The 2020 Report on the Circular Economy in Italy, developed by CEN (Circular Economy Network) in collaboration with ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) and Fondazione Sviluppo Sostenibile, analyses the state of play of the circular economy in Italy with, this year, a particular focus on the bioeconomy.

The report was presented during the 2^nd National Conference on the Circular Economy livestreamed on 19 Marchfrom Rome. It was introduced by Edo Ronchi, President of CEN, and Roberto Morabito, Director of the Department for Sustainability, ENEA, and President of the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP).

For a slide presentation of the report, click on the speakers Ronchi and Morabito.

The lack of a commonly accepted and inclusive definition and circularity measurement methodology hampers the transition to a more circular economy. It obstructs the development and access to finance, credit risk assessment, and transferability and replicability of projects and investments across regions and jurisdictions.

The Expert Group of Support to Circular Economy Financing proposes a sector-agnostic circular economy categorisation system that defines categories of activities substantially contributing to a circular economy. This categorisation system is intended as a contribution to the future work of the Sustainable Finance Platform on the EU taxonomy of activities contributing to the circular economy objective.

Sustainable construction guidelines for public authorities – A circular economy perspective aims to help public authorities navigate through the topic of sustainable construction, understand what it means and determine how to encourage it.

The guidelines are especially targeted at local and regional authorities, as they play a crucial role in the whole construction life cycle not only by stimulating innovation and cooperation between all actors but also because they work at a level close to citizens.

Unlike most of the literature on the topic, these guidelines focus on circularity and material resource efficiency, rather than covering only energy efficiency extensively. Moreover, the report goes beyond waste to integrate the whole value chain of the construction sector.

"Chambers for a Circular Economy - Actions to Support SMEs' Transition to a Circular Economy" aims to offer a clear overview of the wide range of initiatives led or co-managed by Chambers in the field of the Circular Economy, with the intention not only to inform and share innovative actions, but also to spur and motivate synergies, triggering collaborations and the creation of new business models. The aim of each and every of these projects is to enable businesses to evolve from a linear to a circular mode of production and consumption.

This publication presents a total of 32 projects initiated or co-led by Chambers in 13 countries, and categorized under 5 main topics:

• certification,
• circular skills,
• cooperation,
• reuse & recycle and
• waste prevention.