Transitioning Towards Circularity in the Italian Leather Industry: Insights from a Qualitative Comparative Analysis

The Italian leather industry, internationally recognized for quality and craftsmanship, is facing increasing pressure to align with circular economy and sustainability principles. This study investigates how Italian leather companies are approaching this transition by analysing the interplay between technological innovation, operational practices, and strategic orientation. The research was conducted within the framework of the PNRR MICS Extended Partnership, through the ReStart and Solaris projects, and is based on a structured survey administered to a selected sample of companies along the leather supply chain. The collected data were analysed using fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify causal configurations associated with high sustainability performance. The results highlight product-level circularity as a necessary condition across all successful configurations, combined with different enabling factors such as technological adoption, innovation capacity, employee training, and organizational scale. Five alternative company profiles emerged, demonstrating that multiple development pathways can lead to comparable circularity outcomes. The findings show that even small enterprises can achieve high sustainability performance through targeted and coherent strategies, while larger firms tend to benefit from integrated innovation and training structures. At the same time, persistent barriers remain, including high investment requirements, fragmented regulatory frameworks, limited technological readiness, and low consumer awareness. Overall, the study provides a qualitative, data-driven contribution to understanding circular transition dynamics in the Italian leather manufacturing ecosystem and offers actionable insights for industry stakeholders and policy makers.