Le energie rinnovabili sono quelle fonti di energia che si rigenerano naturalmente nel tempo e che non si esauriscono, come ad esempio il sole, il vento, l'acqua, la biomassa e la geotermia, e che sono in grado di ridurre l'emissione di gas a effetto serra e limitare i cambiamenti climatici.
Queste fonti di energia stanno diventando sempre più importanti a livello globale, in quanto rappresentano un'alternativa sostenibile alle fonti di energia non rinnovabili, come il petrolio, il gas e il carbone, che sono finite e producono emissioni di gas serra che contribuiscono al cambiamento climatico.
Le energie rinnovabili possono essere utilizzate per produrre energia elettrica, riscaldamento, raffreddamento e trasporti.
Tra le tecnologie utilizzate per la produzione di energia rinnovabile ci sono i pannelli solari fotovoltaici per la produzione di energia solare, le turbine eoliche per la produzione di energia eolica, le centrali idroelettriche per la produzione di energia idroelettrica e i sistemi geotermici per la produzione di energia geotermica.
The term Greenrinsing refers to a company’s practice of regularly changing its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) targets before they are achieved.
This tactic showcases how greenwashing has evolved and become increasingly sophisticated.
It stems from companies that set ambitious goals but fail to meet them; their rhetoric does not align with sustainability outcomes.
In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in sustainability metrics, claims, and goals, but many are not backed by tangible actions or appear unlikely to be met.
Greenlabelling is a practice where marketers label a product or service as “green” or sustainable.
However, closer scrutiny might reveal that such claims are misleading or only partially true.
This form of greenwashing is widespread, making it challenging for consumers and businesses to differentiate among the myriad of environmental labels and initiatives in the market.
Many terms, such as “bio”, “natural”, “green”, and “eco-friendly”, are often ambiguously used, complicating the understanding of their genuine meaning and value.
Greenshifting involves companies implying that consumers are at fault, shifting the blame onto them.
This strategy emerges when firms emphasize what consumers can or should do to reduce emissions or positively impact the environment, despite being aware of the significant impact of their products or services.
Advertising agencies are expected to be more cautious about adopting this approach in the future, as it’s one of the more easily identifiable greenwashing tactics.
Greenlighting occurs when company communications, including advertisements, highlight particular green aspects of their operations or products, no matter how small, in order to divert attention from environmentally harmful activities conducted elsewhere.
This practice aims to showcase the company in a positive light by emphasizing only certain aspects, while other less sustainable operations might be overlooked.
It’s a strategy that can mislead consumers, focusing their attention on environmentally positive initiatives while neglecting less sustainable activities.
Greencrowding is based on the idea of hiding within a crowd to avoid detection, relying on safety in numbers.
While some groups may appear as strong advocates for sustainability, the reality can be different.
Despite large numbers and media commitment, actual actions might be minimal.
Caution is advised when evaluating such initiatives, checking the real progress against stated objectives.
Greenbickering refers to a strategy adopted by a company to identify and counter deceptive or unfair “green” communication practices by competitors.
The term is a neologism combining two English words, “green,” which refers to environmentally sustainable practices and policies, and “bickering,” which indicates a conflict or dispute.
Greenbickering action by a company can manifest itself in various ways, including legal appeals.
Mobility as a service is a business model in which public and private transportation services are offered as one integrated service. In this mobility model, the user does not own the means of transportation but pays for its functionality for a limited period of time.
MaaS services can include car sharing, bike sharing, e-scooter sharing, and other mobility services.
In addition, MaaS services offer a number of benefits, including: increased flexibility, increased efficiency, and increased sustainability.
A biogas plant is a facility that uses anaerobic digestion to produce biogas from organic material.
Biogas is a renewable fuel that can be used to generate electricity, heat, or vehicle fuel.
Biogas plants can be built in a variety of sizes, depending on the volume of organic material they need to process empossible in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, the food industry, the beverage industry, and the wastewater treatment industry.
According to the relevant legislation, namely Article 1(1)(b) of Legislative Decree No. 116 of Sept. 3, 2020, Vegetable By-Product (V.O.P.) is “any plant material that is not intended for human consumption, but can be used for a variety of purposes, including animal feed, energy production, fertilizer production, bioplastics production, and the production of building materials.”
VOCs can be produced in a number of sectors, including agriculture, the food industry, the beverage industry and the wood industry, and can be used for a variety of purposes.
