Circular economy in the food industry. An analysis of Italian listed companies’ sustainability reports

Purpose: The paper investigates the circular economy (CE) disclosure released by companies in response to the issuing of CE-related policies since the CE Action Plan 2015, using the in-stitutional view of legitimacy theory. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts a multiple case study methodology by content-analyzing the CE disclosure released by all listed Italian agri-food companies in their sustainability reports in the period 2016–2021. Findings: The findings show that Italian agri-food companies released low levels of CE dis-closure. This result suggests a lack of strategic relevance attributed to the CE issue or the ab-sence of CE-related standards to rely upon. The results could also reveal companies’ scarce implementation of CE business models. The findings also show an increase in both the quanti-ty and quality of CE disclosure released in response to the issuing of a public CE-related poli-cy or framework, supporting the theoretical arguments of the institutional view of legitimacy theory. Originality/value: In light of the worldwide increasing attention toward environmental issues and the CE paradigm, particularly in the food industry, this study is the first to investigate the CE disclosure released by agri-food companies in response to the issuing of CE-related poli-cies and voluntary frameworks. Practical implications: The findings show that institutional pressure through the issuing of new CE-related policies and voluntary frameworks promotes increased CE disclosure by com-panies, suggesting that implementing both Directive 2022/2464/EU and the EFRAG standards would further encourage the release of CE disclosure.