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The paper explores the alignment and misalignment of objectives within private companies and public organizations in their approach to the circular economy. While many studies have investigated the alignment within single actor types, this research reveals the dynamics of alignment when private companies and public organizations engage. Drawing upon qualitative research protocol, our study employs a circular economy financing initiative implemented in Italy as the empirical foundation for investigating these dynamics. The results highlight the positive repercussions when private companies and public organizations achieve perfect alignment, which triggers internal transformations within both entities. However, perfect alignment is seldom achieved. Our findings thus contribute to the literature by proposing actor misalignment as a potential barrier to the circular economy. This paper provides both theoretical and managerial insights into alignment dynamics within the context of the circular economy and offers a perspective on how these dynamics might evolve over time in multi-stakeholder circular economy initiatives. • Positive repercussions when private businesses and public actors achieve perfect alignment. • Perfect alignment between private businesses and public actors is seldom realized. • Actor misalignment represent a potential barrier to the circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obligations arising from legislation and other instruments affect the macro-level decision-making related to the transition toward a circular economy (CE), which is a multifaceted topic since it tries to aggregate the interests of different stakeholders. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the current policies, strategies and initiatives related to the CE transition from a multicriteria perspective and under the lens of NIT (New Institutional Theory). This is the first approach that analyses which CE strategies and related practices boost the transition from a macro-level perspective, using a multicriteria method and considering developed and emerging economies. For this reason, this paper can be helpful for researchers and practitioners involved in implementing strategy and policymaking aimed at the transition toward a CE. It also contributes to the discussion on the global transition to the CE by identifying differences and similarities between countries. The proposed methodology has been applied to compare the realities in Italy and Brazil. The perceptions of several stakeholders from the two countries have been gathered through a questionnaire to evaluate numerous strategies against several social, environmental, economic, and technical criteria. The main results are: Italy presents a proactive behaviour, a higher level of institutionalisation, and a coercive isomorphism related to European regulations and strategies. In contrast, Brazil has reactive behaviour, a lower level of institutionalisation, and is impelled by mimetic isomorphism. Although it is possible to observe several advances in the last years in Brazil, the transition to a CE is still in the early stages compared to Italy. [Display omitted] • Transitioning to a new economic model is not a quick and straightforward process. • Transition requires changes in countries, regions, cities, supply chains and companies. • Some strategies and related practices have been adopted to enable the transition. • National legislation and Action Plans can boost the transition toward a circular economy. • In developing countries, the exploration of CE concept and its potential benefits has been rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy is a social, technological and economic paradigm that aims to build a production and consumption model focused on waste reduction and maximization of discarded matter recovery. Discussion of the circular economy often treats it as a technocratic and profit-driven phenomenon that can be developed by capital investment in a particular industrial sector without necessarily taking into account the needs of the surrounding geographic area. The promotion of the circular economy often emphasises recycling and other practices that may not fully use the recovered material but are highly automatable, thus creating only a limited number of jobs. At the same time, there is another model of the circular economy, in which small and medium-sized organizations engage in transformative and low-technology activities such as reuse and repair, benefiting local development and creating job opportunities. This model is often explicitly driven by a social development mandate. Still, it risks falling short of its goals because of a lack of expertise and a less systematic approach. This paper aims to introduce the Design-led Repair & Reuse (DLRR) framework for mitigating the shortcomings of this second model, using an approach that is both sustainable and accessible to organizations with limited resources. Inspired by the principles of "Design-driven innovation", "social & solidarity economy", and "appropriate technology", DLRR aims to generate a higher quality of processes and products from circular, low entropy and low capital-intensity production activities, resulting in a more solid, identifiable and conscious positioning in the reuse market. It complements the socially inclusive ethos of these third sector small and medium-sized organizations while contributing to the debate on integrating alternative perspectives into the mainstream circular economy discourse. The first part of this paper discusses the theoretical principles that have inspired the DLRR framework. The second part presents research that tests the consistency of these founding principles based on a case study of a sample of organizations in Italy that are active in circular waste transformation processes. • The circular economy is an emerging paradigm in the race to achieve environmental sustainability. • Mainstream discourse on circular economy often does not focus on the social dimension of sustainability. • This discourse often interprets circular economy in a technocratic way, emphasizing high-tech, capital intensive approaches. • Reuse and repair practices are more technologically accessible, and can foster the creation of job opportunities. • A Design-led reuse and repair approach can contribute to strenghten the social dimension of circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside the concern for environmental sustainability, the concept of Circular Economy, a term for an economic system designed to regenerate itself, has gained momentum. Circularity finds full expression in Local Energy Communities (LEC), a newly emerging setup wherein the local energy needs of a community are met independently, through the choice of shared solutions for energy production from renewable sources. Erstwhile the use of stationary energy storage systems for self-consumption optimization, load management, peak shaving, backup power and ancillary services, would foster the value of these Local Energy Communities. In this paper, we design a techno-economic analysis to assess the impact of the usage of Second-life Batteries for increasing the energy self-independence of those communities. A cost-minimization approach with technical and economic constraints is used for the analysis and is applied to a use case of Italy. This paper assesses the benefits that a Local Energy Community can entail while considering self-consumption maximization of PV generation, load shifting and grid balancing needs, while addressing the problem of high storage costs through the exploitation of second-life electric vehicles (EV) batteries, adding an extra layer for circularity. Scenarios related to maximizing the self-consumption of photovoltaic generation and demand side management are designed considering four different LEC technology configurations. The results confirm LEC viability, showing lower energy bills for each scenario and greater benefits coupling a solar generation system with a storage solution. • Development of a techno-economic tool for Local Energy Community. • A feasibility analysis of Second Life Batteries is performed for the energy community. • Increased economic and energy savings are observed with second life batteries. • Second life of batteries are economically feasible for the community at 150€/MWH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Circular Economy (CE) studies, the concept of Circular Supply Chains (CSCs) is still not mature, although it is expected to significantly develop in the next few years thanks to the growing interest of scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. CSCs represent the result of designing and synchronizing industrial functions among companies and with the outside partners to close the cycles, dematerialize the flows, reducing inputs and losses along the system. Besides being an interesting topic for large and structured companies, CSCs seem also to be relevant for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which struggle to understand what CE practices can be implemented to make the transition towards a CE and enable CSCs. With the aim to seize the supply chain opportunities due to a CE transition of SMEs, an analysis of the literature was initially carried out to highlight the main CE practices that companies may implement, which also enable CSCs. Then, an empirical investigation on a sample of 100 SMEs in Italy, through an internet-based search and multiple case studies, was carried out to understand the practical implementation of CE practices in SMEs in Italy that enable CSCs. We believe our research in the present paper adds to the existing research on CE and CSCs, by providing a holistic view of how CE practices enable CSCs and shows how these practices may benefit the supply chains where companies operate, beyond their business processes. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper concerns the assessment of biomass by-products from the urban greenery maintenance with an energy perspective. Usually pruning is not organized by a consolidated planning practice, mainly because of lack of information. After estimating the quantity of wood pruning by-products by means of dendrometric equations and the availability of information on current greenery management, an innovative GIS-based method was implemented and tested on Milan, in northern Italy. The main outcome is the quantification of the energy potential in terms of available wood biomass, displayed on a geo-referred urban map. Moreover, the outcomes of the research could support the administrations in improving the management of these materials otherwise wasted and therefore in converting public expenses for maintenance into public profits available for further investments. On the energy supply side, the GIS database could support the local matching between available renewable sources and energy supply systems in operation (i.e. local district heating and cogenerative systems), providing a low-range and cost-effective renewable resource, also enhancing circular economy at the local scale. • A novel method for an effective urban greenery management is proposed and analysed. • Dendrometric equations and a GIS were combined for pruning by-products estimation. • The urban greenery of Milan was considered as case study. • A biomass PE potential between 26 and 76 GWh was assessed for the case study. • The use of pruning by-products in a biomass district heating plant is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas production and use can represent a win-win strategy providing multiple opportunities to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, while offering a range of important social, environmental and economic benefits. Nevertheless, as for other bioenergy pathways, biogas sustainability needs to be carefully assessed and continuously monitored in light of the specific geographic and temporal context in which it performs. