Circular economy metrics in the agri-food sector: an applicative study in the olive oil industry

The circular economy (CE) has received attention as a model based on an efficient use of resources and less waste production. The olive oil industry detains relevant resources in terms of biomass but is also considerably polluting. The lack of a recognized set of metrics to assess CE limits its adoption, hampering the sector's path to sustainability. Thus, the present study evaluates the complementary use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with a set of selected CE indicators (C-indicators) to support the monitoring of CE in the olive oil industry. To do so, it performs an empirical analysis applying LCA analysis and selected C-indicators to two hypothetical scenarios in the olive oil sector (i.e., composting and anaerobic digestion and combined heat and power generation). Results show lights and shadows of adopting both assessment metrics in a unique approach to support circularity assessment for the olive oil industry. Criticalities emerge, e.g., for the difficulty in identifying indicators able to compare CE scenarios, or for methodological LCA choices which severally impact assessment outcomes, making a complementary vision challenging. However, some limitations arise, e.g., due to the modelling choice of the hypothetical scenarios in LCA, while future studies may entail such challenges to design an assessment framework able to guide companies of the olive oil industry to CE assessment. This contribution is part of the research project “Towards circular and sustainable agri-food systems: metrics for assessment (CIRCULAGRIS)”, CUP J53D23009360006 – code. 2022JNNJJX, founded by Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (MUR).