The circular economy in our strategy

We consider the entire life cycle of products and services

The principles of circularity underpin Eni’s commitment, together with protection of the environment, air, soil, water and biodiversity. Through the implementation of a circular model, business processes are overhauled, minimising the withdrawal of natural resources and favouring the use of sustainable inputs, reducing and exploiting waste through recovery and/or recycling, and extending the service life of products and assets through reuse or reconversion. We also invest in research and technological innovation and benefit from important partnerships

Our circular economy model

Eni’s circular economy model also includes 3 levers that constitute tools to support the application of the principles.

We analyse innovative processes and products in the circular economy throughout the entire life cycle, from design to disposal, using analysis tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). 

We rethink the classic business model from a circular perspective, leveraging research both internally, using Eni’s expertise and proprietary technologies, and externally, including by identifying new solutions through Open Innovation actions to support the business and production ecosystem. 

Work in synergy and industrial symbiosis with stakeholders in order to optimise the use of resources and energy and share experiences and best practices, thereby boosting the culture of the circular economy.

 

Our circular economy model

Eni’s circular economy model also includes 3 levers that constitute tools to support the application of the principles.

We analyse innovative processes and products in the circular economy throughout the entire life cycle, from design to disposal, using analysis tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). 

We rethink the classic business model from a circular perspective, leveraging research both internally, using Eni’s expertise and proprietary technologies, and externally, including by identifying new solutions through Open Innovation actions to support the business and production ecosystem. 

Work in synergy and industrial symbiosis with stakeholders in order to optimise the use of resources and energy and share experiences and best practices, thereby boosting the culture of the circular economy.

 

The six pillars of Eni’s circular economy

Sustainable inputs

Reduce consumption of virgin and exhaustible inputs in favour of renewable and alternative sources, including secondary raw materials.

Eco-design

Design innovative and integrated solutions to improve process and product efficiency for resource optimisation along the life cycle and recyclability of manufactured products.

CO₂ circularity

CO₂ emissions are understood as a material flow that needs to be reduced, reused, recycled, removed and offset in terms of the residual part present in the atmosphere.

Product as a service

Meet people’s needs by reducing the production of new goods, maximising their lifespan and promoting their more effective and efficient use.

Service life extension

Enhance assets, land and products by interpreting them in a new way and giving them a new life.

Reduction, Reuse, Recycling and Recovery

Maximise the efficient use of resources (such as water and land), minimise waste and exploit it as a new, sustainable input, promoting its regenerative capacity.

A new development paradigm is essential to take us from the linear growth model to a circular model that makes it possible to reduce and transform waste, giving a second life to existing material. 
Claudio Descalzi Chief Executive Officer

Our circular projects

In line with our circular economy model, we implement new solutions that can transform current business and consumption models.

Bag to Bag + Liner to Liner

Versalis has adopted two projects to create virtuous circles aimed at recovering and recycling its polyethylene industrial packaging and then feeding it back into the system for reuse.

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Biomethane

We also achieve our decarbonization goals with the biomethane supply made possible since 2022, with the establishment of EniBioch4in, a company created following the acquisition of FRI-EL Biogas.

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Bio-refineries

Bio-refineries are central to our company’s evolution. They make an important contribution to the decarbonization of all products and processes by 2050.

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Hoop®

Hoop® is the Versalis project for the development of a new chemical recycling technology to give a second life to plastic waste.

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Versalis Revive®

Versalis Revive® is the first range of different polymer-based products containing recycled plastic and rubber, developed in Versalis research laboratories.

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Ponticelle project

Ponticelle is a brownfield site outside the Ravenna plant. The project for its revival combines inclusiveness and sustainability, in full synergy with the principles of the circular economy.

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Asphalt with ELTs

Eni and Ecopneus have signed an agreement to study and assess technologies suitable for recycling ELTs to obtain sustainable chemical and energy products.

Balance®

Balance® is the new family of Versalis intermediates and polymers made from alternative raw materials with ISCC PLUS certification.

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Vertical integration in bio-refining

Focusing on circularity, Eni applies a vertically integrated approach to bio-refining. For example, in the Republic of Congo, Kenya, Angola, Mozambique, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire and Algeria, Eni is structuring a network of agri-hubs to supply its bio-refineries and achieve a production target of 200,000 tonnes of vegetable oil by 2026, promoting local development. Furthermore, Eni works with farmers to recover marginal land that is not suitable for food purposes in order to cultivate plants for energy use. The consolidation of this model, which has important employment implications for the region, favours the energy transition of the countries involved, integrating them into the biofuel value chain.

Partnerships, alliances and collaborations: together for the local area

We have about 90 active agreements and partnerships with private entities, public administrations and various kinds of organisations. Our transformative approach and circularity platform are the basis for strengthening a change that is already based on long-term relationships with local stakeholders, on attention to the specific features of local areas, and on listening to and including stakeholders in the promotion of new cultural models.