According to the relevant legislation, namely Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No. 1069/2009, a Food By-Product (SOA) is “a whole body or part of an animal, a product of animal origin or another product obtained from an animal not intended for human consumption, including ova, embryos and semen.”
The purpose of this decree is to ensure food safety and public health, as well as to protect the environment. It also establishes a set of requirements for the production, processing, transportation and disposal of ABPs.
A food waste according to Legislative Decree No. 116 of September 3, 2020, amending Legislative Decree No. 152 of April 3, 2006, Article 1, Paragraph 1 (a) is defined as:
“any substance or product intended for human consumption that has become waste because the person who has it has discarded it, intends to discard it, or is obliged to discard it.“
An ex-food product is a product created for human consumption, which, for various reasons, such as expiration, the presence of aesthetic defects, or simply because it has gone unsold, can no longer be used for its original purpose.
However, this food-product can be used for other purposes, such as as feed, thus to animal feed, or for energy production within biogas plants, so as to avoid its waste.
The triple bottom line (TBL) is a business management model that focuses on three main areas: environmental sustainability (Planet), social (People) and economic (Profit).
Composed of plant components and biodegradable polymers, it is a family of fully biodegradable and compostable bioplastics with which solutions and products with reduced environmental impact are created for everyday life.
Economic theory according to which the adoption of demanding environmental policies identifies a causal relationship between regulation, innovation and competitiveness between companies, encouraging healthy competition.
In energy, Grid Parity means the “parity” between the cost of production of energy from renewable sources and the cost of purchasing energy produced from conventional sources (mainly fossil).
Community environmental policy instrument through which a periodic assessment of the level of compatibility between production activity and environmental protection is carried out.
Eco-auditing aims at a systematic evaluation of a company’s environmental policies and their effective implementation, carried out with the help of employees.
Integrated biosystems connect different food production activities with other operations such as
waste treatment and fuel generation.
Integrated biosystems treat production and consumption as a continuous closed loop system where outputs of one operation become inputs into another, thus reusing resources and minimising environmental impact.
The circular economy system diagram, known as the butterfly diagram, illustrates the continuous flow of materials in a circular economy.
There are two main cycles – the technical cycle and the biological cycle.
In the technical cycle, products and materials are kept in circulation through processes such as reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling.
In the biological cycle, the nutrients from biodegradable materials are returned to the Earth to regenerate nature.
It is a bill that establishes the obligation of electronic device manufacturers to comply with design and assembly criteria that are easy to repair even by the user himself and to distribute spare parts and repair instruction.
Resources:
Net Zero refers to achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
This is usually done by reducing emissions as much as possible through measures such as switching to renewable energy sources, improving energy efficiency and using carbon capture technologies, and then offset the remaining emissions by investing in projects that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, such as reforestation or soil carbon sequestration
.
Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) is a technique used in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to systematically collect and quantify information about inputs, outputs, and environmental impacts associated with a product, process, or service throughout its life cycle.
The quality and completeness of LCI data has a significant impact on the accuracy and reliability of LCA results.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standards for conducting LCAs, including ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, which provide guidelines for the LCI phase of evaluation.
UNI EN ISO 14044:2006 is a standard that provides guidelines for the conduct of life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and services.
This standard outlines the principles and framework for the implementation of an LCA, including goal setting, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation of results.
The purpose of this standard is to provide a coherent and transparent methodology for assessing the environmental impact of products and services throughout their life cycle.
UNI EN ISO 14040:2006 is a European standard that specifies the principles and framework for the conduct of life cycle assessments (LCA) of products and services.
It provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to assessing the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction and production to distribution, use and disposal.
The standard outlines four phases of the LCA process: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation.
Zero Waste (translated “Zero Waste”) is a philosophy and lifestyle that aims to reduce the amount of waste that is generated and sent to landfills or incinerators.
The goal of zero waste is to redesign how we produce and consume goods so that nothing is wasted or thrown away.
The concept of zero waste is based on the idea of a Circular Economy, where resources are kept in use for as long as possible, and waste is minimized through the use of sustainable materials and production methods.
Environmental education is an educational process that aims to raise people’s awareness of environmental problems and provide them with the knowledge, skills and motivation necessary to adopt more sustainable and environmentally responsible behaviour.
The main objective is to promote a cultural change that leads to a greater awareness of the impact of human activity on the environment and a concrete commitment to reduce this effect.
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is an international non-profit organization, which has developed a standard, known as the GRI Standard, to provide guidance to organizations wishing to communicate their sustainable performance transparently and comprehensively, through the publication of sustainability reports.
