Incorporating Circular Economy Principles into Olive Oil Industry Using ISO 14001: A Greek Company’s Case Study

Over the past few years, the circular economy (CE) principles have been widely embraced as fundamental to all economic activities, including olive oil production. CE principles will likely be implemented more effectively if existing standardized management systems are utilized, due to the lack of specialized CE standards currently available. Based on a review of the global literature, this paper examines the possibilities of implementing CE practices using existing standards. Additionally, one of the main objectives of this study is to determine whether the ISO 14001 standard promotes the CE concept. An olive oil company in Greece that has implemented the ISO 14001 standard is also discussed, in order to demonstrate whether this standard can facilitate the transition of olive oil industry to CE. Standardizing the CE approach and activities of an organization is essential, as it facilitates the creation of uniform CE standards and enables the comparison of results among organizations.