Regulatory interventions to sustain circular economy in the water sector. insights from the Italian Regulatory Authority (ARERA)

In the circular economy system, the water sector is increasingly becoming a field of concrete experimentation and application on an industrial scale of techniques intended to save and produce energy and to produce materials from water treatment cycles. The water cycle itself represents a ‘circular economy system’ connected to the use of water resources and to the processes of recovery of ‘secondary’ resources, such as energy and raw materials. This paper aims to identify the measures that can be taken by the institutions responsible for regulating the sector to encourage operators to invest in the circular economy and to develop corporate policies based on environmental sustainability and efficiency. It describes: the main actions for the recovery of energy and matter in the management of the water cycle; the current configuration of the regulatory measures adopted in Italy by the Italian Regulatory Authority of Energy, Networks and the Environment (ARERA); and some future developments in regulation policies. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of ARERA.