Italy top in the European Union for the circular economy

Circular economy

Rome [ENA] Italy came top in the European Union for the circular economy for the third year running in 2019, according to a new report from the CEN-Circular Economy Network and alternative energy agency Enea on 30 of March. Totting up the points from each sector of the circular economy, Italy was top with 79 followed by France with 68, Germany and Spain with 65 and Poland with 54, said the report.

Italy won the gold medal for the circular economy among the main economies of the European Union, but this pre-eminence is at risk. In circular production, Italy scores 26 points, with a gap of 5 points from France. Compared to 2020, Italy is stable in first place but without significant improvements, on the contrary, France in the same period grew by 1 point. The advantage is shortened. Let's see why through some data. For resource productivity Italy is at the top of the table. Each kg of resource consumed generates € 3.3 of GDP, against a European average of € 1.98.

In terms of the share of renewable energy used compared to the total energy consumption, Italy lost its primacy: with 18.2% it falls to second place, behind Spain (18.4%) but ahead of Germany (17, 4%), France (17.2%) and Poland (12.2%). The recycling of urban waste in 2019, according to ISPRA (National System for Environmental Protection) data, was 46.9%, in line with the European average, positioning Italy in second place after Germany. The percentage of recycling of all waste is instead 68%, clearly above the European average (57%): in first place among the main European economies.

The circular material use rate in Italy in 2019 was 19.3%: higher than the EU27 average (11.9%), lower than the French one (20.1%), but higher than the German one (12.2%). Italy, on the other hand, is the last among the great European economies in terms of number of patents. In 2016, 14 Italian patents were filed out of a total of 269 in the EU (67 in Germany alone). As for employment in the repair, reuse and recycling sectors, Italy is in second place: behind Poland, ahead of France, Germany and Spain. In the evaluation of investments and employment, Italy is in fourth place, after Spain, Poland and Germany. In 2018, in the EU27, more than 3.5 million people were employed in the circular economy sectors taken into consideration.

With 519,000 employees, Italy came in second after Germany (680,000 employees). However, if we analyze the data as a percentage of the total employed in the European Union, the people employed in some sectors of the circular economy are 1.71% of the total, while in Italy they represent 2.05%, just below Poland (2.18%). The development of the circular economy can also be favored by forms of consumption that promote the transition from the possession of goods to the use of services: the sharing economy. Regarding the rental and leasing of office equipment, including computers, among the 5 largest European economies, Italy has the largest presence of companies, but with a turnover that remains lower than other countries.

In Italy, the sharing mobility sector is growing and strengthening with an average increase in shared mobility services of 25% between 2018 and 2019. The total number of zero-emission vehicles also continues to rise, especially thanks to carpooling services and electric scootersharing, which went from around 620 vehicles in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019. In conclusion, on the repair and reuse front, there are over 25,000 repairing companies of electronic goods, but also of other personal goods (clothing, footwear, watches, jewelry, furniture, etc.) that operated in Italy in 2018 , Italy is in third place among the five most important economies in Europe, behind France (over 33,000 companies) and Spain (over 28,600).