The goal is to create a virtuous network to design a platform for industrial symbiosis of waste and by-products
By Serena Costa, freelance journalist for circulareconomyforfood.eu
The ninth edition of the Re-think Circular economy forum, a format of events on the circular economy designed to present a view on macro trends, possible evolutionary paths and major projects in the circular economy at local, national and international levels. In its fourth edition in the city of Taranto, Re-Think is organized by Tondo aps and actively involves companies, start-ups and research institutes with the aim of providing a space and tools to investigate the new boundaries of the circular economy. The goal of the forum is to create a network among small, medium and large companies, startups, research centers and universities united by the design of the economy of the future.
Tondo aps is a non-profit organization that actively acts to foster the transition to a regenerative economic and industrial system. Tondo is a place where entrepreneurs, innovators and designers can develop new projects shaped by the circular economy.
For the fourth consecutive year, the spotlight is on Taranto, an Apulian city that represents one of the challenges from the point of view of environmental, social and business redevelopment. Not surprisingly, Tondo aps has launched a project related to the timely survey of the state of circularity in the Taranto economy. Explaining the objectives of the project and illustrating more generally the state of the circular economy in Italy is the president of Tondo aps, Francesco Castellano.
President Castellano, where did the idea of the “Taranto Circular” project come from?
After doing two editions of Re-Thinking, there was an idea to do something more practical for the territories. Taranto Circular was born as a study with which to understand the circularity of the city through an in-depth analysis and knowledge of the territory, which was then developed through a mapping phase of existing projects. Now we are in the most difficult phase, which is to create a platform that brings together the waste and residues from the production of some companies in order to create industrial symbiosis flows.
One of the problems often encountered by businesses that want to do circular economy is that circular models that are applicable to small businesses are then not replicable on a large scale. How can this problem be overcome?
There are no one-size-fits-all recipes; it needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. One of the goals of the pilot project is precisely to see if by making economies of scale, the project can work. We definitely start with small models and, through a testing phase, try to understand if there are the economic and environmental impacts that are expected. A very important aspect for small companies is to be able to interact with large companies to understand needs, opportunities and requirements.
Where does Italy stand on circular economy?
Italy is definitely a virtuous country for several reasons, but mainly because it is a country poor in raw materials: hence the need not only to import so much, but above all to optimize as much as possible what comes in. Fortunately, at the cultural level there is a great deal of attention to the issue, and also from the technological point of view we are very advanced. According to some Italian studies, Italy would even be first among European Union countries in terms of the rate of advancement of the circular economy, but other European studies say that Germany or the Netherlands are first instead. What is certain is that even in our country there is still so much to do: current numbers speak of a 20 percent rate. 100 percent is impossible, but we need to go down a road to try to do more.
What can public policies do to accelerate the process of ecological transition?
Public policies are very important in defining the effects and pathway of waste and by-products, but also in defining the logic of their treatment. At present, I think the circular economy should be supported, because the linear economy has a very high economic advantage: for the former to be competitive and have the resources to patent new sectors, it should be subsidized. Also, a sector-by-sector frame should be built, as the EU is doing, through which to understand what the problems are and thus be able to stimulate the circular economy.
