Circular economy, Italy reinforces leadership

Italy is at the top of the European circularity index (which takes into account performance in production and consumption, waste management, use of recycled raw materials, competitiveness and innovation, sustainability and resilience): in the ranking drawn up in the Circular Economy Network's 2025 Circular Economy Report, promoted by the Foundation for Sustainable Development and realised in cooperation with ENEA, it is in second position after the Netherlands among the 27 EU countries but first among the main European economies ahead of Germany, France and Spain.

With the latest available data (2023) in hand, one can see how our country has increased its resource productivity in recent years, reaching EUR 4.3 per kg, a 20 per cent improvement over 2019, and also the circular material utilisation rate, which has reached 20.8 per cent, while in 2023 it was 18.7. On the negative side: the dependency on material imports remains high. In 2023, it amounted to 48% of the total requirement, which is significantly higher than the EU's figure of 22% in the same year.

The cost of our imports has risen from €424.2 billion in 2019 to a whopping €568.7 billion in 2024, an increase of 34%, notes the Circular Economy Network report presented on 15 May in Rome in the presence of Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin during the 7th National Conference on the Circular Economy. The study highlights the need for an acceleration: an increase in circularity, with greater efficiency in the use of resources and an increase in the use of secondary raw materials, can in fact help to strengthen the made in Italy and improve the competitiveness of companies.

"In an uncertain economic and political context, with worsening international conflicts, in which raw materials also play a key role, Italy must decide whether to strengthen its leadership in circularity or lose this advantage," comments Edo Ronchi, president of the Foundation for Sustainable Development.

Ronchi emphasises that in order to really get the circular economy off the ground, a change of perspective is needed: "Today, too much focus is placed on waste management and too little on upstream actions, such as designing products that last longer, are easily repaired and can be reused. In addition, the market for secondary raw materials is still weak, and there is a lack of effective tools to monitor real progress on circularity, which goes beyond waste recycling. To overcome these obstacles, we need to make sustainable choices more convenient for everyone, both producers and consumers; use tax levers to reward those who reduce waste and introduce circular criteria in public purchasing as well. We are still leaders, but there are other countries that are running ahead of us'.