{"id":5388,"date":"2025-03-14T17:15:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T16:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=5388"},"modified":"2025-03-21T11:01:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T10:01:24","slug":"__trashed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/green-corner-en\/__trashed-2\/","title":{"rendered":"There is a two-speed Europe reaching towards the Green Deal\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The goal that has been set out for the European Union is to become climate-neutral by 2050, but in Europe the situation is differentiated. It is stated by a studied carried out by Confindustria and by a research on water consumption led by Censuswide for Epson<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Massimiliano Viti<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The European Union is – for a long time and with a quite conflictual process – trying to carry out the ecological transient through initiatives such as the European Green Deal and the Circular Economy action plan. For the European Union<\/strong>, the aim is to become climate-neutral by 2050<\/strong>, developing both a low-emission and high-efficiency economy, especially in terms of the use of resources. But, the countries that took part don\u2019t actually start at the same level. Experts say that there is a two-speed Europe.<\/p>\n

A two-speed Europe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, France and Italy are more economically and technologically developed. For this reason, they are actually aware of the damages caused by the excessive production of waste<\/strong>, the depletion of natural resources<\/strong> and by pollution<\/strong>. These countries have proposed and carried out specific measures aimed at fighting these issues and, for this reason, they are considered the leading countries, which are essentially leading the green transition. The countries of Eastern and Central Europe<\/strong> are, viceversa, less developed and, as a consequence, they travel with a certain delay, also because of the various economic strategies that they\u2019ve adopted. These two rhythms that are characterizing Europe emerge even in a classification published by Confindustria<\/a>, within the study \u201cSustainability and circularity of Italian companies\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sustainability and circularity, a research<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2023 France <\/strong>and the United Kingdom<\/strong> have been the most sustainable economies of the G20 and of the European Union. These countries have reached a value of 0.10 kg of CO\u2082 equivalent per dollar of GDP. Italy <\/strong>takes the third place with 0.12, then there is Germany<\/strong>. The United States<\/strong>, despite being one of the most advanced economies in the world, reveals a value of 0.24, while China <\/strong>is truly far away. The last place belongs to South Africa<\/strong> with 0.61.<\/p>\n

Parameters and strategies<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the main parameters in order to improve and proceed with the green transition is represented by the possibility to reduce the use of production materials<\/strong>, and Europe seems to be divided even in this field. Italy records a resource productivity of 3.6 euros per kilogram, proving to be more efficient than Germany (3.0), Spain (3.1) and France (3.2), and significantly higher than the European average of 2.2 euros per kilogram. Productivity is calculated by dividing the GDP by the total used resources.<\/p>\n

It represents a particularly vital aspect linked to the competitiveness of European companies, that, during 2023, have paid natural gas prices<\/strong> 5 times higher than the US: on average 2.54 \u20ac\/MmBtu against the 13.11 of the UE. (MmBtu is an acronym that stands for Million British Thermal Unit, unit of measurement of energy: 1 MmBtu equals 28.26 square meters of natural gas at defined temperature and pressure, ndr). Not only: they have paid electricity prices 158% higher than the US ones.<\/p>\n

Waste disposal<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Another green parameter is represented by waste disposal<\/strong>, a key pillar of the circular economy<\/strong> model. Among the four countries that have been analyzed, in 2022 Spain has produced 2.480 kilograms of garbage per inhabitant. Then there is Italy with 3.212 kg. Numbers that are actually below the EU average (4.991), France (5.076) and Germany (4.604). Still during 2022, the EU has totally recycled 65.4% circa of its packaging waste. Inside this particular ranking, Italy is the best with 71.9%, then there are Spain, Germany and France with respectively 69.4%; 68.5% and 67.2%.<\/p>\n

The impact of circular economy<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But what is the impact of a circular economy? Calculating it is not simple, due to the numerous aspects of the production process. But from an analysis limited to the sectors directly involved in the circular economy (recycle, reuse, restoration, rental and leasing), the value added<\/strong> by these activities is the highest in Italy (2.7% of the total value added in 2021). Followed by Germany (2.4%), while the European average<\/strong> stops at 2.3% and, in comparison, France and Spain record worse figures. Next question: who has increased the most the private investments<\/strong> in terms of circular economy, during the last ten years (2012-2021)? Germany, with an increase of 61,2%. Then, there is Italy with 50.8%, followed by Spain (+46.4%) and France (+2.3%). The European average is currently set at 18.5%.<\/p>\n

Water consumption<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A particularly fundamental and impactful theme, in terms of climate, is represented by the water consumption required by the textile production<\/strong>. Various surveys show that for the fabrication of a single cotton shirt are required 2.700 litres of freshwater, a volume that can be associated with the one that should be drunk by a person in two and a half years. A research carried out by Censuswide for Epson<\/a> (out of a sample of 8.700 respondents) has determined the litres of water used for the packaging of the products inside the wardrobes of the citizens over the age of 16 of France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Spain. The figures were recorded between November 1st and 7th 2024. Jeans <\/strong>(up to 18.000 litres of water), sweaters <\/strong>(14.000) and jackets <\/strong>(which dyeing process requires on average 3.300 litres) are the main responsible of the water footprint.<\/p>\n

The water footprint: a ranking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Finally, here is the classification of the water footprint<\/strong> per capita: Portugal (817.131 litres), Italy (723.744), Poland (715.266), Germany (696.074), Spain (678.963), Netherlands (640.742), the United Kingdom (634.510) and France (602.698).<\/p>\n

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