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This VSI focuses on what cross-cutting insights might be gained from research to increase the energy/materials circularity and the contribution of eco-innovation, cleaner consumption, and waste management to produce a logical body of knowledge that may lead to increased resilience and a sustainable Planet. The articles' collection shows development trends of sustainable, cleaner production under the Special Issue: A Resilient and Sustainable World. Some selected d papers have been presented and emerged from the 10th and 11th International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production (IWACP), held in hybrid mode in Italy (Ferrata and Florence). The contribution of the articles in this Special Issue could be divided into efforts toward sustainable and cleaner production, aiming (i) Eco-innovation for cleaner production and circular economy, (ii) Proper monitoring and identification of cleaner production, circular economy, and eco-innovation, (iii) cleaner production, circular economy and eco-innovation targeting social wellbeing and cleaner environment, (iv) cleaner production, circular economy and eco-innovation targeting emission reduction, and (v) cleaner production, circular economy and eco-innovation targeting improved and optimized production processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plastic management, specifically plastic packaging management, represents one of the main sectors responsible for environmental and health impacts. The European Commission, in 2018, released a Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy and a new Packaging Waste Directive for closing the loop of this management system, forcing member states to recycle 55% of plastic packaging by 2030. The level of circular economy in a supply chain can be measured with material flow analysis, a useful tool to help policy makers forecast the recycling capability and to provide suggestions for improving the plastic packaging management sustainability. Considering the gap in literature in this field, the principal aim of this paper is to apply material flow analysis to measure the level of circular economy in the 2017 Italian plastic packaging management, by using the software STAN 2.6. Particularly, it assessed its post-consumer recycling rate, according to the new calculation method established by the Waste Directive. Secondly, this result is compared with that of the other EU-28 countries. The findings indicate that Italy has a good recycling rate, almost 44%, and that the energy recovery and landfill levels are about 40% and nearly 17%, respectively. There is room for making plastic waste management more efficient. Some of the EU-28 countries have wide margins of improvement thanks to large amounts of plastic packaging in landfills, whereas others, although they present good recycling rates, could tackle some problems in adopting the circular economy approach because they continue to burn plastic packaging in waste-to-energy plants. • EC forced member states to recycle 55% of plastic packaging by 2030. • MFA is used to assess the Italian plastic packaging management and its CE levels. • Italy showed a good recycling rate with room for improvement. • Comparison of the diverse EU waste management strategies is useful for policymakers. • Some EU countries could limit CE levels through the use of waste-to-energy plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]