If they were a state in their own right, the four regions of central Italy - Lazio, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria - would rank first in Europe in the circular economy, or the sparing use of natural resources. However, as Italy is increasingly a sum of territorial divides, first place is Holland's. Except in waste recycling, where Italy was and remains first, everyone in Europe is running faster. Italy consumes more matter and generates more waste both per inhabitant and per unit of GDP, produces more climate-changing emissions per capita, is more voracious than others in fossil energy consumption and slower in renewables growth. The stark feeling when reading the data from the Circonomia 2023 Report presented Thursday is that in Italy the "machine" of the ecological transition is broken down. One striking fact is the modest number of patents on the environment and energy efficiency: out of the OECD total, Germany registered 12.6 percent, Italy no more than 1.5. In this picture, which reveals a systemic disengagement, there are, however, virtuous examples of energy savings achieved through recycling. In Europe, the achievements of the Italian consortium Conou, which collects and regenerates used mineral oils, are cited. Last year it collected almost all collectable used oil, regenerating 98 percent of it into new lubricating bases. This result led to large energy savings and 64 thousand tons of lower Co2 emissions.