A novel Key Performance Indicator for measuring the competitiveness of materials production within the EU

Competitiveness is a crucial factor for the sustainable development of any country. In this study, competitiveness is investigated under the perspective of the capability of a country to be self-sufficient from the energy point of view and to produce and export materials or goods. A ranking of countries and a classification of the most competitive materials over a long period for a geographic area is established through a novel economic indicator: as an exemplar case, calculations have been carried out considering a sample of five European countries, which produce some plastic materials in 2006 and up to 2020.