Reports based on GRI Standards assess the economic, environmental and social impacts of companies, allowing organizations to identify and evaluate their sustainable impact in a comprehensive and transparent way, in order to improve their sustainable performance
A By-product is a processing waste resulting from industrial processes, which is reused in another production process as a virgin raw material, but does not undergo any processing and recovery.
By-products, therefore, are those residues that do not fall within the management of company waste, in fact they can be used as raw material in a production chain also different from that from which the by-product was originated.
Resources:
Social Life Cycle Assessment, or SLCA, is a methodology for assessing the social and socio-economic impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle.
The SLCA is based on a systematic and comparative assessment of social impact data in order to identify problems and opportunities for improvement throughout the supply chain.
Resources:
Industrial symbiosis means the interaction between different industrial plants, grouped in districts or at a distance useful to make the operation feasible, used in order to maximize the reuse of resources, normally considered waste and optimizing knowledge and skills between companies.
Resources:
Creative Reuse (or Upcycling) is a practice that consists in transforming objects or waste materials into products of greater value and utility than their original state, with the aim of finding an alternative use to an object that can no longer meet its function for which it was created.
Unlike recycling, which involves breaking down materials and transforming them into new products, upcycling aims to reuse existing objects in a creative and innovative way.
Upcycling can be applied to different types of materials, including paper, plastic, textiles, metal and wood.
An example of Creative Reuse can be the reuse of pallets for home or urban furniture.
The term “market remittance” (or Re-marketing) refers to all strategies for the reintegration, in the market and in primary and secondary channels, of products that have undergone one or more processes related to the Circular Economy and must be resold.
Remanufacture is one of the strategies contained within the R-strategies framework.
The purpose of this action is to bring the product back to the original conditions of use, by replacing parts and components no longer usable product itself.
An Industrial Waste is a waste resulting from industrial production processes.
These wastes require their own management and disposal process, due to their dangerousness, difficulties in disposal or potential negative environmental impact.
There are two major distinctions between Industrial Waste: hazardous and non-hazardous and comparable and not comparable.
Refuse is one of the strategies contained within the R-strategies framework.
The purpose of this action is to avoid incorrect use of the product, reloading instead the same use with a different product.
An example of this is multifunctional products.
Reduce is one of the strategies contained within the R-strategies framework.
The objective of this action is to think about more efficient production or consumption methods, which imply less use of raw materials, processed materials and energy.
Refurbish is one of the strategies contained within the R-strategies framework.
The goal of this strategy is to restore the status of a product considered old, to a higher level of quality to meet specific needs.
Recycle is one of the strategies contained within the R-strategist framework.
The purpose of the actions related to recycling is to recover the value of the materials present in the product, which for various aspects such as regulatory or dysfunction, are destined to become waste and be disposed of.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that refers to the responsibility that companies have towards the company in which they operate.
CSR is an integrated, non-compulsory approach to business management that takes into account social, environmental and governance issues and aims to create value for the company and for society as a whole.
CSR implies that companies should not only pursue the goal of maximising profit, but also act ethically, sustainably and responsibly towards society and the environment in which they operate.
Extended Producer Responsibility is a legal principle that requires manufacturers of goods to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products, including final disposal.
In other words, manufacturers are required to manage their product even after it has been sold to the consumer.
REP encourages manufacturers to design products that can be safely and sustainably disposed of and implement waste management programs.
This implies that manufacturers must develop strategies for the recovery, recycling and management of their products at the end of their life cycle.
A Repair Café is a community-based initiative, where people share their experience and skills, on a voluntary basis, to other individuals and are places where people gather to repair household items, electronics and other everyday objects.
Overall, the Repair Café is a great way to promote sustainability by reducing waste and encouraging reuse and recycling.
Resources:
Remade In Italy is the voluntary environmental product certification, born in Italy, to indicate the production of Italian products regenerated, repaired or renewed from waste materials or unused products, in order to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainability.
Remade in Italy is therefore an example of Circular Economy, which promotes the rethinking of the traditional linear economic model, favoring instead the creation of a system in which reuse and recycling are considered an added value and not a cost.
WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is a particular category of waste deriving from EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) products, which have reached the end of their useful life and are therefore intended for collection and recycling.
They are therefore quite complex at a structural level, which have a particular purpose, process and disposal cost compared to other waste.
Resources:
The Multifunctional Product is an object that summarizes several functions, such as smartphones or PCs, and the main objective is to provide the customer with added value, increasing its usefulness and convenience.
