By Corrado Gaudenzi, Head of Long-Term Sustainable Strategies at Eurizon

My favorite place to spend the summer is Rimini. The city and the province have a lot to offer. Located on the Italian Adriatic coast Rimini is a major international tourist destination and seaside resort. Indeed, it attracts visitors thanks to the more than 15-kilometer-long sandy beach but also for a large number of opportunities for leisure and spare time.

Thanks to the clean water, the purity of which is checked several times a day, the beach in Rimini has been awarded the Blue Flag, the Bandiera Blu, since 2018. This is only awarded to beaches with excellent water quality that can also demonstrate sustainable measures such as waste separation.

Breathtaking Views

But Rimini is not just «sea and city», it also has beautiful countryside with enchanting villages and marvelous landscapes, unique sights, art sites, castles and palaces. On one side there is the Marecchia Valley, which descends from Sasso Simone and Simoncello to the sea, with its peaks, forests, and rocky spurs on which fortresses rise with breathtaking views.

On the other side, the Conca Valley stretches out with its rolling hills and fields scented with wine, olives, and wheat, with marvelous views of the coast and picturesque fortified villages.

Environmental Awareness and Circular Economy

Corrado Gaudenzi, Eurizon (Image: courtesy)

Rimini has a strong connection to the circular economy, especially through the annual Ecomondo fair, one of the most important international events for green technologies and sustainable development. This fair promotes the international exchange of ideas and technologies in the fields of circular economy, waste and resource management, renewable energy and sustainable innovation.

We are facing an environmental crisis that is leading to land degradation, water and food scarcity, biodiversity loss and climate change. The transition to a circular economy is crucial to prevent the irretrievable consumption of natural resources and to achieve net zero emissions. This transition should promote sustainable and inclusive growth.

On the beach (Image: Fabio Tura, Unsplash)

Investing in companies that are leaders in the circular economy offers benefits such as reduced dependence on the raw materials market, more efficient use of materials, and greater cost efficiency. These companies build better customer loyalty through accompanying services and generate continuous revenue. Initial investments to reorganize the production process and business model lead to a solid net cash flow in the medium term.

Determining the Degree of Circularity

The challenge is to accurately measure the circularity score of companies, as there are currently no detailed reporting standards. Our long-term sustainability strategy team has therefore developed its own system for assessing the circular economy. The focus here is on the characteristics of the production process, the business model and the willingness of company management to pursue the circular economy.

Summer the city (Image: Sara Kurfess, Unsplash)

The data from the reports published in 2021 by around 470 manufacturing companies represented in the global share index show an average circularity score of around 0.8 on a scale of 0 to 10. In more detail, the companies have mostly decided to redesign their production processes, optimize the composition of raw materials, waste management, and packaging management. However, they seem to be lagging when it comes to implementing new business models.

These results show that we are only at the beginning of the transition to a circular economy and that there is still plenty of room for improvement that needs to be utilized in the coming years.