Eco-innovation and Digitalization of Agri-food Companies Towards the Circular Economy: A Pilot Project for the Evaluation of the Impacts and Circularity Indicators for the Agri-food Chain

The circular economy (CE) aims to close the material cycle with a reduction in resource consumption and emissions released into the environment through the concept of productive metabolism. Indeed, the circular economy could provide tools to improve and optimize sustainability within the food system. The sector could therefore benefit from the development of strategies to promote a more circular approach to its operations. The application of the circular economy and the reduce, reuse, and recycle (3R) approach in the agri-food sector is essential to transform society and make production systems and communities more circular. This chapter aims to present a pilot project to analyse the behaviour of Italian companies in the agri-food sector to develop a model that focuses on eco-innovation, digitalization, and ecological transition. This chapter presents the main goals and steps of the pilot project. This chapter presents the main goals and steps of the pilot project. The project goal is to analyse how the principles of the circular economy and climate neutrality can be applied in the agri-food sector through the creation of models for assessing the circularity and sustainability of businesses. To this end, it is planned to carry out an in-depth analysis of the literature that will allow the definition of a reference framework for circular agri-food supply chains and specific circularity KPIs applicable to the entire agri-food sector. Starting from the identification of the main environmental impacts of the sector, this project explores which circularity practices can be implemented. Furthermore, the indicators to measure circular practices in the sector will be identified, tested, and validated through a pilot phase with selected stakeholders.