The Circular Economy (CE) is a set of proposals intended to transform the current linear model of production and consumption towards sustainability. To do so, a plurality of theoretical approaches, objectives and instruments have been encompassed in it. Since introducing the Circular Economy principle as part of the "ecological civilisation" vision in 2004 in China's 11th Five-Year Plan, it has been incorporated into policy agendas at different levels (China's Circular Economy Development Law, the United Nations' SDGs, the European Green Deal-European Union's Circular Economy Action Plan, CE Strategies or Green Transition Strategies of countries, territories, municipalities, companies, etc.). Although the specific formulations vary considerably, they could be said to share the idea that the CE is a way to promote a change in the economic structure towards sustainability. The CE aspires to deal with climate change and the overflowing waste that affects ecosystems. Moreover, the CE focuses on reducing material consumption, using material efficiently, extending the lifespan of products and "perpetually" reusing materials once they have been incorporated into the system in order to reduce the impacts of extraction-production-consumption activities and waste disposal. Nevertheless, the concepts, motivations, objectives, spheres of action and transforming ambitions of CE initiatives are quite diverse. With this in mind, the three concepts that are included in the title of this special issue cover problems and approaches that may appear to show varying degrees of coincidence or convergence, depending on the theoretical-conceptual framework and the approach adopted. [...]
Vence, X., Pereira, Á., Laperche, B., & Pansera, M. (2024). Economía circular, sustentabilidade e decrecemento. Revista Galega de Economía, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.15304/rge.33.2.10036