After and going beyond “green economy”, “circular economy” has become an increasingly popular development model in environmental policy.
The “circular economy”, as defined by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an important US Foundation which first formulated the concept, “is an economy designed to regenerate itself. In a circular economy there are two types of flows of material: biological, that can be reintegrated into the biosphere and technological, that will be revalorized and not introduced into the biosphere”.
So the circular economy is a system in which all the activities, except mining and production, are organized in such a way that waste from one process becomes a resource for another. This approach is based on three principles: reduce, reuse and recycle and aims to separate economic growth from an exploitation of natural resources and ecosystems, using resources more efficiently.
Among the main elements are on the one hand innovation in the reuse of materials, components and products and the development of new business models which phase out the “take-make-dispose” formulation and phase in one that favors that utilization, offering clients access to products instead of their ownership. The ongoing bet is this will bring us, through several steps, to a less wasteful consumption of material and contribute to improving the reputation of brands and client fidelity. So there on the horizon is the spread of the so-called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), that obliges those who place a product on the market to accept specific obligations designed to minimize its impact in the post-consumption phase.
Here is an opportunity for companies and organizations of various types to develop new ways of generating wealth by going beyond environmental certification and product-cycle analysis which are and remain almost the only known paradigm.
To be effective all of this has to be communicated, using the right words and reaching your consumers in an easily understandable format.
Profile reference
Roberto Rubini
Head of Communication
Italy | Florence
Architect, graduate in Urban Development Planning at the University of Florence, freelance professional in the field of interior design since 1998. With a deep knowledge in communication, branding, corporate identity, marketing and advertising. Founder of Source , agency which has been active in...Read more
With the contribution of
Irene Ivoi
Sustainability Manager
Italy | Florence
With a degree in industrial design, since 1992, she has worked for public and private clients in research and communication of sustainability’s vision applied to products, services and product’s policies. She has published two books on domestic ecology: “Se I piatti di plastica… (If plastic dishes...Read more
Our solutions
Communication
- Information and training activities regarding circular economy, short talks looking at examples and framing the concept of circular business and also more specific training on how individuals might orient themselves regarding their own products/services and consequently put strategies in place if possible;
- Support in defining a green vision with the aim of putting out a sustainability report (in Italy this latter is based on legislative decree 254/2016 and required of some companies, similar requirements are found throughout Europe);
- Accompanying our client in setting up a green communication strategy to define the main actors and criteria that will be useful in carrying it out;
- Developing the area of green marketing.
Consultancy
- Evaluate where in a firm’s value-chain the conditions exist to introduce modifications toward sustainable and circular models.
- Measure the firm’s quantitative level of circularity by analyzing its inputs and outputs of material;
- Measure adherence to norms of the main environmental impact factors (air, water, soil) and plan out how the firm is to improve.
- Accompany the firm as it seeks to reach the environmental certification of a product and/or process;
- Supply chain assessment: to evaluate suppliers and the supply chain utilizing a mapping, auditing, rating and monitoring system that integrates environmental and social criteria throughout the supply chain;
- Design a social strategy (Corporate Social Responsibility) that focuses on value, technical support and strategy using a multidisciplinary approach to reach objectives shared by both stakeholders and management;
- Support in the reporting and drafting of the firm’s sustainability report to meet the standards required in legislative decree 254/2016 in Italy (but see similar requirements throughout Europe) as regards Declaration of Non-Financial Information and on Diversity and in conformity with GRI-G$ international standards;
- The screening of sustainability trends for specific sectors or products/services and the seeking of useful eco-innovations to implement circular economy principles;
- Environmental due diligence (useful when a merger is in the offing);