Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a mathematical model for the design of a circular production system (CPS) for an Indian manufacturing organization participating in a symbiotic network.Design/methodology/approach: A multi-objective mixed integer linear programming is used to model the network for quantifying the economic benefits. The data set collected from the case organization is used. The GAMS optimization package is used to simulate the model.Findings: The model is able to compute the economic benefit achieved through circular operations in the case organization. The flow of different items through the network is also obtained.Research limitations/implications: The data set of the single organization in the symbiotic network is used to validate the proposed mathematical model. Further research can be done considering the all the organizations in the considered symbiotic network.Practical implications: This paper will help the authors to better understand the role of sustainable supply chains in a circular economy model especially in energy and materials intensive industries.Originality/value: This study has uniquely utilized a multi-objective mixed-integer linear programming approach for the analysis of variables in CPSs and the corresponding economic benefits.