The first of 4 Thematic Working Groups created by the Interreg MED's Green Growth community focused on Sustainable Consumption and Production by enhancing Resource Efficiency in the Mediterranean agrifood sector, as well as in urban areas through the implementation of the Smart City Concept.

The White Paper zooms in on the difficulties that companies face in:

• measuring their environmental footprint and resource efficiency;
• the use of low-cost, low-tech, labour-intensive and rudimentarily equipped greenhouses;
• the lack of energy efficiency and renovation of EU buildings.

It then presents the projects' solutions and the benefits of resource efficiency for the environment and the economy.

See also:

• Towards circular towns and cities
• Zero waste: problems become opportunities
• Fit for a circular future

The potential of reusing and extending the life of products is well documented, but there is also huge untapped innovation potential in the industrial circular economy.

This involves reusing and extending the life of manufactured molecules. It's an area which is under-researched and under-exploited. It entails reusing high-purity loops of atoms and molecules rather than recycling mixed waste. Considerable chemical expertise is required, including the design of new molecules and mini-mill technologies to separate existing materials. Innovative collection and sorting processes which are not destructive and do not mix materials will also need to be developed. Policy could close the invisible liability loop by stipulating Extended Producer Liability.

This book is in Italian and must be bought.

Despite companies face several challenges when redesigning their supply chain for the Circular Economy, current literature lacks a systematisation of such challenges and of the ways to overcome them.

Through a systematic literature review, this paper identifies and identifies 24 challenges that may hamper a supply chain redesign for the Circular Economy. Sixteen of these challenges are well known from research in related topics. On the other hand, the remaining eight are relatively new or take on a different relevance within the Circular Economy context.

A multiple case study in the household appliance supply chain has been carried out to explore how these challenges appear in practice and how companies may tackle them.

100 Italian circular economy stories compiles successful innovations from companies, research institutes and non-profits across 11 sectors throughout Italy. Their stories show the transition towards a circular economy is gaining traction on the ground as a sustainable alternative to the incumbent methods of production.

A circular economy will not happen through policy alone: it requires companies, start-ups, foundations, research centres, universities, consortia and associations to apply the principles of a circular economy to practice. This book features 100 such examples from Italy, including Aquafil's regenerated nylon yarn and Favini's non-virgin papers. The whole collection of stories ranges from across the following 11 sectors:

• Clothing and accessories
• Agri-food
• Furniture / Construction
• Industrial automation and other Manufacturing
• Chemistry and Pharmaceutics
• Research & Development
• Electrics and Electronics
• New Materials and Resources
• Enablers and Platforms
• Promotion and Dissemination

​​These 100 stories clearly demonstrate that change is underway by showing how Italian products are brought to market using increasingly integrated technologies and supply chains which exchange materials and energy. The diffusion of such circular processes will enable more and more companies to free themselves from using costly virgin resources, gradually rendering the whole economy more sustainable.

For reference with the Italian circular economy strategy, please check the 2017 white paper "Towards a model of circular economy in Italy"