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review on the sustainability assessment of domestic production and use of biogas in Italy, with a focus on the environmental dimension of the sustainability. Furthermore, it elaborates the results of the review to perform an ex-novo sustainability assessment of biogas pathway at national level, through the methodology developed by the Global Bioenergy Partnership. The biogas value chain in Italy can play a positive role to foster the transition towards an ecological and circular economy. This paper highlights both weaknesses and strengths of the biogas value chain in Italy and points out existing differences, in relation to the sustainability of the value chain, between various geographical areas of the country. The outcomes of this study could inform, both at national and international scale, the drawing of tailor-made policies and measures to reduce biogas-related potential risks of environmental impacts, as well as to support the replication and scaling up of successful management practices. Furthermore, they could serve as a baseline for the future monitoring of the sector. Ultimately, the paper reports the key difficulties encountered in the implementation of the GBEP methodology and the solutions adopted to overcome them. [Display omitted] • Three-quarters (75.4%) of the Italian biogas production takes place in the Po river valley, one-third comes from Lombardy. • Maize silage and livestock manure are the most common feedstocks in Italian biogas plants. • Roughly 80 k tons of nitrogen contained in livestock manure were treated by biogas plant in Italy in 2016. • The main source of GHG emissions along the biogas pathway in Italy lies in the cultivation of dedicated bioenergy crops. • Water shortage hampers the development of the biogas sector in southern Italy, restricting the cultivation of energy crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular economy (CE) has a huge potential to overcome sustainability challenges. The EU and several national governments have been urging firms for CE implementation. However, to date, most firms are failing in translating the CE concept into their business operations. Some scholars point out that firms may attain CE objectives through dynamic capabilities. To empirically investigate whether or not dynamic capabilities facilitate CE implementation, we analyzed a sample of 220 manufacturing firms in Italy through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our PLS-SEM analysis shows that sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring capabilities and their underlying organizational routines significantly facilitate CE implementation. This paper contributes to the literature in the following ways. Firstly, this paper presents the measurement scales of dynamic capabilities and demonstrates how to operationalize a reflective-formative hierarchical component model (HCM) of dynamic capabilities in PLS-SEM. Secondly, this paper highlights the key capabilities and organizational routines through which firms can identify and pursue CE opportunities. Image 1 • We argue that firms may attain circular economy (CE) objectives through dynamic capabilities. • Sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring capabilities significantly facilitate CE implementation. • Key routines to identify CE opportunities include, but not limited to, market monitoring and R&D. • LCA seems to be an essential tool to identify CE opportunities. • Key routines to accomplish CE opportunities include, but not limited to, strategic planning and technological upgradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current scenario of transition to a Europe-wide circular economy (CE), the Waste-to-Energy (WtE) treatments represent a smart solution to generate renewable energy, reduce landfills and ensure sustainable waste management. The costs and environmental impacts of existing WtE treatments are very different for each available technology. In many cases, their identification is affected by a set of variable boundary conditions strongly dependent on local municipal requirements. In light of these considerations, the paper aims to compare the investment in three different WtE treatments (i.e., incineration, gasification, and flameless oxy-combustion) to identify the best solution to support the current transitional phase towards a CE condition. An overall yearly cost analysis was developed by varying local municipal requirements, including investment, operating, and carbon emissions costs. The overall yearly cost and the revenues, due to energy sales and tipping fees, allowed to evaluate the profitability of the investment in the plant lifetime to identify the best WtE treatment. The investment profitability was evaluated by adopting the Net Present Value (NPV) method by estimating the cash flow statement over the entire plant lifetime. The performance of the three WtE treatments, classified as "conventional" (i.e., gasification and incineration) and "innovative" (i.e., flameless oxy-combustion), were compared in a case study concerning Southern Italy's Metropolitan City of Bari. The applied methodology showed, in this case, that gasification, at the moment, has to be deemed as the most sustainable treatment for MSW management. Moreover, the study proved a high dependence between the carbon price and the profitability of the investment and, thus, in the next future the innovative oxy-combustion technology will gain an advantage over all the other technologies, when carbon price will be higher than 44 €/tonnes CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Over the last few years, much attention has been paid to the phenomenon of household food waste which largely contributes to the total amount of food waste generated in industrialised countries. The reduction of food waste has been also included within the European strategy of circular economy and ambitious objectives have been assigned to the European member states. Youths proved to be the segment of the population most inclined to waste food and therefore they need to be monitored. This exploratory study, based on a survey involving 380 youths residing in Italy and Spain, aims at investigating the complexities of food waste behaviour within the framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. By referring to the PLS-SEM approach, we analyse the validity of the relationships between individual habits, attitudes, addiction to marketing ploys and sales strategies, and attitudes towards food waste. It also aims at verifying the existence of mediator effects in order to better understand these relationships. The construction of the Importance Performance Matrix Analysis enables identification of the dimensions which greatly influence positive behaviour, and whether urgent attention and interventions are required. The results confirm that behavioural models are appropriate for explaining youths' behaviour towards food waste with an important role played by the perceived behavioural control. Situational factors which characterize the moment of purchase should be carefully considered and monitored. This paper concludes that marketing and sale strategies negatively influence the waste behaviour of individuals, emphasizing the important role of