| The method | The characteristics | The deficiencies |
| The ecological footprint | Simple and clear, reflecting the human impact on the earth vividly, and having strong maneuverability and repeatability. | The evaluation result is not absolute and some theoretical assumptions are difficult to achieve. |
| Comprehensive evaluation of resource circulation analysis | Considers the specific key resource flow conditions before and after optimization, or posits the circular economy as a form of index. | Without a thorough solution to the qualitative index quantitative. |
| The fuzzy comprehensive analysis method | The result is clear and systemic and strong and can solve the problems that are fuzzy and difficult to quantify. | The computation is complex and the subjectivity is strong, which decides the index of weight vector. |
| The material flow analysis | Based on material flow routes, and an in-depth analysis of the object of material flow strength and path. | Dimension is not uniform, and cannot reflect the relationship between the environment and the economy. |