A circular economy has become a key model in the drive for countries to protect the environment while fostering economic growth and the main objective is to reuse and recycle existing materials and products for as long as possible.

A study compared EU countries using five categories: production and consumption; waste management; secondary raw materials; competitiveness and innovation; ecological sustainability and resilience.

While different countries excelled in different categories, Italy led the ranking with 45 points, followed by Germany with 38 points and France with 30 points.