The Urban Management of Secondary Raw Materials in the Light of Commons Theory: Circular Economy in Action

This paper intends to verify to what extent the theory of the commons and, in particular, the theory of shared administration can give useful suggestions in dealing with the problems of managing secondary raw materials, in a perspective compatible to the paradigm of circular economy. To this end, the discussion will be divided into three parts. First, the evolution of the regulatory framework for by-products will be analyzed in order to identify whether there is room for bottom-up mechanisms of by-product care. Second, we will examine to what extent by-products can be configured as commons, and what implications this has in the light of the Italian debate on commons. Third, the theoretical and practical scope of the theory of shared administration in the management of secondary raw materials will be analyzed. The analysis conveys the importance of embracing the commons theory and practice in order to concretely implement the circular economy paradigm with regard to the use of byproducts.