Int J Appl Ceram Technol. 2019;00:1–10. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijac | 1 © 2019 The American Ceramic Society 1 | INTRODUCTION From a regulatory point of view, the Circular Economy rep- resents the answer given by the EU Commission in July 2014, in order to make the European economy greener and more competitive. This allows to: 1. Switching from a linear model of economy—charac- terized by the withdrawal of natural resources, their transformation into products that, after consumption, are disposed of as waste—to a circular model in which waste is not disposed of in landfills or incinerated, but is recycled, that is reused as materials that return to the production process of new goods; 2. Opposing, in a world populated by over 7.5 billion peo- ple, with the growth and extension to many countries of production and consumption, to the limited availability of raw materials and the worrying environmental costs and impacts of both their withdrawal and managing of large quantities of waste. The Circular Economy is designed to be able to regenerate on its own, through two types of material flows: biological ones, able to be reintegrated into the biosphere, and technical ones, destined to be revalued without entering the biosphere. In both cases no waste should be generated. Biological nutrients are nontoxic and can simply be composted. Technical nutrients— polymers, alloys, glasses, and other artificial materials—are de- signed to be used again with minimal energy expenditure. In the technical cycle it is necessary to extend the life of the materials, subjecting them to maintenance, or reusing them or recycling them as secondary raw materials in an open‐loop recycling. Received: 2 September 2019 | Revised: 2 September 2019 | Accepted: 16 September 2019 DOI: 10.1111/ijac.13396 SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE The circular economy of agro and post‐consumer residues as raw materials for sustainable ceramics Fernanda Andreola 1 | Isabella Lancellotti 1 | Tiziano Manfredini 1,2 | Luisa Barbieri 1,2 1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria “Enzo Ferrari”, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy 2 Campus Dipartimento di Ingegneria “Enzo Ferrari”, INTERMECH‐Mo.Re, Tecnopolo di Modena, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy Correspondence Luisa Barbieri, Dipartimento di Ingegneria “Enzo Ferrari”, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10—41125 Modena, Italy. Email: luisa.barbieri@unimore.it Abstract The circular economy in the area of waste management implies their re‐use as a raw material in different production cycles. Both the qualitative and quantitative charac- teristics of the residues from the agro sector and those of the products of the ceramics sector make possible to think of a feasible application. This review will illustrate some examples of recycling of residues deriving from animal and vegetable sectors (and two post consume products, spent coffee grounds, and packaging glass cullet), studied by the authors, falling within the concept of urban and agricultural sustain- able development. Not only the most traditional products such as glass‐ceramics, glazes, bricks, but also the most innovative lightweight aggregates for plant struc- tures or in and out soil cultivation, as well as additives such as deflocculants for ceramic suspensions, which will be illustrated from the design/production, charac- terization, and comparison with commercial products. KEYWORDS agricultural sustainable development, agro residues, ceramic products, circular economy, urban sustainable development