The current prevailing economic model is linear and is based on a take-make-consume-dispose path that is evidently unsustainable regarding to the continuous economic and demographic growth on the planet. It is therefore necessary a transition to a new economic model that is no longer linear but circular and regenerative, which increases the life of goods, reduces the production of waste and facilitates its reuse as a source of resources to be re-introduced in the production cycle. The circular economy stands as a possible and virtuous evolution of the linear economic model: the advantages are not only in environmental or social areas, but it also poses real gains in terms of economic employment, competitiveness and resilience of the whole system. The need for this change is now evident also to governments and international institutions that since 2015 are implementing strategies and agreements in order to make this transition real, starting from the Sustainable Development Goals published by the UN in 2015; the actions of the European Union, the Economic Forum World, OECD and individual national governments in implementing these initiatives. A cross-cutting and central theme for every aspect of sustainability that is gaining an ever increasing attention at international level is that of food waste. FAO has estimated that 1.3 billion tons of edible food are wasted each year, a third of world production and four times the amount needed to feed the world population suffering from hunger. The huge volume of food waste entails enormous waste in terms of economic resources, workforce, water and generates huge greenhouse gases emissions. Food waste occurs along the entire production chain: from cultivation to processing, from distribution to consumption, and presents structural differences between developed and developing countries. Solving the problem of food waste is an advantage for everyone in terms of environmental impact, social inclusion, economic savings for companies, the opening of new technology markets and innovative services. In Italy and France, laws were introduced in 2016 in order to combat food waste by following very different models. The Italian law 166/2006 (“Gadda law”) came into force on 14 September 2016 and deals with solving the problems of sectorial definitions, simplifies the procedures for food donation and also incentivizes it at fiscal level, introduces a hierarchy of priorities for the re-use of food surpluses, underlines the importance of informing consumers to get a virtuous change their behavior. In France the “Loi relative à la lutte contre the gaspillage alimentaire” (law on the fight against food waste) was approved on 3 February 2016; it is based on an impositive and punitive model completely different from the Italian one that is inspired by the "nudging", a model in which incentives and influence on choices have better results at lower costs compared to legislative actions and sanctions. In both countries there have been good results with the proliferation of charitable associations in France and voluntary initiatives by institutions and companies in Italy. These two laws, despite their diversity, place themselves at the forefront of the world in an evolution towards a socially and ecologically more sustainable system, and are object of observation by other states. Both legislative actions implement an integrated approach to their state context, but with a view to globalization and the loss of centrality of national governments “nudging” model could be the key to a synthesis between sustainability and economic development in the global transition to the circular economy.
Il modello economico attualmente prevalente, cioè quello lineare, prevede un percorso produzione-consumo-scarto ormai evidentemente insostenibile in vista della continua crescita economica e demografica in atto sul pianeta. Si rende necessaria quindi una transizione verso un nuovo modello economico non più lineare bensì circolare e rigenerativo che aumenti la vita dei beni, riduca la produzione di rifiuti e ne faciliti il riutilizzo come fonte di risorse da reimmettere nel ciclo produttivo. L’economia circolare si pone come evoluzione possibile e virtuosa del modello economico lineare: i vantaggi sono solo solamente in termini ambientali o sociali, ma pone anche reali guadagni in termini economici occupazionali, di competitività e di resilienza dell’intero sistema. La necessità di questo cambio di rotta è evidente ormai anche a governi e istituzioni internazionali che dal 2015 stanno mettendo in atto strategie e accordi per realizzare questa transizione, a partire dai Sustainable Development Goals pubblicati dall’ONU nel 2015, Unione Europea, il Forum Economico Mondiale, OCSE e i singoli governi nazionali in recepimento di queste iniziative. Un tema trasversale e centrale per ogni aspetto della sostenibilità e per questo avente una sempre maggiore attenzione a livello internazionale è quello dello spreco alimentare. La FAO ha stimato che ogni anno vengono sprecate 1,3 miliardi di tonnellate di cibo commestibile, un terzo della produzione mondiale e quattro volte la quantità necessaria a sfamare la popolazione mondiale denutrita. L’enorme volume di rifiuti alimentari comporta enormi sprechi in termini di risorse economiche, lavoro, acqua e genera ingenti emissioni di gas serra. Lo spreco alimentare ha luogo lungo tutta la filiera produttiva: dalla coltivazione alla trasformazione, dalla distribuzione fino al consumatore, e presenta differenze strutturali tra paesi sviluppati e paesi in via di sviluppo. Risolvere il problema degli sprechi alimentari è un vantaggio per tutti in termini di impatto