On the occasion of the recent presentation of the 2020 Report on the Circular Economy in Italy, the Director of the Sustainability Department of ENEA's Production and Territorial Systems, Roberto Morabito, indicated some critical aspects regarding the new massive use of materials.

The first impact is that of PPE (gloves, gowns, masks) on the total volume of sanitary waste produced, which has tripled in the last three months. In Italy, there is now a need for 90 million masks per month, of which over 55 million have already been contracted, as communicated by the Civil Protection (Borrelli). This figure is going to grow further significantly.

The associations FISE Assoambiente (urban hygiene companies, recycling, recovery and disposal of urban and special waste and reclamation activities) and FISE Unicircular (circular economy companies) have raised the alarm about a system in great difficulty, declaring that they have tripled waste collection and management activities in hospitals.

The associations are asking the government "to clarify the exclusion of waste collection, transport and management activities quickly from the restrictions contained in the provisions issued, even when these activities affect different territories. In the various measures published since the beginning of the emergency to date, there is no clear reference to waste management activities".

A second alarming fact reported by ENEA concerns the increase in domestic drinking water consumption in recent months, due to the simple act of washing hands against the Coronavirus. The document records up to 12 more washes per person per day than usual, which translates into a quantity of about 48 litres more per person, for an overall increase in household consumption of up to 53%.

A reliable and long-standing international scientific literature demonstrates a strong correlation between the incidence of cases of viral infection, and territorial concentrations of atmospheric particulate matter (e.g. PM10 and PM2.5).

The latest Italian research, just disseminated is a Position Paper drafted by SIMA-Italian Society of Environmental Medicine, the FRAME Interdepartmental Centre of the University of Bologna and the University of Bari, declares that "the rate of increase in cases of infection, which has affected in particular some areas of Northern Italy, could be related to the conditions of air particulate pollution that is known to function as a carrier, i.e. a transport vector, for many chemical and biological contaminants, including viruses". These "attach themselves" to atmospheric particulate matter, consisting of solid and/or liquid particles capable of remaining in the atmosphere for hours, days or weeks, and may also be transported for long periods of time in vital conditions. This is because "the rate of virus inactivation in atmospheric particulate matter depends on environmental conditions: while an increase in temperature and solar radiation has a positive effect on the rate of virus inactivation, high relative humidity may favour a higher rate of virus spread".

This analysis, therefore, seems to indicate a "direct relationship between the number of cases of COVID-19 and the state of pollution of the territories". It seems to demonstrate that, "in relation to the period 10-29 February, high concentrations above the PM10 limit in some provinces in northern Italy (e.g. the province of Brescia) may have exerted a boost action, i.e. an impulse to the virulent spread of the epidemic in the Po Valley. This phenomenon was not observed in other areas of Italy that had cases of infection during the same period. In this regard, the case of Rome is emblematic, where the presence of contagion was already evident in the same days of the Po Valley regions without triggering such a virulent phenomenon". 

 The "National Report on Circular Economy in Italy" 2020, produced by the CEN-Circular Economy Network, the network promoted by the Foundation for Sustainable Development with 14 companies and business associations, and ENEA, confirms once again this year Italy's leadership as an index of circularity among the five leading European economies.
We are the first in the ranking by the degree of efficient use of resources in five categories: production, consumption, waste management, secondary raw materials market, investments and employment.
On average, every human being on the planet uses more than 11,000 kilos of materials per year. A third of those turns into waste and ends up in landfills; only another third of the elements are still in use after just 12 months, and this use is growing at twice the rate of the world's population.
This type of economy is called "extractive" and is responsible for much of the climate and environmental crisis. It is at the origin of the disposable culture. Still, now things are changing with the introduction of the circular economy, which means using materials and even objects that from their productive origin have been chosen and designed to be recycled and reused several times.
In this industrial policy, our country traditionally has a position of undisputed dominance. On the podium, but far away, there are Germany and France, with 11 and 12 points less. The Report, however, draws attention to the fact that we are losing positions. Italy can make the best use of the few resources allocated to technological advancement and is able to maintain a good efficiency index (for every kilo of resource consumed, 3.5 euros of GDP is generated, compared to a European average of 2.24). But at the same time, Italy is penalized by low investments and the consequently limited eco-innovation (we are in the last place for patents).
Another limit is on the regulatory front: a National Strategy and an Action Plan for the circular economy are still missing. There are two instruments that could help Italy to start quickly and to make more effective the way out of the severe economic and social repercussions that we are maturing due to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

In recent years there has been a cultural revolution about the architectural design of the workplace in terms of health. It is, therefore, a topic that has long been under attention in the offices.

