Circular economy: theoretical foundations and practical applications in the field of regional economy and management

Economic growth in the traditional linear model of production of material goods, in which all processes are built on the principle of «mine – produce – use – discard», leads to a constant and poorly controlled increase of the environmental burden. An alternative model is the economy of closed production cycles or a circular economy, the theoretical and methodological foundations of which are only being developed in the world scientific literature. The transition to the circular economy model will allow to achieve such environmental effects as reduction of consumption of natural materials and energy, reduction of emissions and waste, production of waste and emissions in a form that ensures their natural utilization. At the same time, the advantages of moving to a circular economy model are not limited to environmental effects alone, but they also imply the achievement of a number of important economic and social effects. The purpose of this work is to analyze modern concepts of the environmental economics and related sciences intersecting with the concept of a circular economy, to determine the general theoretical foundations and the most promising areas of research in the field of circular economy. As a result of the conducted quantitative and qualitative bibliographic analysis, it was revealed that the theoretical point of view is the solution of the problem of identification, measurement and evaluation of the impact of barriers to the development of eco-innovations on the transition to the circular economy model is the most promising research path. From a practical point of view, the most demanded is the development of innovative business models aimed at increasing and realizing the innovative potential of economic agents and their associations, primarily at the regional level

Keywords: circular economy, eco-innovations, closed production cycle, bibliographic analysis, content analysis, barriers

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