foreign experience and methodological approaches

In the context of the transformation of the agro-industrial complex of the Republic of Kazakhstan towards sustainable development, the development of a system of quantitatively measurable circular economy indicators is becoming increasingly important. The lack of unified methodological approaches to assessing circularity in agricultural production limits monitoring capabilities, interregional comparability and the justification of management decisions. The purpose of this article is to analyze international methodological approaches to circular economy assessment and to develop an adapted toolkit for measuring circular processes in the agro-industrial complex of Kazakhstan. The study applies methods of system analysis, comparative review, index modeling and expert assessment. International indicator frameworks are examined, including the approaches of the European Commission, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and BEROC, as well as KPI-based methods for assessing business circularity. Based on international experience and the results of the author’s calculations for agricultural enterprises in the northern regions of Kazakhstan, an integrated system of indicators is proposed that reflects the economic, environmental and social effects of closed production cycles. The integration of circular economy principles with digital and lean management tools is considered an important factor in improving the sustainability and competitiveness of agricultural production. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of an aggregated circularity index for the agro-industrial complex, adapted to the biological and seasonal characteristics of agriculture in Kazakhstan and based on the integration of LCA and ESG assessment methods. The practical significance of the results is determined by their applicability in agrarian policy design, sectoral program development and circular economy monitoring.

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