Today, due to the spread of the Coronavirus, we are in a position to work from home but let's not forget that even at home we are called to special attention concerning the organization of spaces and their characteristics. Among the most important things to pay attention to is the quality of the indoor air we breathe.

The air contained inside buildings and houses is even more dangerous than outside.  The indoor biological pollutants (such as viruses, fungi and bacteria that proliferate in humid environments such as heating and air conditioning systems, non-ventilated bathrooms and in general all closed environments) and chemical pollutants (formaldehyde, benzene, nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide, the same fine dust that comes from systems, cleaning products, finishes and furnishings) are added to the external ones that remain trapped.

Coronavirus is belonging to the Coronaviridae family. COVID 19 is currently our number one enemy. It often travels in good company, along with all the other pollutants mentioned above that pose a danger to our airways, risking weakening us in the fight we are waging.

One of the main activities to do at home, therefore, is to aerate the rooms abundantly for short periods (3-5 minutes) more than once a day. At the same time, it is essential to operate, especially in this period when it is vital to avoid unnecessary overloads of toxic substances in our lungs, strong attention in our way of cleaning environments.  We should try to use as much as possible products that are not of chemical but natural origin. Steam, vinegar, lemon, Marseille soap and bicarbonate, today can be beneficial and excellent allies in the eco-friendly cleaning of our homes, even more than usual.

The new integrated service spaces that today are part of smart working building designs are many: they range from the kitchenette, where everyone can warm up a meal brought from home or ordered online and eat it together with colleagues, to the cafeteria, with two or four tables for business meetings in front of a cup of tea. The principle is to reproduce as much as possible familiar environments that predispose the soul to serenity and collaboration among colleagues. One of the needs that emerge, however, in large open spaces environments is privacy: this has changed individual habits a lot, and more and more often there is a significant lowering of decibels within these large environments. People are learning to speak more and more quietly and with respect for everyone. But often this is not enough, because there are needs such as telephone calls, or reading a document that requires a lot of concentration, for which there are special soundproofed spaces, very compact and welcoming, where silence is total and where privacy is maximum and guaranteed. The presence of powerful wifi everywhere allows you to work from every corner of the building, even on the terrace, or in the garden, if you want to be outdoors. More and more adopted as integrative solutions, there are also gyms available to workers. Still, the most appreciated, especially by those who have family, are the deliveries to the office of shopping, dye-works, pharmacy or other packages, which free precious hours of private life to more pleasant and relaxing activities once working hours are over, just to maximize the daily budget of well-being, the true goal of smart working.

Smart working means much more than the remote work we've been doing lately. We can, therefore, take advantage of this new global scenario to implement it in our daily lives as comprehensively as possible. First of all, the idea behind smart working is the maximum increase of our physical and mental well-being in all hours of our working day, and that this can be achieved with a strong sense of freedom. Each of us should be able to work in a flexible and "nomadic" way, moving inside and/or outside our workplace. This is the logistical part of smart working.  The less known part is related to the principle of "service to the person", and is the predominant one. New designs increasingly apply new concepts: fixed workstations and rooms with two/three desks now disappear in the face of larger rooms with many more workstations that are no longer assigned individually, but follow the logistical principle of booking. This is because it is now proven that not all of them are always in the office at the same time. So it is useless and too expensive for companies to immobilize the cost of square meters of building and related unused workstations every day for no reason. Much better to allocate those economic resources to improve the lives of workers, integrating the building where you work with other spaces, previously non-existent, at the service of the working day.