Brief description of the Project

Agricultural sustainability lies at the core of numerous European Union initiatives, including the Common Agricultural Policy and the "Farm to Fork Strategy". The latter is pivotal to the implementation of the new European Green Deal (EGD), where the Circular Economy (CE) paradigm has been firmly integrated into both policy and business practices. In Italy, agriculture holds a prominent position. Scholars emphasise the importance of assessing sustainability impacts at both company and inter-firm levels. A circular supply chain may not always be the most sustainable choice and sustainability impacts should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. When it comes to the agri-food sector, life cycle-based assessment methodologies, i.e., Life Cycle Assessment, Social Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing are considered suitable for evaluating sustainability. However, further development of life cycle-based methodologies is necessary for assessing CE practices in an effective way. This project aims to understand the relationship between circularity and sustainability in this sector, identifying metrics and exploring the impact of circular practices on sustainability.

The project establishes the participation of 3 Italian RUs:

• RU1 -  University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara (Abruzzo) - Leader of the project -

• RU2 -  University of Messina (Sicily)

• RU3 -  University "Aldo Moro" of Bari (Apulia)

The project aims to achieve several key results:

(i) developing a framework to assess the sustainability implications of three supply chains in the Italian agri-food sector; 

(ii) generating knowledge regarding methodological choices for applying life cycle-based methodologies to food products within circular supply chains; 

(iii) identifying circularity assessment methodologies and indicators tailored to the agri-food sector; 

(iv) establishing an approach linking circularity and sustainability assessment to aid decision-makers in making supply chains more circular while ensuring increased sustainability; 

(v) identifying best practices, considering sustainability impacts, for structuring wine, olive oil, and pasta/bread supply chains.