Glossary

The term Greenrinsing refers to a company’s practice of regularly changing its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) targets before they are achieved.

This tactic showcases how greenwashing has evolved and become increasingly sophisticated.

It stems from companies that set ambitious goals but fail to meet them; their rhetoric does not align with sustainability outcomes.

In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in sustainability metrics, claims, and goals, but many are not backed by tangible actions or appear unlikely to be met.

Greencrowding is based on the idea of hiding within a crowd to avoid detection, relying on safety in numbers.

While some groups may appear as strong advocates for sustainability, the reality can be different.

Despite large numbers and media commitment, actual actions might be minimal.

Caution is advised when evaluating such initiatives, checking the real progress against stated objectives.

The triple bottom line (TBL) is a business management model that focuses on three main areas: environmental sustainability (Planet), social (People) and economic (Profit).

Community environmental policy instrument through which a periodic assessment of the level of compatibility between production activity and environmental protection is carried out.

Eco-auditing aims at a systematic evaluation of a company’s environmental policies and their effective implementation, carried out with the help of employees.

Integrated biosystems connect different food production activities with other operations such as
waste treatment and fuel generation.

Integrated biosystems treat production and consumption as a continuous closed loop system where outputs of one operation become inputs into another, thus reusing resources and minimising environmental impact.

It is a bill that establishes the obligation of electronic device manufacturers to comply with design and assembly criteria that are easy to repair even by the user himself and to distribute spare parts and repair instruction.

Resources:

• Cos’è il Diritto alla Riparazione? Cronologia in 15 punti del “Right to Repair” | Sfridoo

UNI EN ISO 14044:2006 is a standard that provides guidelines for the conduct of life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and services.

This standard outlines the principles and framework for the implementation of an LCA, including goal setting, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation of results.

The purpose of this standard is to provide a coherent and transparent methodology for assessing the environmental impact of products and services throughout their life cycle.

UNI EN ISO 14040:2006 is a European standard that specifies the principles and framework for the conduct of life cycle assessments (LCA) of products and services.

It provides a systematic and comprehensive approach to assessing the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle, from raw material extraction and production to distribution, use and disposal.

The standard outlines four phases of the LCA process: goal and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment and interpretation.

GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) is an international non-profit organization, which has developed a standard, known as the GRI Standard, to provide guidance to organizations wishing to communicate their sustainable performance transparently and comprehensively, through the publication of sustainability reports.

Reports based on GRI Standards assess the economic, environmental and social impacts of companies, allowing organizations to identify and evaluate their sustainable impact in a comprehensive and transparent way, in order to improve their sustainable performance

A By-product is a processing waste resulting from industrial processes, which is reused in another production process as a virgin raw material, but does not undergo any processing and recovery.

By-products, therefore, are those residues that do not fall within the management of company waste, in fact they can be used as raw material in a production chain also different from that from which the by-product was originated.

Resources:

• Cos’è un sottoprodotto e cosa prevede la normativa ambientale

Social Life Cycle Assessment, or SLCA, is a methodology for assessing the social and socio-economic impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle.

The SLCA is based on a systematic and comparative assessment of social impact data in order to identify problems and opportunities for improvement throughout the supply chain.

Resources:

• Cos’è la Social LCA e perché dovresti usarla nel tuo business? | Sfridoo

Industrial symbiosis means the interaction between different industrial plants, grouped in districts or at a distance useful to make the operation feasible, used in order to maximize the reuse of resources, normally considered waste and optimizing knowledge and skills between companies.

Resources:

• Cos’è la simbiosi industriale e in cosa consiste il nuovo modello distrettuale | Sfridoo

• Come innovare con la Simbiosi Industriale | Sfrido

Creative Reuse (or Upcycling) is a practice that consists in transforming objects or waste materials into products of greater value and utility than their original state, with the aim of finding an alternative use to an object that can no longer meet its function for which it was created.

Unlike recycling, which involves breaking down materials and transforming them into new products, upcycling aims to reuse existing objects in a creative and innovative way.

Upcycling can be applied to different types of materials, including paper, plastic, textiles, metal and wood.

An example of Creative Reuse can be the reuse of pallets for home or urban furniture.

An Industrial Waste is a waste resulting from industrial production processes.

These wastes require their own management and disposal process, due to their dangerousness, difficulties in disposal or potential negative environmental impact.

There are two major distinctions between Industrial Waste: hazardous and non-hazardous and comparable and not comparable.

• I rifiuti speciali e il loro valore: i numeri | Sfridoo

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that refers to the responsibility that companies have towards the company in which they operate.

