ENHANCING CIRCULAR ECONOMY THROUGH LOCAL GOVERNANCE: EVIDENCE FROM A CASE STUDY

Circular economy (CE) contributes to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Golluscio et al., 2024; Losa, 2025). This reflects the most recent initiative by nations, social stakeholders, and organizations to promote the alignment of economic activities with environmental health through the use of sustainable consumption and production practices (Murray et al., 2017; Rodriguez et al., 2019). Although there is no universally accepted definition of “circular economy” in the literature, it could be defined as an economic system that replaces the concept of “end of life” of products with the 4Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover) approach in production/distribution and consumption processes (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013; Kirchherr et al., 2017). This system operates at various levels: micro (e.g., products, companies, and consumers), meso (e.g., eco-industrial parks), and macro (e.g., cities, regions, countries, and beyond) (Ghisellini et al., 2015; Klein et al., 2020). Its primary aim is to achieve sustainable development, thereby simultaneously foresting environmental quality, economic prosperity, and social equity for current and future generations (Kirchherr et al., 2017). In this context, public administration entities play a crucial role in implementing the principle of subsidiarity, which can promote the establishment of a new circular paradigm through their purchasing decisions and operational strategies (Ministry of Ecological Transition, 2017). The public sector should be regarded as an active participant in the economic system, as it buys, consumes, manages, and disposes of a significant amount of resources and, for this reason, it must serve as an example of good practices and contribute to the CE transition (Klein et al., 2020). In recent years, Acquista qui academic debate about the circular economy has expanded significantly, involving more researchers and professionals. However, most studies primarily concentrate on the corporate sector (Klein et al., 2020; Golluscio et al., 2024). This theoretical framework builds on earlier research (e.g., Klein et al., 2020; Droege et al., 2021; Shah and Rezai, 2023; Losa, 2025) and aims to address the existing gap in the literature by transitioning the emphasis from the private sector to the public sector in promoting the circular economy. Building on these premises, we aim to explore the significant role of local governments in the shift towards a circular economy. The application of circular economy principles within local governance has been studied in a fragmented way (Dagilienė et al., 2021; Vedvik, 2022). Addressing this gap, our research study aims to explore how local governments design and implement circular strategies to help achieve sustainable development and to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms through which public administrations contribute to circular transitions.