Circular Economy: Assessment of Circularity in Olive Oil Mills

Abstract

A central issue for academics and politicians regarding the circular economy in the last few years has been the evaluation and monitoring of the circularity level, so that conclusions can be drawn about how the implemented policies have been transitioning toward sustainability. Even though the research community has been working extensively on this subject, there has not been a consensus on what indicators to use to measure circularity in the agri-food industry so far. The aim of this paper is to highlight the circular economy (CE) indicators used in the agri-food sector, based on scientific literature and practice, so as to identify those that could assess circularity in olive oil mills. Furthermore, the project aims to develop a tool that will be able to assess the success of CE strategies and remove some of the ambiguity surrounding CE in practice. Due to the uncontrolled disposal of waste from olive mills, the Mediterranean countries that produce the majority of olive oil have to cope with major environmental issues, so the transition to a CE in olive oil industry is essential.

Measuring circular economy in olive oil mills: A review of circularity indicators and tools

“…Meanwhile, MCI and CTI Tools are quantitative tools, which require the input of a company, whereas the other tools are qualitative tools which require responses to qualitative questions. The majority of organisations use CTI Tool and Circulytics, possibly because they are affiliated with internationally recognised organisations (Kounani et al, 2023b). Although all of the above tools have some similarities, there are distinct differences between them in several areas.…”

“…CE has been measured using several tools, however, no systemic approach has been developed. It also appears that CE metrics and indicators lack consistency, resulting in misunderstandings (Corona et al, 2019), as the emphasis is on recycling rates, waste disposal and resource efficiency (Parchomenko et al, 2019), rather than specific stages of the manufacturing process or product (Kounani et al, 2023b).…”

“…As a result, incorporating the results of previous scientific research into the entire food supply chain system seems more appropriate (Fassio et al, 2022). In this manner, it will be possible to gain a comprehensive (Sacco et al, 2021) understanding of the priorities and challenges that need to be addressed (Kounani et al, 2023b). The agro-food sector is one of the most complex sectors, and many aspects contribute to its complexity.…”

“…However, future research on measuring circularity by using these indicators will be necessary to determine their effectiveness in practice. Additionally, LCA methodology can be used to assess the circularity of olive oil mills compared to assessments based on the proposed indicators (Kounani et al, 2023b).…”