CSR is an integrated, non-compulsory approach to business management that takes into account social, environmental and governance issues and aims to create value for the company and for society as a whole.

CSR implies that companies should not only pursue the goal of maximising profit, but also act ethically, sustainably and responsibly towards society and the environment in which they operate.

Extended Producer Responsibility is a legal principle that requires manufacturers of goods to take responsibility for the entire life cycle of their products, including final disposal.

In other words, manufacturers are required to manage their product even after it has been sold to the consumer.

REP encourages manufacturers to design products that can be safely and sustainably disposed of and implement waste management programs.

This implies that manufacturers must develop strategies for the recovery, recycling and management of their products at the end of their life cycle.

WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is a particular category of waste deriving from EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) products, which have reached the end of their useful life and are therefore intended for collection and recycling.

They are therefore quite complex at a structural level, which have a particular purpose, process and disposal cost compared to other waste.

Resources:

• Cosa sono gli AEE? E quali sono le differenze con i RAEE? | Sfridoo
• 5 motivi per non smaltire PC e RAEE aziendali come rifiuti | Sfridoo

The BS 8001 standard is the English standard published in 2017 by the British standardization body BSI.

The BS 8001 standard aims to help organizations and individuals to consider and implement more circular and sustainable practices within their businesses, introducing better ways of working, providing more circular products and services or redesigning their entire business model.

Resources:

• Ecco le 2 Certificazioni sull’Economia Circolare che dovresti conoscere: BS 8001 e AFNOR | Sfridoo

The AFNOR XP X30-901 standard is the French standard published in 2018 by the AFNOR standardization body and is the only international reference for the implementation of a management system for the circular economy of an organization.

It was created to be an international reference point for all companies that want to adopt circular solutions within their value chain, production systems or service delivery.

It also allows organizations to provide a methodology for managing and reporting on one or more projects for the transition to circular economy models.

EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) are objects composed of electrical and metallic elements that, for a correct functioning, need electric currents or electromagnetic fields, such as PCs, smartphones or washing machines.

Waste from these objects is called WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment).

Resources:

• Cosa sono gli AEE? E quali sono le differenze con i RAEE? | Sfridoo

The Second Raw Material is a production waste, which, through specific recovery processes, is used in a production process equal to or different from the one that generated it.

In this context, Italy refers to the category called by-product.

The second raw material plays a crucial role in the Circular Economy, as it allows to reduce the dependence on virgin raw materials, allowing to reduce the environmental impact associated with the extraction of new raw materials and the production of products from scratch.

Through the recycling of existing materials, the second raw material allows to create a longer life cycle for products and to reduce the amount of waste destined for landfills.

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a production technology in which a three-dimensional object is created layer by layer from a digital model.

The additive manufacturing process involves the use of a 3D printer, which is programmed with the digital model of the object to be produced.

The 3D printer then uses one of several 3D printing methods, including molten filament deposition, stereolithography, and selective laser sintering, to create the object layer by layer.

Additive manufacturing offers several advantages over traditional production methods:

• allows you to create complex and customized objects quickly and efficiently, without having to create expensive production tools or rely on machining processes.

• allows you to reduce material waste, as the material is used only where it is needed.

• reduces production costs, as it allows efficient production of even small quantities of objects.

Machine as a service (maas) is a business model where companies provide their customers with access to machines or equipment as a service, rather than selling the machines themselves.

It is an example of the more general product-as-a-service.

In this business model, the companies that provide the service are responsible for the purchase, maintenance and upgrade of the machines, while customers pay only for their actual use, without having to invest in their acquisition.

In this way, the companies that offer the service can provide high quality and updated machines, ensure greater flexibility and cost control for customers, and improve resource utilization, creating long-lasting relationships with customers.

Reverse logistics is the process of backward planning of material flows, from the point of consumption to the point of origin, in order to recover value or ensure proper disposal or recycling of products, materials or waste.

Unlike traditional logistics, which deals with the transport of products from the producer to the final consumer, reverse logistics manages the movement of used products, defective or no longer necessary from the point of end of life, for their recycling, repair and reuse.

In a circular economy, where products and materials are designed to be reused and recycled, reverse logistics allows the recovery of useful materials and products that would otherwise have been lost, creating new business and recycling opportunities.

Reverse logistics is a key element of environmental sustainability and can bring many benefits to the companies that implement it, including reducing costs and increasing efficiency, as well as creating a competitive advantage in the market.