This product is of fundamental importance for the fight against waste, as it reduces the need to buy more products to perform different functions, which results in less waste, less material extraction and less environmental impact.
However, the realization of a multifunctional product can be a challenge, since it requires advanced design and technology, as well as a thorough knowledge of customers’ needs and their needs.
The product as a service(PaaS) is a business model that consists in offering a product as a continuous service, rather than as a single purchase.
In this model, the consumer pays for access to the product (temporary ownership), rather than for possession of the product itself, offering greater flexibility and freedom of choice, without having to bear the costs and responsibilities associated with ownership of a product.
paas requires a change of mentality for both consumers and companies, who must get used to thinking of products as long-term services.
The 9 R principle is a practical guide to reducing waste and promoting environmental sustainability.
The 9 Rs refer to nine actions that can be taken to reduce the environmental impact of an activity or a product, with a view to circularity, and are: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Recycle and Recover.
The Blue Economy is a branch of the Green Economy, an economic model dedicated to the construction of a sustainable economic system through technological innovation.
The goal of the blue economy is to achieve zero carbon emissions.
The Blue Economy is based on innovation through the development of physical principles and the reuse of existing resources, for example, using scientific methods such as biomimicry.
The model was proposed by Gunter Pauli in the book: “The Blue Economy: 10 years, 100 Innovation, 100 Million jobs”.
The term Green Hushing refers to false or misleading claims of corporate sustainability, and is used when a company has announced a climate goal, but does not intend to clearly advertise its commitment to achieving it.
It is the so-called “green silence”.
This can complicate the assessment of corporate climate goals, limit knowledge sharing on decarbonisation, lead to less ambitious goals and miss opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration.
Anaerobic digestion is a biological process in which microorganisms decompose organic matter in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas, a methane-rich gas used as a renewable energy source.
Anaerobic digestion occurs in a closed environment called an anaerobic reactor.
The process involves bacteria that transform organic matter into a mixture of biogas and residual liquid called digestate.
Anaerobic digestion is a sustainable technology that can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, manage organic waste and produce renewable energy.
“Carbon zero” is a term similar to “carbon neutrality” and indicates the same goal of balancing the emissions of greenhouse gases produced by human activities with the ability of the Earth to absorb them.
In general, the term “carbon zero” refers to situations where the net environmental impact of human activities on the environment is zero in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, while the term “carbon neutrality” refers to situations where greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by a compensatory action that removes or reduces carbon emissions from the atmosphere.
Both terms are important targets for combating climate change and require concrete actions such as the use of renewable energy, energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
The BS 8001 standard is the English standard published in 2017 by the British standardization body BSI.
The BS 8001 standard aims to help organizations and individuals to consider and implement more circular and sustainable practices within their businesses, introducing better ways of working, providing more circular products and services or redesigning their entire business model.
Resources:
The AFNOR XP X30-901 standard is the French standard published in 2018 by the AFNOR standardization body and is the only international reference for the implementation of a management system for the circular economy of an organization.
It was created to be an international reference point for all companies that want to adopt circular solutions within their value chain, production systems or service delivery.
It also allows organizations to provide a methodology for managing and reporting on one or more projects for the transition to circular economy models.
EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) are objects composed of electrical and metallic elements that, for a correct functioning, need electric currents or electromagnetic fields, such as PCs, smartphones or washing machines.
Waste from these objects is called WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment).
Resources:
Carbon Neutrality consists in achieving a balance between the emissions of greenhouse gases produced by human activities and the absorption capacity of the planet.
In order to achieve this, which the EU has declared as a target to be achieved by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions must be drastically reduced through more sustainable practices and the use of clean technologies, such as renewable energy sources.
In addition, it may be necessary to offset residual emissions through forest conservation, sustainable agriculture and other methods that remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Neomaterials are innovative materials derived from production processes that follow the principles of the Circular Economy.
There are 3 broad categories of neomaterials:
The Second Raw Material is a production waste, which, through specific recovery processes, is used in a production process equal to or different from the one that generated it.
In this context, Italy refers to the category called by-product.
The second raw material plays a crucial role in the Circular Economy, as it allows to reduce the dependence on virgin raw materials, allowing to reduce the environmental impact associated with the extraction of new raw materials and the production of products from scratch.
Through the recycling of existing materials, the second raw material allows to create a longer life cycle for products and to reduce the amount of waste destined for landfills.
Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a production technology in which a three-dimensional object is created layer by layer from a digital model.
