The Social Dimensions of the Circular Economy

The main theme of this book is the social dimension of the circular economy (CE). This book’s objective is to provide a foundation for the discussion of social aspects of CE that also allows the integration of CE with the UN SDGs.  The circular economy is increasingly becoming the consensual pathway for a transition towards sustainable production and consumption that balances the economic and ecological pillars of sustainable development. However, researchers have noted that the social dimension of sustainable development is noticeable missing or, at best, weakly developed in CE ideas and frameworks (Sehnem et al., 2019). The main argument of this book is that CE research and practice needs to embrace its social impacts, not only in terms of understanding and avoiding negative social impacts but also in terms of exploring the potential that CE models have for addressing social challenges.