Lower number of resources used. Longer life of use for all resources. Usage of regenerated materials. Resources being reused. The performance index for five European countries, with regards to chow circular their economy is, shows that Italy is ranking first, for the third year in a row. France and Germany rank 2nd and 3rd, respectively, while Spain and Poland follow. That’s at least the outcome of the Circular Economy Network report of Italy for 2021. The study was conducted by CEN (Circular Economy Network) and ENEA.
Circular economy
The report, we were saying, evaluated “the achievements within the areas of production, consumption, waste management, investments and employment, reparation and reusing” of materials. Italy’s success, explain the research’s authors, isn’t just an abstract award. It signifies the possibility of achieving the goals set by the Next Generation EU project, along with the effort to combat climate change. “The most relevant challenge we are facing – states Edo Ronchi, president of CEN -, is the definition of a National Plan for Recovery and Resilience. The new government has the obligation of improving and completing the current draft. We must assign a strategic role to circular economy within the National Plan for Green Transition as well. Our country is high in the ranking in Europe, when it comes to creating a circular model, but we are losing ground at global level”.
Leather’s country
The study cosigned by CEN and ENEA only marginally touches on the topic of leather. But it’s not by chance, we would like to add, that if Italy is ranked high on the list for circularity is also thanks to the fact that it’s already the global leader within the tanning segment. The leather segment, which recovers a byproduct of the livestock industry and transforms it into a fashion and design material, is a circular activity by definition, with an upcycling tendency. It’s not an industry that is used to do nothing. As it’s yearly reminded by UNIC – Italian Tanneries’ Sustainability Report, the chain’s companies invest to optimize processes and become greener, with concrete results that make it an exceptional example on an international scale.
Read also:
- All the sustainability of Italian leather is here: UNIC explains it
- Exotic leather is ethical: LVMH and Richemont explain why
- ILSA, new bio-stimulants made from 120,000 tons of tanning’s byproducts