ambientale, inclusione sociale, risparmio economico per le imprese, apertura di mercati di nuove tecnologie e servizi innovativi. In Italia e in Francia nel 2016 sono state introdotte leggi per combattere gli sprechi alimentari seguendo modelli molto diversi. Quella italiana, la legge 166/2006 (c.d. legge Gadda) entrata in vigore il 14 settembre 2016 si occupa di risolvere i problemi di definizione settoriale, semplifica le procedure di donazione delle eccedenze alimentari e le incentiva anche a livello fiscale, introduce una gerarchia di priorità di riutilizzo delle eccedenze alimentari, sottolinea l’importanza dell’informazione presso i consumatori per modificarne i comportamenti in senso virtuoso. In Francia la Loi relative à la lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire (legge sulla lotta contro lo spreco alimentare) approvata il 3 febbraio 2016 è invece basata su un modello impositivo e di penalizzazione completamente differente da quello italiano che invece si ispira al “nudging”, un modello secondo cui incentivi e influenza sulle scelte hanno migliori risultati a minori costi rispetto all’imposizione legislativa e sanzionatoria. In entrambi i paesi vi sono stati buoni risultati con il proliferare di associazioni caritative in Francia e iniziative volontarie da parte di enti e imprese in Italia. Queste due leggi pur nella loro diversità, si pongono all’avanguardia nel panorama mondiale di un’evoluzione verso un sistema socialmente ed ecologicamente più sostenibile, e sono ora oggetto d’osservazione da parte degli altri stati. Entrambe mettono in atto un approccio integrato al proprio contesto statale, ma in un’ottica di globalizzazione e perdita di centralità dei governi nazionali il modello di nudging potrebbe essere la chiave per una sintesi tra sostenibilità e sviluppo economico nella transizione globale verso l’economia circolare.
Economia Circolare: il caso dello spreco alimentare
DOGADI BRATTI, MARIANNA
2016/2017
Abstract
The current prevailing economic model is linear and is based on a take-make-consume-dispose path that is evidently unsustainable regarding to the continuous economic and demographic growth on the planet. It is therefore necessary a transition to a new economic model that is no longer linear but circular and regenerative, which increases the life of goods, reduces the production of waste and facilitates its reuse as a source of resources to be re-introduced in the production cycle. The circular economy stands as a possible and virtuous evolution of the linear economic model: the advantages are not only in environmental or social areas, but it also poses real gains in terms of economic employment, competitiveness and resilience of the whole system. The need for this change is now evident also to governments and international institutions that since 2015 are implementing strategies and agreements in order to make this transition real, starting from the Sustainable Development Goals published by the UN in 2015; the actions of the European Union, the Economic Forum World, OECD and individual national governments in implementing these initiatives. A cross-cutting and central theme for every aspect of sustainability that is gaining an ever increasing attention at international level is that of food waste. FAO has estimated that 1.3 billion tons of edible food are wasted each year, a third of world production and four times the amount needed to feed the world population suffering from hunger. The huge volume of food waste entails enormous waste in terms of economic resources, workforce, water and generates huge greenhouse gases emissions. Food waste occurs along the entire production chain: from cultivation to processing, from distribution to consumption, and presents structural differences between developed and developing countries. Solving the problem of food waste is an advantage for everyone in terms of environmental impact, social inclusion, economic savings for companies, the opening of new technology markets and innovative services. In Italy and France, laws were introduced in 2016 in order to combat food waste by following very different models. The Italian law 166/2006 (“Gadda law”) came into force on 14 September 2016 and deals with solving the problems of sectorial definitions, simplifies the procedures for food donation and also incentivizes it at fiscal level, introduces a hierarchy of priorities for the re-use of food surpluses, underlines the importance of informing consumers to get a virtuous change their behavior. In France the “Loi relative à la lutte contre the gaspillage alimentaire” (law on the fight against food waste) was approved on 3 February 2016; it is based on an impositive and punitive model completely different from the Italian one that is inspired by the "nudging", a model in which incentives and influence on choices have better results at lower costs compared to legislative actions and sanctions. In both countries there have been good results with the proliferation of charitable associations in France and voluntary initiatives by institutions and companies in Italy. These two laws, despite their diversity, place themselves at the forefront of the world in an evolution towards a socially and ecologically more sustainable system, and are object of observation by other states. Both legislative actions implement an integrated approach to their state context, but with a view to globalization and the loss of centrality of national governments “nudging” model could be the key to a synthesis between sustainability and economic development in the global transition to the circular economy.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/7143