{"id":7537,"date":"2022-05-27T15:31:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T14:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circularity.com\/circularguide\/il-circularity-gap\/"},"modified":"2022-07-29T15:11:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T14:11:33","slug":"il-circularity-gap","status":"publish","type":"circularguide","link":"https:\/\/circularity.com\/en\/circularguide\/il-circularity-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"CIRCULARITY GAP: the first circular economy concept"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

There is still a long way to go for a more circular future. Knowing the GAP that separates us from an ideal circularity <\/strong>and the opportunities that a company can seize, are the first steps to be successful in this transition. Let\u2019s learn more about this important concept of the circular economy in this didactic unit. <\/strong>The circular economy is a business model that pushes to reuse \u201cmatter\u201d as much as possible in any production process, trying not to waste resources and transforming waste into new opportunities, for a real RENEWAL OF MATTER<\/a>. This change must be seen by companies as an opportunity to transform what they previously considered waste as a new resource, bringing not only environmental but also economic benefits. In a production, trying to reuse one\u2019s waste or find a suitable market that can buy it to recycle it has always been difficult in Italy, both for regulatory problems, for <\/strong>CERTIFICATIONS<\/strong><\/a>, <\/strong>for safety the quality of the waste (and consequently the resulting product), and the knowledge of possible buyers and a structured industrial network ready to use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years there has been however a change of course to try to encourage and accelerate their recycling and reuse, regulating authorizations <\/strong>END OF WASTE<\/strong><\/a> to European indications to cease the qualification of waste and thus be able to sell them in the market and use them for specific purposes. Even the advent of new NETWORKS AND DIGITAL PLATFORMS<\/strong> has helped to underline the importance of creating a network of companies, local authorities, service companies that sharing experiences, projects, by exchanging and trading materials and resources, they are able to achieve the objectives of the circular economy. The current scenario, however, shows that the road is still long to reach a true circularity and the gap to be filled for a correct reuse of the material is broad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circularity GAP: the circular economy concept that measures circularity<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To know what the current \u201cstate of circularity\u201d of our society is, the Circularity GAP can be understood as the unit of measurement that allows you to understand the state of the art of the circular economy at a global level or of individual countries. The first measurement was proposed and developed by Circle Economy <\/a>which has actually pointed out the lack of global baseline measurements of the circular state of our world or data available to truly understand how one can actually move towards a full circular transition and monitor progress. These data allows us to have a starting point to understand which sectors and which countries need more support to give a circular benefit to the whole planet.

The latest report presented in 2019 (download here<\/a>) shows how currently our world is circular only at 9% and the trend is worsening instead of better, the circularity gap is not closing. An upward trend in resource extraction has been identified and consequently greenhouse gas emissions have continued, going against the indications of the Paris Agreement which wants to maintain the global temperature increase of 1.5\u00b0C compared to the pre-industrial period. All the key indicators confirm that the problems of a linear economy are \u201ccooking\u201d our planet and that, moreover, the engine of our global economy is going the opposite of how it should go. Material extraction has fueled economic progress since the Industrial Revolution, while at the same time causing man-made greenhouse gas emissions. There is therefore a close interplay between material extraction, financial value creation and greenhouse gases emissions. Analyzing data, over the past four decades the global use of materials has nearly tripled, from 26.7 billion tons in 1970, to 92.1 billion tons in 2017 and is expected to grow between 170 and 184 billion tons by 2050.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The interaction between matter, economic value and carbon emissions \u2013 MVC(Mass-Value-Carbon)<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Circle Economy<\/a> in his report measuring circularity, analyzed the global economy through three objectives <\/strong>fundamental for circularity: material performance, creation of financial value and climate emissions. <\/strong>This Mass-Value-Carbon (MVC) nexus provides a dynamic conceptual framework for the identification and evaluation of key variables for the development of the circular economy. Being able to understand which materials ( Mass <\/strong>) have more value than others ( Value <\/strong>) both in terms of extraction costs and revenues in the market, and what their impact is in terms of carbon emissions ( Carbon <\/strong>), allows you to carry out various assessments on how it is appropriate to develop new strategies and projects to incentivize or discourage, recover, recycle or reuse materials compared to others.

The analysis carried out is able to highlight the correlation between 4 main groups of primary resources (minerals, metals, fossil fuels and biomass) and their use in 7 needs and requirements of society:<\/p>\n\n\n\n