Italy advances Circular Economy, trails leaders
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In Italy, businesses and policymakers are increasingly adopting circular economy practices, reducing waste and maximizing resource reuse, to move away from a traditional “take, make, dispose” model.
Since 2010, Italy has steadily increased its rate of circularity, reaching 21.6% in 2024, surpassing the European average of 12.2% and placing it third in the European Union behind the Netherlands and Belgium. This shift is driven in part by the European Green Deal, a plan to make Europe climate neutral.
Italian companies are already seeing economic benefits from these circular practices, generating 18.3 billion euros in savings annually. However, a significant gap remains, approximately 100 billion euros, between current savings and the potential 119 billion euros achievable by 2030, requiring increased investment and further savings. The concept of a circular economy, emphasizing sharing, repair, and recycling, gained momentum in the 1970s and has been championed by organizations like the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and supported by European policy packages since 2015.
The circular economy focuses on three key principles: utilizing resources efficiently, redesigning production processes for modularity and recyclability, and shifting product ownership to manufacturers who then offer usage-based services to customers. Several Italian initiatives, including the Alliance for the Circular Economy, the Regenerative Society Foundation, and Tondo, are fostering collaboration and innovation in this area, developing projects and advocating for supportive policies.
These groups are working on initiatives ranging from measuring circularity to developing regenerative business models and creating local innovation ecosystems.
