Regional policies and eco-industrial development: the voluntary environmental certification scheme of the eco-industrial parks in Tuscany (Italy)

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIndustrial ecology is presented in the literature as both a policy tool and an academic theory. This paper discusses a voluntary certification scheme adopted by the regional government of Tuscany (Italy) as a policy tool to disseminate the concepts of industrial ecology. The approval of a regional regulation represents the first adoption in European environmental and industrial policies of a voluntary tool aimed at stimulating the creation and dissemination of eco-industrial parks. This new certification method is analysed by focusing on the prevention of pollution. The criteria required to obtain the qualification, and the roles and responsibilities of all the actors involved are outlined. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of the certification scheme are highlighted and the Italian standard compared with the national standard issued in China by the State Environmental Protection Administration. The findings contribute to the discussion of policy measures aimed at disseminating the concepts of Industrial Ecology including a tool based on voluntary co-operation and third-party certifications.

The Stakeholders’ Perspective within the B Corp Certification for a Circular Approach

“…The studies on the use of certifications (e.g., [66,[72][73][74][75] and more in general on the stakeholder e.g., [2,4,76,77]) to support the transition to a circular economy demonstrates the wide nature of the subject and its huge contemporary impact. Moreover, they highlight the existence of unexplored aspects concerning the objectives to achieve and to better understand the level of awareness of the business companies and the consumers and to identify the most suitable forms for the realization of the circular economy.…”

Analysing the causes of environmental management and audit scheme (EMAS) decrease in Europe

“…They are classified from a policy perspective as voluntary tools. At an international level there are three categories of environmental policy tools: direct regulations, economic instruments, and soft or voluntary instruments (Testa et al, 2011;Barde, 1995, Daddi et al, 2016a. Direct regulations (also called command and control instruments) are based on binding obligations.…”

Local industrial systems towards the eco-industrial parks: the model of the ecologically equipped industrial areas

“…This deed is the first eand the only, up until nowe national attempt at defining a new organisation model of the production activity inspired by the principles of IE (Daddi et al, 2016). EEIA is devised as a geographically delimitated production area, where different manufacturing and service businesses can operate.…”