The additive manufacturing process involves the use of a 3D printer, which is programmed with the digital model of the object to be produced.
The 3D printer then uses one of several 3D printing methods, including molten filament deposition, stereolithography, and selective laser sintering, to create the object layer by layer.
Additive manufacturing offers several advantages over traditional production methods:
Machine as a service (maas) is a business model where companies provide their customers with access to machines or equipment as a service, rather than selling the machines themselves.
It is an example of the more general product-as-a-service.
In this business model, the companies that provide the service are responsible for the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of the machines, while customers pay only for their actual use, without having to invest in their acquisition.
In this way, the companies that offer the service can provide high quality and updated machines, ensure greater flexibility and cost control for customers, and improve resource utilization, creating long-lasting relationships with customers.
Reverse logistics is the process of backward planning of material flows, from the point of consumption to the point of origin, in order to recover value or ensure proper disposal or recycling of products, materials or waste.
Unlike traditional logistics, which deals with the transport of products from the producer to the final consumer, reverse logistics manages the movement of used products, defective or no longer necessary from the point of end of life, for their recycling, repair and reuse.
In a circular economy, where products and materials are designed to be reused and recycled, reverse logistics allows the recovery of useful materials and products that would otherwise have been lost, creating new business and recycling opportunities.
Reverse logistics is a key element of environmental sustainability and can bring many benefits to the companies that implement it, including reducing costs and increasing efficiency, as well as creating a competitive advantage in the market.
Life Cycle Management, or LCM, is an approach designed to ensure a more sustainable management of the value chain.
The LCM is decision support tool specifically designed for companies of any size and is often implemented by other tools such as LCA, LCC, SLCA, LCT.
The main objective of the LCM is to maximize the value of the product or service to the customer and the company, while reducing environmental impact and long-term spending.
The LCM also aims to improve the sustainability of the product or service, reducing the consumption of resources and minimizing the negative effects on the environment.
Life Cycle Costing, or LCC, is a method of evaluating the total cost of a product, service, or system throughout its entire life cycle, from design to production, use, and end of life.
Life cycle cost assessment is useful to help make informed decisions about choosing products and services, as it takes into account all long-term costs, not just initial purchase costs.
Resources:
ISO 14040 is an international standard that provides guidelines for life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and services.
The standard describes the principles and requirements for carrying out a life cycle analysis and establishes the procedures for the environmental impact assessment.
Life Cycle Analysis is a methodology used to assess the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle, from production to disposal.
ISO 14040 establishes the following principles for life cycle analysis:
The use of ISO 14040 provides useful information to improve the sustainability of products and services and to promote the adoption of sustainable practices in industry.
The Indicators of Circularity are tools of different type and form useful to the companies in order to understand their degree of circularity to general level or the level of circularity of a determined action, product or service.
Some examples of these indicators are Circulytics and Material Circularity Indicator, both created by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Resources:
The carbon footprint is a measure of the environmental impact of human activities, in particular greenhouse gas emissions from energy consumption, transport use, industrial and agricultural activities, and waste management.
The carbon footprint measures the emissions, in particular, of carbon dioxide (CO2), but also of other gases such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), emitted into the atmosphere due to human activities.
The carbon footprint can be calculated at the individual, company or entire country level, and is expressed in tons of CO2 equivalent.
The calculation of the carbon footprint takes into account all phases of the life cycle of a product or service, from production to distribution, from consumption to disposal, and evaluates the energy used, the materials used, the distances travelled and other variables.
The carbon footprint has become an important tool in the fight against climate change, as it allows the identification of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions and the identification of the actions needed to reduce them.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-governmental organization that deals with the certification of sustainably managed forests.
The FSC aims to promote responsible forest management at a global level, through the definition of standards and criteria for sustainable forest management and the award of certifications to those companies that comply with these standards.
The FSC certification ensures that forest management is sustainable and responsible, respecting the rights of workers and local communities, protecting biodiversity and preventing deforestation.
Companies that adopt the FSC certification can use the FSC mark on their products, indicating that they come from sustainably and responsibly managed forests.
The FSC certification system provides for the adoption of standards for forest management, the traceability of raw materials and the chain of custody of forest products, in order to ensure that the final products are effectively produced in a sustainable way.
The linear economy is a traditional economic model based on the use of natural and material resources to produce goods, which are then used and, at the end of their life cycle, disposed of as waste.
This model is characterized by a production logic “produce, consume, dispose of”, which does not take into account the environmental and social consequences of production activities.
