Circularity and sustainability metrics for Italian agri-food systems: the CIRCULAGRIS project

Various EU initiatives prioritise agricultural sustainability and integrate the Circular Economy (CE) paradigm. In Italy, where agriculture is a leading sector, specific CE practices need to be evaluated to determine their actual sustainability performance. Indeed, the focus should be on the sustainability implications of CE practices rather than circularity alone. Hereof, scholars emphasise the need to assess sustainability impacts on both company and inter-firm levels (Roos Lindgreen et al., 2020; Walker et al., 2021). In particular, life cycle-based assessment methodologies are deemed suitable for evaluating sustainability in the sector (Notarnicola et al., 2015). However, for assessing CE practices, life cycle-based methodologies need to be further developed. This project aims to grasp the relationship between circularity and sustainability in this sector, identifying metrics and exploring the impact of circular practices on sustainability.