Some of the most important partnerships and collaborations

In the field of biomethane, we collaborate with Consorzio Italiano Biogas, Coldiretti and Confagricoltura to establish cross-cutting supply chains between the agriculture and energy worlds. For used cooking oil (UCO), an alternative to vegetable oils processed in bio-refineries, we cooperate with the CONOE, RenOils and Utilitalia consortia. For end-of-life tyres (ELTs), we work with Ecopneus. Circular economy solutions are the protocols with the city of San Donato Milanese and Metropolitana, Taranto, Kyma, and the Campania region. From experimentation with waste-to-energy projects to sustainable mobility, digitisation of the urban fabric, and promotion of the use of low-impact asphalt.

Collaborations in the area of plastics and rubber recycling include agreements with Forever Plast, Ecoplastic and Corepla, as well as an agreement with AGR for the development of elastomer-based products from post-consumer rubber. Another significant partnership is with Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo (S.R.S.), which owns a pyrolysis technology for the chemical recycling of plastics. In the areas where it operates, Versalis is committed to developing projects aimed at engaging and raising awareness among citizens with regard to the circular economy and sustainability. In particular, targeted communication and dissemination activities make it possible to appeal for action from local areas and to spread the culture of the circular economy, enhancing the actions of individual citizens to achieve common goals.

Eni Rewind is engaged in reclamation and redevelopment activities to breathe new life into brownfield and former industrial areas so that they can host new development initiatives, acting as a driver of sustainable growth in local areas. This circular commitment is also achieved through management and exploitation of groundwater and waste.

Some of the most important partnerships and collaborations

In the field of biomethane, we collaborate with Consorzio Italiano Biogas, Coldiretti and Confagricoltura to establish cross-cutting supply chains between the agriculture and energy worlds. For used cooking oil (UCO), an alternative to vegetable oils processed in bio-refineries, we cooperate with the CONOE, RenOils and Utilitalia consortia. For end-of-life tyres (ELTs), we work with Ecopneus. Circular economy solutions are the protocols with the city of San Donato Milanese and Metropolitana, Taranto, Kyma, and the Campania region. From experimentation with waste-to-energy projects to sustainable mobility, digitisation of the urban fabric, and promotion of the use of low-impact asphalt.

Collaborations in the area of plastics and rubber recycling include agreements with Forever Plast, Ecoplastic and Corepla, as well as an agreement with AGR for the development of elastomer-based products from post-consumer rubber. Another significant partnership is with Servizi di Ricerche e Sviluppo (S.R.S.), which owns a pyrolysis technology for the chemical recycling of plastics. In the areas where it operates, Versalis is committed to developing projects aimed at engaging and raising awareness among citizens with regard to the circular economy and sustainability. In particular, targeted communication and dissemination activities make it possible to appeal for action from local areas and to spread the culture of the circular economy, enhancing the actions of individual citizens to achieve common goals.

Eni Rewind is engaged in reclamation and redevelopment activities to breathe new life into brownfield and former industrial areas so that they can host new development initiatives, acting as a driver of sustainable growth in local areas. This circular commitment is also achieved through management and exploitation of groundwater and waste.

Circular initiatives

Eni undertakes and promotes initiatives that range from raising awareness among stakeholders and local communities to the implementation of more concrete projects.

RiVending project

An initiative by Versalis and Eni to recover and recycle polystyrene cups from vending machines. The recycled material feeds the Versalis Revive® EPS production plant.

RiusiamOLI

In schools we promote sustainable resource management through recovery of used cooking oil, the circular economy, bio-sustainable agriculture and marine pollution.

Oilà

In 2018, Oilà, a project to convert used food oil produced by Eni people into biofuel, was launched at the Venice bio-refinery.

The Circular Consumption Charter 

This document identifies a set of guiding principles and is the result of a consumer journey initiated by Eni in cooperation with the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa and the 19 trade associations recognised by the Ministry of Economic Development. 

Measuring circularity

For Eni, measuring circularity is an essential tool for the control, management, transparency and credibility of the goals and commitments made to its stakeholders in the transition towards a circular economy model. In this regard, the Eni HSEQ (Health, Safety, Environment, & Quality) department, with the support of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, has developed a Circularity Measurement Model, validated by Certiquality, a third-party certification body, based on internationally recognised principles. The model has been applied to different company areas including operational sites, processes and business units, allowing, through the monitoring of specific indicators including HSE indicators, the detection of both the current circularity levels and the effect of the identified improvement opportunities. The model also provides for following the guidance of national and international standardisation bodies engaged in drafting standards to measure circularity.  Eni is a member of the UNI/CT 057 “Circular Economy” Commission, a mirror of ISO/TC 323 “Circular Economy”.

Eni for 2022. The report recounting our commitment

In the sustainability report, goals, strategies, projects, results for a fair and inclusive energy transition.

Working for the transition for us means supporting fair and sustainable access to energy

We invest in initiatives that promote access to efficient and sustainable energy, including through the development of new technologies.  



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