Life Cycle Management, or LCM, is an approach designed to ensure a more sustainable management of the value chain.

The LCM is decision support tool specifically designed for companies of any size and is often implemented by other tools such as LCA, LCC, SLCA, LCT.

The main objective of the LCM is to maximize the value of the product or service to the customer and the company, while reducing environmental impact and long-term spending.

The LCM also aims to improve the sustainability of the product or service, reducing the consumption of resources and minimizing the negative effects on the environment.

Life Cycle Costing, or LCC, is a method of evaluating the total cost of a product, service, or system throughout its entire life cycle, from design to production, use, and end of life.

Life cycle cost assessment is useful to help make informed decisions about choosing products and services, as it takes into account all long-term costs, not just initial purchase costs.

Resources:

• Cos’è il Life Cycle Costing e perché è importante per il tuo business? | Sfridoo

ISO 14040 is an international standard that provides guidelines for life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and services.

The standard describes the principles and requirements for carrying out a life cycle analysis and establishes the procedures for the environmental impact assessment.

Life Cycle Analysis is a methodology used to assess the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its life cycle, from production to disposal.

ISO 14040 establishes the following principles for life cycle analysis:

• Definition of the objective and scope of the analysis;

• Product or service life cycle analysis, identifying life cycle stages and related environmental information;

• Environmental impact assessment, identifying environmental impacts and assessing their severity;

• Interpretation of the results, evaluating the results of the analysis and identifying opportunities for improvement.

The use of ISO 14040 provides useful information to improve the sustainability of products and services and to promote the adoption of sustainable practices in industry.

The linear economy is a traditional economic model based on the use of natural and material resources to produce goods, which are then used and, at the end of their life cycle, disposed of as waste.

This model is characterized by a production logic “produce, consume, dispose of”, which does not take into account the environmental and social consequences of production activities.

This model generates a high amount of waste and pollution, aggravates resource scarcity problems and contributes to climate change.

The linear economy has been adopted globally for decades and has generated a number of negative impacts on the environment and society, including biodiversity loss, air and water pollution, climate change and resource scarcity.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the adoption of Circular Economy models, which provide for the recovery and reuse of resources, in order to reduce waste and promote environmental sustainability.

Performance-based economy is an economic model that combines business performance management with the adoption of circular practices.

The main objective is to maximize the economic and environmental value generated by business activities, reducing waste and promoting the recovery and reuse of resources.

Performance-based economy includes several practices, including:

• Circular design: the design of products and services designed to be reused, repaired or recycled at the end of their life cycle.

• Circular economy: the adoption of production processes that involve the recovery and reuse of resources, through the recycling, reuse and restoration of materials and components.

• Circular services: the offer of services that allow you to use products in a shared way, through sharing, rental or the leasing.

The performance economy can be an opportunity for companies to improve their sustainability, generating economic and environmental value.

However, it is necessary that the practices adopted are actually circular and not just a greenwashing, and that they are supported by appropriate policies and regulations at national and international level.

The end of life of a product refers to the phase in which a product has reached the end of its useful life and is disposed of or recycled.

In Linear Cycle systems, this moment coincides with the disposal of the product itself, while in the Circular Economy, waste is not seen as waste, but as a new input that re-enters the economic-productive circle, creating a closed system, where the scrap is the secondary raw material.

To improve end-of-life product management, many countries have introduced laws and regulations that require companies to manage their products sustainably.

This includes extended producer responsibility (EPR), which requires manufacturers to take responsibility for the management of their end-of-life products, including the collection, recycling and appropriate disposal of products.

In addition, the circular economy encourages the adoption of business models based on the provision of services rather than the sale of products.

In this way, the company takes charge of product management at the end of life, promoting repair, reuse or recycling, and can create new job opportunities and innovation.

Environmental Social Governance (ESG) is a set of criteria that are used by investors and companies to assess the degree of sustainability and social responsibility of business activities.

In particular, the ESG criteria are divided into three main categories: Environmental, Social and Governance.

The adoption of ESG criteria has become increasingly important in recent years, as these factors are increasingly relevant to investors and consumers who want to support companies with a sustainable footprint.

Resources:

• ESG: tutto quello che devi sapere sugli Investimenti Responsabili | Sfridoo

Green washing is a term that indicates the practice of using marketing or communication techniques to promote products or services as ecological or sustainable, when in reality they are not or have a very limited environmental impact.

In other words, it is a way of making a company appear to be committed to the environment without any real action to support that commitment.