This model generates a high amount of waste and pollution, aggravates resource scarcity problems and contributes to climate change.
The linear economy has been adopted globally for decades and has generated a number of negative impacts on the environment and society, including biodiversity loss, air and water pollution, climate change and resource scarcity.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the adoption of Circular Economy models, which provide for the recovery and reuse of resources, in order to reduce waste and promote environmental sustainability.
Performance-based economy is an economic model that combines business performance management with the adoption of circular practices.
The main objective is to maximize the economic and environmental value generated by business activities, reducing waste and promoting the recovery and reuse of resources.
Performance-based economy includes several practices, including:
The performance economy can be an opportunity for companies to improve their sustainability, generating economic and environmental value.
However, it is necessary that the practices adopted are actually circular and not just a greenwashing, and that they are supported by appropriate policies and regulations at national and international level.
The sharing economy is an economic model that is based on the sharing of goods and services between individuals, organizations and communities, through digital platforms and communication technologies.
The main objective of the sharing economy is to maximize the use of resources and reduce waste, favoring access to goods and services without the need to purchase ownership.
The sharing economy includes several activities and services, including:
L’economia della condivisione può rappresentare un’alternativa sostenibile al modello economico tradizionale, favorendo l’utilizzo delle risorse esistenti e riducendo gli sprechi.
The Green Deal is a comprehensive plan proposed by the European Union (EU) to tackle climate change and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
The main goal of the Green Deal is to transform the EU’s economy to a sustainable, low-carbon, and circular economy that will benefit both the environment and society.
The Green Deal focuses on several key areas, including:
The Green Deal is a significant and ambitious initiative that requires a collective effort from all EU Member States, businesses, and citizens to achieve its goals.
The end of life of a product refers to the phase in which a product has reached the end of its useful life and is disposed of or recycled.
In Linear Cycle systems, this moment coincides with the disposal of the product itself, while in the Circular Economy, waste is not seen as waste, but as a new input that re-enters the economic-productive circle, creating a closed system, where the scrap is the secondary raw material.
To improve end-of-life product management, many countries have introduced laws and regulations that require companies to manage their products sustainably.
This includes extended producer responsibility (EPR), which requires manufacturers to take responsibility for the management of their end-of-life products, including the collection, recycling and appropriate disposal of products.
In addition, the circular economy encourages the adoption of business models based on the provision of services rather than the sale of products.
In this way, the company takes charge of product management at the end of life, promoting repair, reuse or recycling, and can create new job opportunities and innovation.
Environmental Social Governance (ESG) is a set of criteria that are used by investors and companies to assess the degree of sustainability and social responsibility of business activities.
In particular, the ESG criteria are divided into three main categories: Environmental, Social and Governance.
The adoption of ESG criteria has become increasingly important in recent years, as these factors are increasingly relevant to investors and consumers who want to support companies with a sustainable footprint.
Resources:
Green washing is a term that indicates the practice of using marketing or communication techniques to promote products or services as ecological or sustainable, when in reality they are not or have a very limited environmental impact.
In other words, it is a way of making a company appear to be committed to the environment without any real action to support that commitment.
Green washing is considered ethically questionable, as it can be misleading for consumers and hinder real progress in sustainability
Environmental certification is a certificate that certifies, through technical and regulatory criteria, a company’s commitment to limiting its negative impact on the environment.
Examples of certification are the Ecolabel, ISO 14001, EMAS, ISO 50001.
To obtain these recognitions, companies must apply to an authorised independent body. In Italy, authorisation is given by Accredia, the Italian Accreditation Body.
Resources:
The environmental label is a labelling and certification system that is used to identify products that have a reduced environmental impact compared to other similar products on the market.
The Environmental Label aims to declare the sustainability characteristics of a product or service.
They are fundamental tools to combat the practice of Green Washing by bodies, organizations and companies, so as to make communication to the final consumer as transparent as possible, so that they can make more sustainable purchasing choices.
In addition, the environmental label can also motivate companies to produce more sustainable products, as companies that obtain the environmental label can stand out from the competition and gain a reputation for sustainability.
In Europe, the most well-known environmental labelling system is the EU Ecolabel, which indicates that the product has been produced according to strict environmental standards established by the European Union.
Product life extension is a concept that refers to a product’s ability to last longer than normal, while maintaining its functionality and features.
Product life extension is a key concept of the circular economy, which aims to reduce the consumption of natural resources and minimize waste production through the use of sustainable production and consumption models.
In a circular economy, product life extension is seen as a solution to counteract the pattern of over-consumption and waste generation.
