For some years now, part of my work has been to empower companies and municipalities in sustainability actions. Initially, I must confess, I struggled to explain complex processes like internal ecosystem relationships or the manufacture of materials from plants and fungi that can replace plastic. Since then, the world has changed rapidly.

Now there are innovative startups producing edible mushrooms from coffee waste. Among these is the Portuguese company "Nãm" (https://nammushroom.com/en). Even a major company like Delta is involved in circular economy projects, combining coffee waste and mushroom production (https://www.distribuicaohoje.com/destaques/delta-cafes-produz-cogumelos-a-partir-da-borra-de-cafe/). There are companies that, from the organic waste produced in our homes daily, create larvae of a fly (the black soldier fly) from which omega-3 is obtained, used to enrich food, materials for body care, and molecules used in the pharmaceutical industry. With the residue from this production, vermicomposting is done, which, as the name suggests, is composting done by worms or earthworms that are capable of grinding, eating, and enriching the material, turning it into fertilizer for agriculture. This material is rich in hormones, enzymes, bacteria, amino acids, and fungi, which synergistically stimulate plants, making them more resistant to parasites and diseases. It also contains substances (humic and fulvic acids) that, due to their granular and viscous structure, improve soil structure, providing nutrients to plants continuously and in a balanced way. Its beneficial effects last up to four years after its incorporation into the soil.

Vermicompost reduces soil toxicity and can store water in quantities many times greater than its volume, thus preventing the leaching of nitrates, phosphates (eutrophication), and soil erosion.

Ecovative, an American company (https://www.ecovative.com), uses mushrooms to produce bricks, packaging, and leather for footwear and clothing. Novamont, an Italian company, produces an innovative bioplastic from cardoon, a plant widely spread and invasive in Sardinia, with better characteristics than existing ones.

Urban areas can become laboratories for the circular economy, given the large amount of waste produced daily: material recycling and fertilizer production. Mountainous and rural areas become the engines of new production: food, bioplastics, and bio-bricks.

The impacts on the territory are significant. These are the economic models capable of enduring and generating income in the future.

* Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and External Professor of Environmental Systems and Biomimetics at IUAV University of Venice