The influence of the Circular Economy on an industrial cluster: a comparative study in the leather industry.

Abstract

The linear economy has always been a globally applied model that has supported the strong economic evolution of recent decades. Nevertheless, in recent years, the large amount of waste produced by exclusive, one-size-fits-all use of resources has emphasized how resources are not being utilised efficiently. Thanks to Ellen McArthur and her Foundation, the issue of linearity outcome has begun to arise. This has brought to light a new challenge, presenting an innovative and sustainable development of transformation from a Linear Economy to a Circular Economy. First, the thesis intends to detail the concepts of Circular Economy and Cluster. Second, the literature review will evaluate the current state of the art and, in addition, the technological impact on the Circular Economy applied in Clusters will be studied. Ultimately, the research will continue through a comparative model analysis on two different clusters, one located in Italy and the other one in the European Union.