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Circular economy practices in the agri-food sector: an exploratory survey regarding Portuguese companies
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Resumo(s)
The circular economy is a paradigm able to reconnect the food system to the ecosystem, generating closed loops of inputs and resources. The agri-food sector has followed an intensive production and consumption model but now urges a change in roots to ensure sufficient resources for present and future generations.
However, the application and evaluation of CE in companies in the agri-food sector remain underexplored, but it is still a crucial step in pushing the sector's transition. Moreover, circularity is a huge opportunity for companies to increase their efficiency and competitiveness while respecting ecosystem boundaries. In this sense, Portugal represents an interesting context for exploring the potential of circularity, given the centrality of the agri-food sector in the country's economy and the interest shown in the topic, evidenced by several projects and initiatives launched to promote circularity in the sector. For this reason, this study aims to explore how circularity has been adopted and evaluated in the Portuguese agri-food sector. To this end, an online survey of a sample of Portuguese agri-food companies already involved in circularity was conducted from January to March 2023.
Considering a final sample of 31 companies, results indicate that: i) company size and the respondent's department have an impact on the level of detail of responses; ii) practices are largely associated with incrementally innovative (77 %), technological (50 %) or socio-organizational (37.5 %); iii) most evaluating companies adopt specific indicators (56 %), while a significant proportion does not evaluate circularity but already adopt evaluation tools related to CE.
The study aims to identify circular best practices for the industry to guide practitioners toward adopting circularity and offer insights for future academic contributions. This article aims to restore the sustainability of the food system and prevent food loss and waste along the food chain, in line with Sustainable Development Goals 2.4 and 12.3.