The Municipality of Milan has taken a major leap forward on the circularity front by joining the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy 100 (CE100) platform. This move boosts the Italian presence in the accelerator that fosters the transition to the circular economy, and that already numbers amongst its members Enel, the Cariplo Foundation and Intesa Sanpaolo. Worldwide, the CE100 platform’s members include the cities of Toronto and London, leading Silicon Valley companies of the likes of Apple and Google as well as high-profile European businesses such as Ikea and Tetra Pak.
Milan was welcomed to the programme as a result of its existing three-pronged focus: food policy, particularly the battle against food waste and the creation of short supply chains; its sustainability initiatives in fashion and design; and resilience strategies on the environmental and urban planning fronts.
As a result of its membership, the Municipality of Milan will now be able to take part in workshops and training programmes on different circular economy themes. It will also be supported in developing co-projects with other members and have access to the membership network and database of resources, reports and publications.
“We can’t wait to interact with the city’s various stakeholders on developing actions aimed at achieving a circular economy concept with a focus on issues such as food, fashion, design and resilience,” declared Jocelyn Blériot, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Executive Officer who is also in charge of relations with institutions, governments and cities.
Also present at the launch were representatives of Italian businesses that are members of the CE100 platform, including Luca Meini, the Enel Group’s Head of Circular Economy. In his speech Meini focussed on the strategic importance of the circular economy for Enel, citing our many related activities on a business level, from those with suppliers to the asset value chain, as well as our vision of circular cities.