The Project
Detailed of GENIUS
The GENIUS project aims to promote research according to the “National Strategy for the Circular Economy” to develop a new business model to manage environmental and supply issues from the perspective of the circular economy approach. The awareness behind GENIUS is that the circular economy is a major epoch-making challenge that aims to reintegrate biological flows into the biosphere and enhance technical flows by reducing waste as much as possible. Through the “GENIUS” platform, energy and material flows can be assessed. At the same time, define strategies for capturing C02 and reducing the carbon footprint of water.
The main reference standards are as follows:
- UNI EN ISO 14006:2020 Environmental management systems- Guidelines for the integration of ecodesign
- UNI EN ISO 14040:2021 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Principles and framework reference
- UNI EN ISO 14044:2018 Environmental management - Life cycle assessment - Requirements and guidelines
- UNI EN ISO 14067:2018 Greenhouse gases - Climate footprint of products (Carbon footprint of products) - Requirements and guidelines for quantification
- UNI EN ISO 26000:2020 Guide to social responsibility
The main
methods
and
approaches
that will be used of measuring and evaluating the circularity defined in relation to the defined scope and objectives are as follows:
- Life Cycle Thinking (LCT)
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
- Life Cycle Costing (LCC)
- Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA)
- Material Flow Analysis (MFA)
Project Goals
Improving the environmental carbon water footprint of social economy textile SMEs by considering the value chains of products and services, but also internal processes and management
Promote the adoption of circular economy practices and sustainable transport solutions; enable the development of renewable energy alternatives , energy efficiency technologiesand resource efficiency solutions
Test, implement and scale up innovative ecological solutions
Strengthen capacities and share expertise on measuring and reporting the environmental impact of social economy SMEs
Promote the capacity and skills of social economy SMEs to improve their use of new digital technologies for ecological purposes, creating new business models
Assess the skills, infrastructure and investment needs needed to enable social economy entities to achieve climate goals in the long term
How do we do this?
Expected Results
GENIUS aims to activate a process of industrial symbiosis to promote an integrated resource sharing (materials, water, by-products, waste, services, skills, tools, databases, etc.) according to a cooperative in which the output of one company can be used as input by a third company as part of its production process.
This is perfectly in line with the European Commission's March 30, 2022 proposal on the Sustainable Textiles Strategy, and the circulars point out that the consumption of textile products, mostly imported, currently represents, on average, the fourth largest negative impact on the environment and climate change, and the third relates to water and land use from the global life cycle perspective.
But it also supports the poposta idea of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP), which proposes to "establish a national program for companies in order to support the creation of industrial symbiosis processes and the eco-industrial reconversion of the country's production areas integrated with a series of incentives (and fiscal disincentives) that can foster such paths."
Why textile industry?
GENIUS Project