Green washing is considered ethically questionable, as it can be misleading for consumers and hinder real progress in sustainability

Environmental certification is a certificate that certifies, through technical and regulatory criteria, a company’s commitment to limiting its negative impact on the environment.

Examples of certification are the Ecolabel, ISO 14001, EMAS, ISO 50001.

To obtain these recognitions, companies must apply to an authorised independent body. In Italy, authorisation is given by Accredia, the Italian Accreditation Body.

Resources:

• Le 6 certificazioni ambientali che devi conoscere e utilizzare per il successo del tuo business | Sfridoo

The environmental label is a labelling and certification system that is used to identify products that have a reduced environmental impact compared to other similar products on the market.

The Environmental Label aims to declare the sustainability characteristics of a product or service.

They are fundamental tools to combat the practice of Green Washing by bodies, organizations and companies, so as to make communication to the final consumer as transparent as possible, so that they can make more sustainable purchasing choices.

In addition, the environmental label can also motivate companies to produce more sustainable products, as companies that obtain the environmental label can stand out from the competition and gain a reputation for sustainability.

In Europe, the most well-known environmental labelling system is the EU Ecolabel, which indicates that the product has been produced according to strict environmental standards established by the European Union.

Product life extension is a concept that refers to a product’s ability to last longer than normal, while maintaining its functionality and features.

Product life extension is a key concept of the circular economy, which aims to reduce the consumption of natural resources and minimize waste production through the use of sustainable production and consumption models.

In a circular economy, product life extension is seen as a solution to counteract the pattern of over-consumption and waste generation.

It can be achieved through the adoption of strategies such as repair, reuse and recycling, such as maintaining the value of existing materials and products, reducing the need to produce new materials and products and reducing the amount of waste.

There are several economic advantages, including the creation of new jobs in the repair and maintenance sector, the saving on production costs through the use of recycled materials and the creation of new markets for regenerated and repaired products, as well as greater customer satisfaction, since durable and high quality products can offer better value for money and can meet the needs of consumers for longer periods of time.

The cascade cycle is a circular economy model in which waste is used as a resource for the production of new products, so as to avoid material waste and reduce environmental impact.

The cascade cycle involves a series of steps in which materials are recovered, disassembled, repaired and recycled, thus creating a production chain in which each phase exploits the materials and resources from the previous phase.

This reduces production costs, limits the exploitation of natural resources and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The cascade cycle is one of the key strategies for the circular economy, as it allows to maximize the value of materials and resources, minimizing environmental impact and creating new opportunities for sustainable economic development.

Industrial ecology is an interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on the design and optimization of industrial systems in order to minimize environmental impact.

The main objective of industrial ecology is to create sustainable production systems that minimize the consumption of natural resources, waste production and pollution.

In practice, industrial ecology seeks to create a virtuous cycle in which one company’s waste becomes a resource for another, so as to reduce waste production and pressure on the environment.

The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary eco-label that is subject to certification by an independent organisation and is based on a set of scientifically established selection criteria that consider the environmental implications of goods or services for all their life cycle (competent body).

The European Union Ecolabel (EU Ecolabel) identifies goods and services that, while maintaining high performance requirements, are distinguished by a lower environmental impact over their entire life cycle.

Resources:

• Cosa significa Ecolabel, cos’è e come si ottiene la certificazione? 3 esempi di prodotti certificati | Sfridoo

In order to find the most environmentally friendly design solution, product or service throughout its life cycle, taking into account the profitability of the market, minimum environmental criteria (CAM) are environmental requirements established for the various stages of the purchase process.

By decree of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, CAMs are defined as a component of the Plan for the Environmental Sustainability of Consumption in the Public Administration Sector.

Resources:

• Cosa sono CAM e GPP e perché sono fondamentali per l’Economia Circolare | Sfridoo

With the term Green Branding, we mean all communication and promotion activities, implemented by companies, associations or startups, aimed at enhancing the aspects and values of sustainability of their brand, in line with environmental protection, respecting the principles of environmental sustainability

Green Branding offers Green businesses creative and effective tools to spread their messages through eco-sustainable communication activities.

Plastic-free, which literally means “free from plastic”, is often denounced only as a marketing slogan, but is actually a commitment to a more correct use of this material, since a world without plastic is impossible.

Being Plastic-free means giving up disposable plastic items where there are reusable alternatives on the market that allow you to maintain the need for hygiene, preservation and integrity.

Resources:

• Cosa significa Plastic-free? Tutto quello che dovresti sapere

• La Maratona di Londra è plastic-free: le sfere d’acqua Ooho al posto delle bottiglie | Sfridoo