The measurement of circularity in the agri-food sector by the UNI/TS 11820:2022

The measurement of circularity represents an open challenge on the globalscale, due to the lack of a harmonized system of indicators and the frag-mentation in circular economy definitions. Specifically, in the agri-foodsector, it is essential to collect data related to greenhouse gases emissions,water use, energy consumption and waste generation, as well as informationrelated to technological innovation, digitalization and waste managementpathways. In November 2022, it was introduced the UNI/TS 11820:2022on the «Measurement of Circularity – Methods and Indicators for Meas-uring Circular Processes in Organizations», which represents the first stan-dardization of a set of 71 indicators for the evaluation of the circulareconomy at micro- and meso-level. The standard provides transparent,replicable and unambiguous tools, and is based on a large circularity per-spective, including different approaches such as the life cycle thinking, thematerial flow analysis, the resource value maintenance and the value recov-ery. The current research, through an integrative content analysis, identifiesthe evolution, nature, and scope of the literature on the measurement ofcircularity in the agri-food sector and recognizes a nexus between the re-search advances and the UNI/TS 11820:2022. The purpose is to appraisethe level of maturity of the current agri-food system and the challenges thatagri-food operators and stakeholders will encounter, in order to measurecircularity and meet the economic, environmental and social sustainabilitytargets.