Circular Economy: role and opportunities for the

philanthropic sector03/04/19

(The Circular Economy in Italy)

Why should we invest?Outline (Back to Nature)

Circular EconomyBioeconomy

Why should we invest?The 4 Industrial Revolutions

One MissionLeverage B. F. S. V. D. P. E.

Danilo Porro

Circular Economy: a Specialist Concept

The circular economy is a reality. More than 90 % of companies surveyed by different

international agencies, report implementing elements of circular supply chains.

The Circular Economy in Italy (2019)

“Sulla base della metodologia da noi scelta, ….. La performance dell’economia circolare dell’Italia è

risultata la migliore superando nell’ordine quella del Regno Unito, Francia, Germania e Spagna….”

"Based on the methodology we have chosen, ... .. The performance of the Italian circular economy

was the best, outperforming that of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.”

When it comes to what exactly they’re prioritizing, …. most just name recycling

https://circulareconomynetwork.it/

The figure reports the world chemicals sales: 3534 billions € (2016) Europe accounts for 16.7% of the total.

Most of these chemical compounds can be made biologically by (1) engineering the cellular metabolism and (2)

through the design of cell factories and (3) by bioconversion.

Already on 2015, 3 % of the base chemicals, 9 % of the specialty chemicals, 12 % of the consumer chemicals

and 33 % of the pharma ingredients are produced from biological sources.

The world GDP is about 80 T€

It is not just because of recycling and/or of high productions, high numbers, high sales and

huge employments …

… that Circular Bioeconomy should be considered as Bioengine for economic , environment and

social biosustainability.

Why should we invest in Circular bioeconomy ?

….. not only because …. of the numbers …. too simple

- The urban population of the world has grown rapidly from 746 millions in 1950 to 3.9 billions

in 2014, .. to 7.5 billions today.

- Since 2014, 54 % of the world’s population lives in urban areas, a proportion that is expected

to increase to 66% by 2050.

- Mega cities with more than 10 millions people are increasing in number

- Small cities are numerous and many are growing rapidly

- Rural populations expected to decrease as urban populations continue to grow

- 85% of the world economic activities fall in these cities.

This is NOT sustainable … not anymore …

The circular economy concept should evolve from a Specialist Concept

to a main Stream Business and Public Policy Strategy ….

Managing urban areas has become one of the most important development challenges of the

21st century.

As cities develop new roles, there is huge potential to combine benefits in health,

environment and the economy, taking into account the organization of society (i.e.

consumption, transportation, production, waste management, and infrastructure),

….integrating life-style, environment and well-being.

Pollution is indeed the biggest environmental cause of illness and premature death in world.

Diseases caused by pollution have been responsible for about 9 million premature deaths in 2015 alone

(about 16% of all deaths worldwide, three times more deaths than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria

considered as a whole, and 15 times more than all the wars and other forms of violence, always considered as

a whole). (The Lancet Commission on pollution and health, Published online October 19, 2017

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0).

In the most severely affected countries, pollution-related diseases are responsible for more than one in four

deaths. Pollution disproportionately kills the poor.

data, data, data, …. NOT opinions

Diseases such as cancer, are caused by DNA mutations. Such mutations can be inherited (H), induced by the

environment / lifestyle (E) and as a result of errors (R) during the replication of the genetic material.

In a recent study, the incidence of cancer forms was examined in 69 different countries, representing as a

whole over 4.8 billion people (about 2/3 of the world population).

It has been estimated that better protection of the environment and a better lifestyle can prevent between 20-

40% of the cancer forms (Science 355, 1330 -1334, 2017).

data, data, data, …. NOT opinions

The cycling of each chemical element is critical for the growth of microorganisms, all plant

and animal life on the planet. At its most (most!) basic level, the natural cycles see nutrients

such CO2 and other elements absorbed by autotrophic organisms (i.e., for example plants)

which are then consumed by animals (including humans). These nutrients are subsequently

returned to the soil and to atmosphere, where can be absorbed again and again and again. These cycles and/or their timings, however, have been disrupted by human

activities (for example: CO2). Furthermore, each year, societies harvest roughly 11 billion tonnes of biomass globally for

food purposes, but return few to the agriculture system.

Why should we invest? the main reason is related to the cycling of elements

… the 4 Industrial Revolutions

… back to bioCircularity (CO2 is not a problem, it could be the best resource we have)

In the same period (< 300 years) the world's living population has increased from 0.7 to 7.5 billions people,

for over 54% concentrated in cities, with a continuous increase in the degree of desertification of the planet….

Converging Industry 4.0 and Bioeconomy

…. for a Carbon Neutral Country by 2050

… one Mission

Biomass flows and cascading principles are part of the circular economy. However, the concept of bioeconomy and bio-based economy go far beyond the circular economy concept, including aspects such as product and process

innovation, functionalization and properties of single and different products

Circular Bioeconomy: goes much beyond a Specialist Concept

Sequencing Life for the Future of

Life

… creating value from Biodiversity

Leverage BIODIVERSITY. The Earth BioGenome Project, a Moon Shot for biology, aims to

sequence, catalog and characterize the genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic biodiversity over a

period of ten years.

… CO2 should be considered a resource and not a problem…

… for sustainable feedstock supply

Leverage FEEDSTOCKS. This Unit is directed to collect and analyse a variety of not edible biomasses and

wastes deriving from human activities, with a principal attention on waste biomasses still rich in organic

substrates such as the one deriving from agricultural, dairy, brewery activities and including the Organic Fraction

of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW).

Leverage SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, an interdisciplinary branch of biology and engineering. The subject combines

various disciplines from within these domains, such as biotechnology, genetic engineering, molecular biology,

molecular engineering, systems biology, biophysics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, control

engineering and evolutionary biology. Synthetic biology applies these disciplines to build artificial biological

systems for research and productions.

… redirecting strategy of survival into Bioprocesses

Leverage PRODUCT UNIT VALORIZATION and CERTIFICATION aiming to the development of new

approaches and technologies for the transformation and purification of the compound for the final application.

… if you need to develop a new process, start design it from the final product and certification policies.

Leverage DIGITAL. Digital allows companies to have a much more granular

understanding of the value of materials, and to gauge the condition of assets and products— determining when

they’ll need service or replacement, for example. Gaining these capabilities is quickly becoming “table stakes” to

engagin a fuller circular economy supply chain.

… the Future is under way …

Leverage PILOT PLANT UNIT. – a shared and open access GMP infrastructure

…. a shared pilot facility: from ideas to market

Leverage EDUCATION - …. whichever business you’re in, you need to keep adapting, improving and innovating

for proposing Visions and supporting Missions.

… training skilled personal into the various aspects of Biosustainability

BIOCIRCE - Bioeconomy in the Circular Economy

Continuous learning: Master II level … on demand …

www.masterbiocirce.com

innovation and corporate strategypolicy and regulation collaborative R&D modelsgovernance and intellectual propertycommunication and marketing

“We did not inherit this world from our parents,

we borrowed it from our children ”Navajo proverb

Thanks for your time

ESFRI - IBISBA - let’s go …..