It can be achieved through the adoption of strategies such as repair, reuse and recycling, such as maintaining the value of existing materials and products, reducing the need to produce new materials and products and reducing the amount of waste.
There are several economic advantages, including the creation of new jobs in the repair and maintenance sector, the saving on production costs through the use of recycled materials and the creation of new markets for regenerated and repaired products, as well as greater customer satisfaction, since durable and high quality products can offer better value for money and can meet the needs of consumers for longer periods of time.
The green economy is a model of economic development that aims to achieve sustainable economic growth and environmental protection simultaneously.
The objective of the green economy is to create production and consumption systems that are able to preserve natural resources and promote social and economic welfare.
This model is based on the idea that sustainable development is only possible if innovative solutions are found to meet environmental and economic challenges.
In essence, the green economy aims to create a fairer and more sustainable economic system that can meet the needs of current generations without compromising the resources and opportunities of future generations.
The cascade cycle is a circular economy model in which waste is used as a resource for the production of new products, so as to avoid material waste and reduce environmental impact.
The cascade cycle involves a series of steps in which materials are recovered, disassembled, repaired and recycled, thus creating a production chain in which each phase exploits the materials and resources from the previous phase.
This reduces production costs, limits the exploitation of natural resources and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The cascade cycle is one of the key strategies for the circular economy, as it allows to maximize the value of materials and resources, minimizing environmental impact and creating new opportunities for sustainable economic development.
Industrial ecology is an interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on the design and optimization of industrial systems in order to minimize environmental impact.
The main objective of industrial ecology is to create sustainable production systems that minimize the consumption of natural resources, waste production and pollution.
In practice, industrial ecology seeks to create a virtuous cycle in which one company’s waste becomes a resource for another, so as to reduce waste production and pressure on the environment.
The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary eco-label that is subject to certification by an independent organisation and is based on a set of scientifically established selection criteria that consider the environmental implications of goods or services for all their life cycle (competent body).
The European Union Ecolabel (EU Ecolabel) identifies goods and services that, while maintaining high performance requirements, are distinguished by a lower environmental impact over their entire life cycle.
Resources:
According to a specific idea known as “green chemistry”, chemical and chemical engineering studies are based on the creation of goods and procedures that reduce or completely eliminate the use and production of hazardous substances.
It refers to the entire life cycle of a chemical, including its creation, use and disposal.
It is, by definition, the design of chemical products and processes that minimize or completely avoid the use or generation of compounds that could endanger people or the environment.
Since it is preferable to avoid waste rather than treat it or dispose of it after its production, synthetic arrangements for the use and production of chemicals with the least possible amount of toxicity should be established.
In order to find the most environmentally friendly design solution, product or service throughout its life cycle, taking into account the profitability of the market, minimum environmental criteria (CAM) are environmental requirements established for the various stages of the purchase process.
By decree of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, CAMs are defined as a component of the Plan for the Environmental Sustainability of Consumption in the Public Administration Sector.
Resources:
The study and imitation of biological and biomechanical processes in nature and living beings is known as biomimicry and serves as a source of inspiration for the progress of human endeavors and technology.
Nature is used in the design of technical products and articles as a model, measure and guide.
The creation of projects based on biomimicry requires an understanding of how natural systems work to apply these principles to human inventions.
Biomass is the organic material produced by plants and animals that has been specifically treated for use as biofuel in power plants.
It is a renewable energy source that reduces dependence on fossil fuels. The organic materials from which energy is derived are agricultural waste, green twigs from forestry and agriculture, municipal organic waste, processing waste from the agri-food industry, firewood residues and algae.
The combustion of biomass produces heat and generates a quantity of carbon dioxide similar to that produced by a typical process of photosynthesis in nature.
The 2030 Agenda, approved on 25 September 2015 at the General Assembly of the United Nations and signed by the 193 UN member countries, indicates 17 objectives (sdgs) and 169 “targets” or sub-targets to be reached by 2030.
It represents the new global reference framework for national and international efforts to find common solutions to the great challenges of the planet, such as extreme poverty, climate change, environmental degradation and health crises.
They are common Objectives that concern all countries and all individuals: no one is excluded from them, nor must they be left behind along the necessary path to bring the world on the path to sustainability.
With the term Green Branding, we mean all communication and promotion activities, implemented by companies, associations or startups, aimed at enhancing the aspects and values of sustainability of their brand, in line with environmental protection, respecting the principles of environmental sustainability
Green Branding offers Green businesses creative and effective tools to spread their messages through eco-sustainable communication activities.
