The manifesto on the circular future

There is Energy Domethe scaleup that has patented a system for storing energy from the sun and wind, based on CO₂. He has already created the first storage facility in Ottana, in Sardinia. There is Rice House, a benefit company that transforms rice processing waste into green building materials. He has already built 90 houses, between Lombardy and Piedmont. Houses, in which everything except the supporting structure is made of rice. There is Greenhouse which in Cosenza created the first consortium of companies specialized in the cultivation of citrus fruits in photovoltaic greenhouses, which feeds 95% of the energy produced into the national grid. There is Levant in Milan, he created solar panels, prêt-à-porter, foldable, origami-style, made of recycled and regenerable materials, to be able to carry and use on boats and campers.

They are four of more than 100 companies gathered in a virtual hackathon to create the first Manifesto on the circular future. The idea comes from the job community Wwworkers.itfounded by the journalist Giampaolo Collettiwhich with the Parliamentary Innovation Intergroup and the support of Opinno Italy, has decided to involve 100 green small and medium-sized enterprises to write the 10 rules of the circular economy.

In three months of work, four co-design sessions, also using innovative methodologies such as design thinking, the common fundamental values ​​of an increasingly circular future were defined. L’identikit of a green company? From the outset, it designs in a sustainable way, uses recycled and recyclable materials, pays attention to packaging, controls the entire supply chain, uses technology to reduce waste. Enhance human capital to spread awareness. And it has a circular thought: One Health, which means global health. Because if the planet is in balance, man is too.

“The Manifesto aims to be an inspiration both for those who have not yet started a circular path and for those who want to perfect it and grow” commented Silvia Amato, Director of Education, Communication and Culture Transformation of Opinno Italy during the press conference in the Chamber of Deputies . “It is the right thing to do so that all SMEs can understand good practices and bring them into their daily lives. When millions of our fellow citizens have embarked on this transition path, we will be able to say that we have made it”.

The circular economy is struggling to take off. Between 2018 and 2020, the circularity rate fell globally from 9.1% to 8.6% (Source: CEN, Circular Economy Network). In the last five years, consumption has grown by over 8%, exceeding 100 billion tons of raw material used in one year, against an increase in reuse of just 3% (from 8.4 to 8.65 billion tons). However, Italy is one of the countries that “holds on”: it is in first place, among the five European economies, for the most important indicators of circularity, together with France. And an important role for the development of the circular economy belongs to small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Today there are hundreds of SMEs and craft businesses in Italy that are making the most of the digital and environmental transition” explains Giampaolo Colletti. “They do it in the adoption of low-impact raw materials, in the use of innovative packaging, in the rethinking of a sustainable logistics and distribution chain. The winning key? Creating a system: networks of companies, consortia, networks will prevail. The interconnected skills put into a system will be able to make these circular and digital realities evolve into scalable and highly successful experiences”.

However, there is an important definition from which to start. “Circular economy does not only mean applying a sustainable approach to products when they are at the end of their life – explains Amato, commenting on the first point of the Manifesto – The true circular economy occurs when a product is born already sustainable both from an economic and an environmental point of view” . And again: it is not enough to produce with sustainable materials, the entire production cycle must be sustainable. Instead, one of the most critical issues is that of low-impact distribution. “It’s still very difficult especially in mass productions.” Finally, dedicated to those who think that the circular economy is only about using recycled and recyclable materials, here is the point of the Manifesto which sees man at the centre. “Because people make the difference. Entrepreneurs must promote a continuous training process that leads their employees to a change of mentality, towards the principles of sustainability”. Finally, for everyone, the invitation to a “One Health” approach.

“Because the quality and well-being of man’s life can only be achieved if there is quality and well-being in the Earth where he lives”.

Here are the 10 points of the Circular Future Manifesto

1. Circular design

Designing a product thinking about its entire life cycle, and therefore favoring the disassembly, recycling and reuse of the parts at its end. Aiming for the most eco-sustainable solution, optimizing the useful life of the resources that make it up.

1. Recycled and recyclable materials

Focus on the use of secondary raw materials or, alternatively, sustainable primary raw materials. Encourage the recycling of production waste. Creating local networks so that what is waste for one company can become a resource for another.

1. Sustainable production

Set up production cycles making sustainable use of materials, reducing waste and integrating processes that are independent of external sources. Aiming towards energy self-sufficiency marked by renewable sources and the achievement of zero impact.

1. Responsible packaging

Beyond the product, think about what is around it. Reduce the use of packaging and focus on solutions made with recycled, recyclable or biodegradable materials, which allow for better conservation and total use of the product and which are simple to use, easy to disassemble and recycle.

1. Low impact distribution

Encourage the transport of goods with low environmental impact vehicles. Where not possible, activate emission compensation policies. Increase trade in a short supply chain perspective. Encourage the choice of more sustainable home delivery options.

1. Controlled short supply chain

Oversee the entire supply chain avoiding waste. Trace the path of the product, even beyond the sale, thanks to the use of new technologies. Valuing the short range, investing in the territory and in the communities. Looking at global visions generating measurable and replicable local impacts

1. Transparency that makes the difference

Allow decision-makers and consumers to monitor, thanks to digital technologies, products and processes in a clear, simplified, measurable, accessible way along the entire supply chain. Those who bet on circularity have nothing to hide!

1. Human capital valued

It’s the people who make the difference. Promote the exchange of knowledge between all the actors of the ecosystem in order to promote awareness and growth. Generate impact also through communication, aiming to raise consumer awareness in continuous training.

1. Technological capital increased

Multiply the effectiveness of circularity thanks to advanced technologies: AI systems, machine learning, blockchain, new generation apps and tools improve the performance, control and effectiveness of the solutions and processes it proposes. At the core is impact measurement.

1. Circular thinking “One Health“

Thinking of new organizational and business models that place the human being at the centre. Measuring one’s environmental and social footprint throughout the product’s entire life cycle, maintaining the common health and well-being of present and future generations as a single vision.

The partners of the initiative that drafted the Manifesto are Amazon, Anas, Edison, ManpowerGroup.