retailers in preventing the generation of food waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, agriculture uses about 70–80% of global water resources and, in the Mediterranean area, it accounts for the high pressure of freshwater demand. This study provides a useful framework for the meso-level assessment of the Water Footprint (WF) in agriculture. Particularly, the WF methodology is used to quantify the water consumption and pollution of olives, grapes and tomatoes, traditional crops widespread both in the Apulia region, in Southern Italy, and in the Mediterranean area. Hence, from a meso-level assessment of the Water Footprint of Apulian agriculture, a general level of evaluation of the use of Mediterranean water resources was provided, estimating the Virtual Water (VW) too. Furthermore the climate change effects on the Water Footprint of the traditional crops identified were predicted, proposing some scenarios useful to reduce the grey component, which values for olives were evaluated by a sensitivity analysis. The results highlight that olives present the highest value of the WF and that grapes are the most affected by the variations according to the climate change scenarios, increasing over 200% of the green component and 77% of the blue one. Finally, a Circular Economy proposal, based on the reuse of the wastewater from a meso-scale perspective, highlights saving up to 70% of the water resource. The research questions proposed displayed the novelty of this paper, particularly as concerns the use of the Water Footprint analysis on a meso-level evaluation. Particularly, the new insights of this research addressed the needs of stakeholders in areas suffering from drought, such as the Mediterranean, to integrate and systematize a data-set of indicators to rationalize and plan water resource usage and safety in agriculture. [Display omitted] • Water stress spurs Water Footprint assessment in the Mediterranean area. • Multi-level approach of water quantifying for olive, grape and tomato is applied. • Italian grapes have the highest Virtual Water, compared to Spanish and Greek ones. • Effects of climate change on Water Footprint of traditional crops are estimated. • Grey Water Footprint of the olives is evaluated by a sensitivity analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Production of ceramic tiles has been changing according to distinct strategies. • Trends in ceramic tiles production have deep repercussions on the supply chain. • Italy and Spain compete for the same sources of raw materials for porcelain stoneware. • Measures to mitigate the supply risk seem to be necessary for strategic raw materials. • Main drivers are resource efficiency, technological innovation, and market trends. Recent trends in the raw materials market unveil a growing dependence of the European ceramic tile industry on imports from sources outside the European Union. This tendency reflects significant changes in the typologies of ceramic products, which in turn result in a modified batch design and different raw materials. Such an evolution implies an increasing stress on the supply chain, which role is strategic in terms of resource efficiency and competitiveness of the ceramic industry. Despite the importance of a secure and affordable supply, a global knowledge of raw materials flows over the last years is still lacking. In this paper, the supply chain was examined by quantifying the apparent consumption of raw materials and current trends, and detecting possible criticalities. While the supply chain in Italy kept stable, the raw material flows in the Spanish industry changed noticeably due to the increase in white-firing bodies production, that implies a growing dependence on imports. Beyond the specific features of each country, the resulting supply patterns are turning similar over time, with an increasing competition for the same sources. Efforts to strengthen the supply chain reside on the diversification of raw materials sources, which entails the use of secondary raw materials, the search for new deposits and purification processes, and improvement of logistics. The choice of raw materials (and consequently the supply chain) is driven in a complex way by various factors, which are identified and discussed for the different product typologies.. [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]

Several EU and neighboring countries have relevant surfaces of land that are currently largely marginal, under-utilized and/or contaminated (MUC). In the last decade, many scientific studies have demonstrated how bioenergy crops have the potential to be grown profitably on this land and can therefore offer a source of income to local populations while contributing to achieving the targets of the new Renewable Energy Directive (REDII). In this context, the paper analyses the main agronomic and techno-economic aspects affecting the uptake of cellulosic ethanol or second generation (2G ethanol) production on MUC lands in the Ivankiv Region of Ukraine, a lower-middle income country, and in the Sulcis area of Sardinia in Italy, a high-income country. The use of MUC lands for the production of 2G ethanol mitigates negative impacts on food security by reducing the risk of indirect land use change (iLUC). The findings suggest that 2G ethanol would be produced at a cost of EUR 936/ton in Italy and EUR 758/ton in Ukraine, with a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, the study describes the main barriers and obstacles to the market uptake of 2G ethanol and analyses the effects of existing policies on the economic feasibility of the fuel production in those countries. Current policies do not allow the production of 2G ethanol to be competitive on the market; the study highlights the need to provide consistent and stable long-term bioenergy policies, including but not limited to financial support, to facilitate market penetration and competitiveness. Image 1 • An agricultural and economic feasibility assessment of cellulosic ethanol production in Ukraine and Italy was developed • A calculation of feedstock production costs and ethanol production costs in those countries was carried out • A sustainability assessment of selected advanced value chains developed on MUC lands was done • Review and assessment of policy framework for the market uptake of cellulosic ethanol in Ukraine and Italy was carried out [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]