CIRCULAR AND ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMY

Module FUNDAMENTALS OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY

The course provides the economic principles, measurement tools and policy framework needed to understand and design the transition from a linear to a circular economy, with a particular focus on the agri-food system, farms and rural areas.

Knowledge and understanding

On completion of the course, students know and understand:

-       the origin, definitions and principles of the circular economy and how it differs from the linear model;

-       the economic foundations of circularity: resource scarcity, externalities, market failures and environmental policy instruments (taxes, extended producer responsibility, deposit-refund schemes, pay-as-you-throw, agri-environmental payments), with examples from agriculture;

-       the European and Italian policy framework: waste hierarchy, EU Action Plan, ecodesign, National Strategy for the Circular Economy, and their links with the Common Agricultural Policy and the rules on agricultural by-products;

-       the main tools for measuring circularity at country, firm and product level;

-       circular business models in the agri-food system, circularity on the farm and in rural areas (nutrients, water, by-products, agro-industrial symbiosis) and the circular bioeconomy;

-       the limits and criticisms of the circular economy, including the rebound effect.

Applying knowledge and understanding

On completion of the course, students are able to:

-       read and interpret a policy document or a piece of legislation on the circular economy, identifying its objectives, instruments and addressees;

-       retrieve data from public databases (Eurostat, ISPRA) and calculate and interpret simple circularity indicators;

-       map the material flows of a product or value chain and identify the applicable circularity strategies (reduce, reuse, repair, remanufacture, recycle);

-       describe and assess the business model of an agri-food firm that valorises waste and by-products;

-       develop, as part of a group, a circularity proposal for a local farm, agri-food firm or value chain, or municipality, justifying its benefits, costs and barriers.

Making judgements

Students are able to critically assess initiatives presented as circular, distinguishing actual from merely claimed benefits and recognising economic, environmental and social trade-offs. This ability is developed through the analysis of real cases and the collective discussions held during the practical sessions.

Communication skills

Students are able to present data, analyses and proposals clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences, both orally and in writing. This skill is developed through the presentations given during the practical sessions and the group work, and is assessed in the oral exam.

Learning skills

The course comprises 63 hours of activities (6 ECTS credits): 21 hours of lectures (7 three-hour lectures) and 42 hours of practical sessions (esercitazioni, 14 three-hour sessions).

Lectures provide the concepts and the economic and regulatory framework: principles of the circular economy, economic foundations, European and Italian policies, measurement tools, business models in the agri-food system, circularity on the farm and in rural areas, and the circular bioeconomy. They are the main means of achieving the Knowledge and understanding outcomes.

Practical sessions make up two thirds of the course and follow the lectures. Each session involves the guided analysis of a document, a dataset or a real case, an exercise carried out by students and a collective discussion. Reading policy documents and legislation, calculating indicators from public databases, mapping material flows and analysing business models develop the ability to apply knowledge to concrete cases. Case discussions develop independent judgement. Presentations and the group project, devoted to a local firm, value chain or municipality, develop communication skills. Independent search for data and sources for the project develops learning skills.

If the course is delivered in blended or remote mode, appropriate adjustments may be made to the above, in order to ensure consistency with the syllabus.

1.        Bompan E., Brambilla I. N. (2021), Che cosa è l’economia circolare, nuova edizione aggiornata e ampliata, Milano, Edizioni Ambiente, 236 pp., ISBN 978-88-6627-316-5.

2.        Massarutto A. (2019), Un mondo senza rifiuti? Viaggio nell’economia circolare, Bologna, Il Mulino [pagine e ISBN da completare].

3.    Additional teaching material provided by the lecturer, such as copies of the PowerPoint presentations shown during lectures and seminars, scientific articles supplied by the lecturer, including any links and/or popular-science articles to be consulted, as well as practical-session worksheets and excerpts from legislation and datasets; the material is available on the Studium platform.

Learning is assessed through an individual oral exam.

Structure of the oral exam. The exam covers the topics of the course programme and includes at least one applied question of the same kind as the exercises carried out during the practical sessions: interpreting a circularity indicator, classifying a material as waste or by-product, analysing the business model of an agri-food firm, proposing material exchanges between firms in a local area. Students who took part in the group work may choose to start the exam by discussing that work.

Assessment criteria. Assessment covers: relevance of the answers, quality of content, ability to apply concepts and tools to a concrete case, ability to connect different topics of the programme, ability to provide examples, command of technical language and overall expressive ability.

Practical sessions. The exercises, presentations and group work carried out during the practical sessions have a formative function: they are not graded, but they prepare students directly for the applied part of the oral exam. The exam format is the same for attending and non-attending students.

The final grade is awarded according to the following parameters:

•         Fail. The student lacks the minimum knowledge of the main course content, makes little or no use of the specific terminology and is unable to apply the acquired knowledge independently.

•         18-21. The student has a minimum knowledge of the principles and tools of the circular economy, a modest ability to analyse the cases presented, and presents topics in a sufficiently clear way, with limited command of technical language.

•         22-25. The student has a fair knowledge of the principles and tools of the circular economy, limited to the main topics, analyses the cases presented critically but not always coherently, and presents topics fairly clearly.

•         26-28. The student has a good knowledge of the principles and tools of the circular economy, analyses the cases presented critically and coherently, applies indicators and tools fairly independently, and presents topics clearly using appropriate language.

•         29-30 cum laude. The student has an in-depth knowledge of the principles and tools of the circular economy, analyses the cases presented promptly and correctly, applies indicators and tools independently even to new situations, and has excellent communication skills.

Learning assessment may also be carried out on-line, should the conditions require it.

1.        What are the differences between the linear and the circular economy? Why is recycling only one of the circularity strategies, and not the first?

2.        What is a negative externality? Explain it with an agricultural example, such as nitrate pollution, and clarify why it helps explain that markets alone do not close material loops.

3.        A municipality moves from a waste tax based on dwelling size to a pay-as-you-throw scheme. What effects on household behaviour can be expected, and what risks should be anticipated?

4.        What does the waste hierarchy of Directive 2008/98/EC establish, and what is the difference between waste, by-product and end-of-waste status?

5.        A citrus-processing firm produces large quantities of citrus pulp and peel every year. Under what conditions can it manage them as a by-product rather than as waste, and what uses are possible?

6.        What does the circular material use rate measure? Given a country’s domestic material consumption and the amount of waste sent for recycling, how is it calculated and interpreted?

7.        What types of business models create value from agricultural waste and by-products? Illustrate one with an example, indicating its advantages and barriers.

8.        A livestock farm, an olive mill and a municipality are located in the same area. What exchanges of materials, water and energy could be designed among them, with what benefits and what regulatory barriers?

9.        What is meant by the cascading use of biomass, and why is it relevant for the circular bioeconomy?

10. What is the rebound effect, and why can it reduce the environmental benefits of a circular strategy?