Circular economy and corporate social responsibility in?the?agricultural system: Cases study of?the?Italian?agri-food industry

摘要

The persistent exploitation of natural resources and the consequent use of consumption are driving global fooddemand with the result that agricultural activity is becoming less and less environmentally friendly. The circular economy(CE) can become a valid alternative, inserting the economic-agricultural system into the harmonic process of materialcirculation. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) model is particularly interesting not only because of the ethicaldimension of the company but also as a factor of strategic business improvement that combines the concepts of CSR andCE as possible solutions for developing sustainable business processes. The objective of the work is to highlight a detailedframework of how the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the Italian agri-food industry can provide an adequate level of communication, circular strategies and social responsibility practices. The research methodology is basedon a qualitative multiple study conducted on a sample of nine companies in the Italian territory. The study highlightsthe attention of companies on the issues of the CE for the achievement of the set sustainable objectives and the attentionto CSR and CE practices. The work has several implications. It provides a further understanding of CSR and CE policiesas enabling factors for the development of sustainable organizational performance in agriculture. Moreover, it betterinvestigates the relationship between CSR and the CE. Finally, it analyses the SMEs state of the art in the CE field andstrengthens the concept of CE by analysing corporate practices consistent with sustainability reports.