TOOLS TO QUANTIFY THE BENEFITS OF A CIRCULAR ECONOMY MODEL
The adoption of the new paradigms of the circular economy in production and business management models is an increasingly common practice in light of the deadlines set by the United Nations and European Union policy documents, first intermediate deadline 2030, end point 2050 with the achievement of zero emissions, impose for policy makers and companies the adoption of consequent and indispensable choices in the perspective of staying in the market. All this is because citizen and consumer sensibilities are finally changing toward greater and acquired awareness of the inalienability of the choice of sustainability, on pain of the end of life on earth. The limits of a certain type of development have now become apparent in their effects on the environment and on people's health, especially those living in highly anthropized and industrialized environments but also in the rest of the planet. The logic of production at any cost, indiscriminate use of resources, accumulation of waste or its burning is now buried by history. Resistance to change is still very strong and is cultural and especially economic. The sustainable economy is still, in some ways, a luxury and a commitment, but there is no going back, and everyone's efforts must be multiplied to reach the common goal of a human- and nature-friendly economy, not least because the level and pace of exploitation of natural resources has long since exceeded the guard level that is represented by the capacity of the resources themselves to replenish themselves. It can no longer be exploited and wasted; it can only replenish and regenerate.
