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Circular Economy and Sustainability: the Past, the Present and the Future Directions

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Abstract

The concepts of circular economy (CE) and sustainability (S) have lately gained momentum among scholars, theorists, academics, and practitioners. Although these concepts are considered necessary to solve many of the existing global environmental and social challenges (e.g., climate change, nature conservation and social equity), it seems there is no consistency relating to their content. Some scholars consider these two concepts identical, while others contemplate them as different. Several theoretical approaches have been presented to clarify the content of these two concepts and to provide effective ways to solve the social and environmental problems. The goal of this paper is to examine the existing literature regarding the content of CE and S based on a triple-level analysis (micro, meso, and macro level) across different scientific fields: economic/management and engineering/natural science. Our findings show many theoretical approaches with several relationships, similarities, and differences among CE and S at the micro, meso, and macro-levels within engineering and management scientific fields. Based on these findings, a future research agenda on CE and S is also proposed.

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Change history

Abbreviations

CE:

circular economy

S:

sustainability

SDGs:

sustainable development goals

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Economics and Environmental Technology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vas Sofias, 12, Xanthi, Greece

    Ioannis E. Nikolaou

  2. Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, 16-21 Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EP, UK

    Nikoleta Jones

  3. Environmental Engineering and Management Laboratory, School of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Crete, 73100, Chania, Greece

    Alexandros Stefanakis

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  1. Ioannis E. Nikolaou
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Correspondence to Ioannis E. Nikolaou.

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The original online version of this article was revised: the title of the article has been corrected.

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Nikolaou, I.E., Jones, N. & Stefanakis, A. Circular Economy and Sustainability: the Past, the Present and the Future Directions. Circ.Econ.Sust. 1, 1–20 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00030-3

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