According to the definition of the European Commission, the bioeconomy “concerns all sectors and systems based on biological resources (animal and plant species, micro-organisms and the resulting biomass, including organic waste)”, or includes “all primary production sectors using and producing biological resources (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture), and all economic and industrial sectors using biological resources and processes for the production of food, feed, bio-based products, energy and services”.
Moving away from fossil raw materials towards a circular and sustainable economy based on biological resources and processes and oriented to the natural cycles of materials, is what represents the concept of bioeconomy.
Sustainable Finance is that branch of finance that operates within the market by analysing investments through two main instruments: ESG criteria and Socially Responsible Investment (ESG).
Environmental certification is a certificate that certifies, through technical and regulatory criteria, a company’s commitment to limiting its negative impact on the environment.
Examples of certification are the Ecolabel, ISO 14001, EMAS, ISO 50001.
To obtain these recognitions, companies must apply to an authorised independent body. In Italy, authorisation is given by Accredia, the Italian Accreditation Body.
The Environmental Label aims to declare the sustainability characteristics of a product or service.
They are fundamental tools to counteract the practice of Green Washing by authorities, organisations and companies, so as to make communication to the end consumer as transparent as possible, helping them in their purchasing choices.
Product Life Extension is a pattern of use of an object or product that aims to maximise the use that can be made of that product.
In this way, an attempt is made to reduce the waste associated with the normal consumption for which the object was intended.
Eco-efficiency is that process or set of processes that leads to the realisation of a product (understood as a physical product or service) trying to have the lowest possible environmental impact, starting from the abstraction of the raw material to the consumption and disposal of the object.
Although, Eco-efficiency improves resource productivity, it remains locked into the current production and consumption model and, in essence, makes the current linear model less negative.
.
Eco-efficacy is used as a yardstick to assess the ability of a process or processes to achieve its objectives, while keeping its impacts and consequences on the ecosystems involved under control during the entire product life cycle.
The purpose of this tool is to create new solutions designed to be environmentally sound, so that human activity can have an impact that is good for the world.
Ecodesign (or sustainable design/engineering) is an economic model that involves the entire process of conception, design, sale on the market and disposal of an environmentally friendly product by reducing the negative impact it could have on the ecosystem to a minimum.
Consequently, the materials chosen must be sustainable and recyclable with the utmost respect for the environment and primary resources.
“From the Cradle to the Gate” refers to the phase also present in LCA analysis, i.e. the life cycle analysis of the product, which starts from the extraction of virgin raw materials until the product leaves the factory.
This phase of the LCA is crucial not only to correctly construct the sustainability profile of a product but also to identify potential waste and opportunities for optimisation and savings.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, founded in 2010 by Ellen MacArthur, is an international organisation that is a point of reference on issues such as sustainability and the circular economy.
Headquartered in the UK, it now works with major brands and organisations to accelerate the transition to a greener, circular economy by building partnerships and organising initiatives to raise community awareness on these issues.
The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a product-related environmental labelling (according to UNI ISO 14025:2006).
This label makes it possible to communicate objective, comparable and credible information about the environmental performance of products and services assessed according to the LCA analysis methodology.
Resources:
Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) is a standardised method for assessing, quantifying and calculating the environmental impact (e.g. CO2 emissions) of the entire life cycle of a product/service.
The LCA stardard is internationally regulated by ISO 14040:2006 – Principles and Framework and ISO 14044:2006 – Requirements and guidelines.
The Life Cycle Assessment therefore provides a very detailed picture of the relationships between human actions and the surrounding ecosystem and their relative impact on the environment.
Resources:
Plastic-free, which literally means “free from plastic”, is often denounced only as a marketing slogan, but is actually a commitment to a more correct use of this material, since a world without plastic is impossible.
Being Plastic-free means giving up disposable plastic items where there are reusable alternatives on the market that allow you to maintain the need for hygiene, preservation and integrity.
Resources:
The circular economy is an economic model involving a production and consumption system that involves sharing, lending, reusing, repairing, reconditioning and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended, helping to minimise waste, focusing instead on the performance of products and systems.
Fonti
I principi dell’economia circolare sono un cambio di paradigma con il tradizionale modello economico lineare, fondato sullo schema “estrarre, produrre, utilizzare e gettare”. Il modello economico tradizionale dipende dalla disponibilità di grandi quantità di materiali e energia facilmente reperibili e a basso prezzo.
