15. An application of material circularity indicator to agricultural system

The transition from a linear to a circular economy is a research trend topic, as well as the possibility to measure the degree of circularity of products and systems. In linear economy raw materials are taken from nature, transformed in final products, which are then used and become disposable waste. On the contrary, a circular economy is an economic model that is restorative by intent and design. To measure the degree of circularity is fundamental for understanding and evaluating policies. Few studies are focusing on how to measure effectively the circularity level of a product, a supply chain or a service. Moreover, in circular economy paradigm there are two types of cycles: the technical and biological ones. Biological cycles are mainly linked to agriculture sector: for this kind of cycles, the lack of measurement is even bigger. However, intensive meat production processes, as those of pig or poultry, are mainly linear in structure. They use a quite high rate of input, which is not all converted into edible products but instead results in wasteful output. This paper presents a modification of material circularity indicator (MCI) for making it suitable for biological cycles and not only for technical ones. We applied the modified MCI to poultry sector. This work is a preliminary and first attempt to measure the degree of circularity in intensive agriculture sector.