Circular Economy, a Strategy for Sustainable Development. Advances in Ecuador

Abstract

Today more than ever a more environmentally friendly economic system is urgent, less predatory and aware of the well-being of all people in the planet. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore in literature the conceptual perspective of circular economy, its strategic contribution to sustainable development, its implementation and consequences, as well as contrary opinions. A progressive interest and global trend topic, which has generated a notable movement at the level of governments, foundations, industry and society, regarding reconsidering resources management throughout the life cycle of a product/ service that leads to achieve prosperity, mitigating the impact on the environment and enabling the well-being of human beings and other species. The research methodology is qualitative, and the findings are reviewed through a descriptive exploratory method. Concluding that in the strategies of sustainable development, both the government and Ecuadorian organizations should consider the implementation of circular economy projects and define actions to be taken from the public sphere to promote the transition towards this new economic conception. A limitation of this study is the scarce local empirical evidence on the subject, thus international literature and experiences have been used.