The new paradigm of the circular economy goes beyond the boundaries of the administrative action linked to mere waste management to protect the environment. In holistic terms, it includes the entire industrial process of the planning and production of goods and the social and training profiles linked to this. It is therefore an industrial policy tool capable of directing and attracting investments, generating value; it is a non-confinable model, therefore, in the shadow of environmental protection but which necessarily includes the social, training and financial profiles inherent in the overall redefinition of European industrial policy. Indeed, the efficient use of resources must be considered an objective not only environmental but also of industrial competitiveness.
On the instrument side, the adoption of direct regulatory measures is accompanied by the use of economic and financial instruments (subsidies, certifications, tax incentives, Green Public Procurement) aimed at influencing the willingness of companies to carry out production processes with lower environmental impact in a differently balanced equilibrium of both command and control and market instruments.

M. Cocconi, Un diritto per l’economia circolare, in Il diritto dell’economia, 2019, 113-162