Environment: 260 memberships and 800 experts for the ENEA Platform on the circular economy

Morabito, ICESP source of good practices for businesses and territories

ICESP, the Italian platform of actors for the circular economy (ICESP) launched by ENEA four years ago to enable cooperation to advance the circular economy in industrial supply chains and cities, is growing.  In 2021, membership increased by 30% with the admission of 60 new organizations (from 200 to 260) representing public institutions, businesses and trade associations, the world of research and civil society; the number of experts participating in the work also went from 500 to over 800, 60% more than the previous year, as reported at the fourth annual Conference of the Platform held in Rome to present the main outcomes of the thematic groups operating in ICESP with the aim of promoting production and consumption models and strengthening the synergies among industrial, environmental and social policies [1].

“The transition from linear to circular economy will be very challenging. We need to bring together the world of research and innovation, institutions and citizens", said the President of ENEA Gilberto Dialuce in opening the Conference. “ENEA is increasingly committed to developing innovative technologies and methodologies that aim to reduce resource consumption, prevent waste and close cycles. The ICESP platform has considerably grown with the participation, in the last year, of 260 organizations and 800 experts ", said Dialuce.

"Our country's attitude to the circular economy has roots in our scarcity of raw materials. But this is no longer enough because the transition to the circular economy requires further efforts, energy, investments ", said the Secretary General of Unioncamere Giuseppe Tripoli in greeting the participants. “A third of Italian companies has made investments in the green area in recent years. Which  means that two thirds did not. We need to bring this world closer. There is a lot of work to do and Unioncamere considers ICESP a valid tool for implementing the transition in a subsidiary manner and confirms its participation " Tripoli said.

Morabito, ICESP national and international reference point

"The increased memberships to the Platform prove the interest in circular economy issues, also as a tool for combating climate change, and particularly in ICESP as a national and international reference point as concerns collaborative approaches for the transition to the circular economy and a driving force for the dissemination of knowledge, good practices and circularity paths"  said Roberto Morabito, president of ICESP and Director of the ENEA Department of Sustainability of Productive and Territorial Systems.

"The Platform - he continued - is a community of organizations strongly motivated to activate all the tools necessary for a circular transition in our country, in the context of a systemic political vision based on solid programming and planning, with an action plan which identifies goals, methods, timelines and clear governance, defining actors, roles and functions for the circular economy in support of the public administration, businesses and citizens ".

Participants at the institutional round table included Simona Bonafè (MEP), Alessia Rotta (President of the Environment Commission of the Chamber), Roberta Lombardi (Councilor for Ecological Transition and Digital Transformation of the Lazio Region), Renato Grimaldi (Director General of the Directorate for the Circular Economy of the Ministry of Ecological Transition), Paola Migliorini (DG Environment of the European Commission) and Giacomo Vigna (Directorate General for Industrial Policy, Innovation and Small and Medium Enterprises of the Ministry of Economic Development) .

Participants’contributions

As regards businesses, Fernanda Panvini at Enel pointed out that “a circular revolution can only take place if technologies and production processes will adopt a regenerative approach. This change process must take place from the very beginning: avoiding the use of virgin materials and non-renewable energies, taking into account the supply chain, focusing on repairability and disassembly and managing the end (of  first life) of each element and material. "

As concerns circular cities and territories, Enrica Maria Martino of the Agency for Territorial Cohesion said that "to implement the ecological transition it is necessary to put national and European development strategies at the center, support cities and territories in this planning and implementation phase, strengthen its governance, enhance its good practices and virtuous processes, foster a cultural change. Applying the principles of the circular economy to urban services and infrastructures through a process of collaboration among all the actors is crucial to promote a circular culture and implement participatory governance, involving citizens and businesses with shared responsibility ".

Ilaria Giannoccaro of the Polytechnic of Bari pointed out that "ICESP, through a database of good circular economy practices, contributes to collecting and disseminating the principles of the circular economy and reaffirms its active role as promoter and accelerator of the circular transition processes of the Italian economy.

The activities conducted to develop a structured and scientific approach

to identify and collect good practices, as well as the creation of an analysis model for replicability of good practices, aimed at assessing the level of adoption and the potential economic, environmental and social impact, are in fact useful tools for companies and institutions to implement the Italian strategy for the circular economy ".

All the participants agreed that the circular transition requires an active involvement of all the actors of the company, each in their own field of competence and for their own role. It has been pointed out by many that ICESP represents a good practice in implementing collaborative and intersectoral approaches, unique at national level, and is a valuable operational tool to support the implementation of a national strategy for the circular economy.

For more information please contact:

Grazia Barberio, ENEA – Department of Sustainability of Productive and Territorial Systems – ICESP Technical Coordination, grazia.barberio@enea.it

Carla Creo, ENEA – Department of Sustainability of Productive and Territorial Systems, carla.creo@enea.it

ICESP Website: www.icesp.it

Video of the fourth Annual Conference ICESP2021: https://bit.ly/3Idzwp7

Contacts: info@icesp.it

[1] ICESP, coordinated by ENEA, was born in 2018 as the Italian Hub of the European platform ECESP to bring together initiatives, experiences, critical issues and perspectives of all players in the circular economy of our country and promote and represent in Europe "the Italian way to a circular economy ". Now in its fourth year, it represents a nationally and internationally consolidated point of reference and comparison on the subject, and it actively collaborates with similar European platforms.  ICESP activities are conducted as part of thematic working groups.