1,721,181 research outputs found
Circular economy transition in Italy. Achievements, perspectives and constraints
No full textThis study evaluates the transition to CE in Italy on a sample of 292 organizations after introducing a brief overview of the main principles of CE (reduction, repair, reuse, recover, remanufacturing, recycling) as well as how they are implemented at macro level. With regard to the sample we analysed the data related to the circular business models adopted by the selected organizations, with also a focus on CE implementation at the meso levels given that it also entails the adoption of cooperation strategies between companies. The results point out that several types of organizations (companies for profit and non-profit, research centres/universities) are involved in the transition to CE with different sizes (small, medium and large) and economic sector's specializations. Recycling resulted to be, among the so called 6R practical framework, the preferred practice of most of the organizations involved over the whole supply chain, from the collection of post-consumption waste to the recovery, recycling and production of secondary raw materials. The other “principles” such as repair, reuse, remanufacturing are progressing well, mainly within small companies, where several laboratories deal with the reuse of products and their selling in second hand shops, or in the recovery and redistribution of food surplus and the remanufacturing of personal computers. The “reuse”, in particular, has constantly increased in the last five years thanks to the on-line sales. Some companies also deal with the dissemination of the CE culture (by means of different channels such as cultural events, actions and best practices to avoid plastic abuse, repair cafés, urban regeneration and urban mining projects) that includes the diffusion of all its principles and concepts such as in particular the prevention and reduction of waste and the maintenance of the value of products. In that, such companies and their activities provide with the opportunity of shifting the concept of CE beyond the current social political debate centred on recycling. Hopefully, this will contribute to unlock and promote the preventive vision of the CE
Monitoring System's Performance and Efficiency by means of Emergy Based Indices and Ratios
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Exploring biophysical approaches to develop environmental taxation tools: Envitax, to face the "new scarcity"
No full textExploring Biophysical Approaches to Develop Environmental Taxation Tools. Envitax, to Face the "New Scarcity
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Modelling Interaction between Environment and Human Society in Italy: an EMergy Analysis
No full textInsights in Urban Resource Management: A Comprehensive Understanding of Unexplored Patterns
No full textIn the last few decades, the rapid urbanisation process has led to an exponential growth of resource use, making increasingly difficult to ensure the principles of sustainability within urban systems. Similar to living organisms, cities have always required resources and energy to survive. However, technological development and population growth have consequently led to increasing urban inflows and outflows, in so deeply altering the relations of cities with the environment as a source and a sink. Examples include the extraction of minerals for built environment and industrial processes providing manufactured goods; the conversion of fossil energy into electricity for buildings and fuel for vehicles; the use of natural resources (e.g., land or water) to support urban expansion activities. In a planet with limited resources, the challenge should not be to find new resources but to improve the way we use them and the lifestyles that they support, or in other words, to plan strategies to generate more value and higher quality of life with fewer inputs. It is well-known that cities depend on imports of external resources; however, they also benefit from internal resources and ecosystem services. Based on this framework, an urgent effort is needed to explore crucial urban issues that have not yet been adequately investigated. A strategic resource management is needed to actually move towards sustainable cities. In particular, a special focus should be placed on: (i) to monitor and properly manage the city's resources and energy systems within the metaphor of “urban metabolism;” (ii) to define innovative approaches, actions and strategies that ensure the sustainable management of non-renewable urban resources; (iii) to protect and restore urban ecosystem services as valuable renewable resources, and finally (iv) to envisage participatory governance processes for the appropriate allocation of resources to the common well-being
Complexity Measures in Ecological and Human-Dominated Systems: An Emergy-based Shannon Indicator
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