How much do Italians know about "co-creation": that special synergy between institutions, economic powers, citizens and organizations to push for the Circular Economy as set out in the European Commission's Action Plan? Little, to read the newborn “The charter of circular consumption” promoted by Assoutenti. Italians know very little to be able to stay within a system where production and consumption make peace with the environment. We knew about the need to disseminate the contents of the new economy. But perhaps even before that we need to build it horizontally and strongly. Especially after a pandemic, as Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz recently argued. Moreover, environmental policies are those that best remunerate invested capital. So when consumers become virtuous, shrewd and responsible, they make the greatest fortune for companies. If it is not a change of economic paradigms studied in school, we are very close. Industry, therefore, needs aware consumer citizens and it is indicative that a company like Eni, supported by the S. Anna University Institute of Pisa, is giving a hand to the Charter. Obviously the Charter is signed by all the organizations of the consumer protection and users who make it an extraordinary lever to help the government.
The circular economy is at the basis of the ecological transition, it is said, and so far little new. The novelty is that through the document ideas are brought into play that are often lacking in national industry. And not always just to keep profits up and sustainable investments down. The inverted graph of the Stiglitz theory in this way it becomes a shared design basis. With the Consumer Associations entering the debate on the ecological transition, affirming the principle of participation from below. Without these supports, the PNRR would face enormous difficulties, throwing the best political intentions into crisis. After all, the principles of a circular economy are making headway in Italy, but they still lack a system. The Assoutenti is right to ask for more space, also supported by the good data on sustainable consumption in this year of the pandemic. The document asks citizens; however, to further change their consumption habits with a view to the green turning point. Companies that are not very resilient, on the other hand, have to think about a radical reconversion starting with the energy resources necessary for production.
“It's a charter for everyone, open to everyone, to enter the consumerist era where production and consumption make peace with the environment and with respect for the person” says the president of Assoutenti, Furio Truzzi. Citizens must forget the throwaway approachin consumption and production. If the aim is to promote values, even recovering them from the tradition of the past, the way to grow rediscovers concepts such as durability, repair and preservation of utility, reuse and reuse of products and material resources. The role of the consumer is consciously changing and in a global system the purchase of anything is not an end in itself. It is part of a life cycle with use and post-use. Provided that the seller provides reliable and pertinent information.
