Dear Colleagues,

A circular economy is defined as one that is restorative by design, and which aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value, at all times. This systemic framework proposes a global economic model that decouples economic growth and development from the consumption of finite resources. It is based on some key principles. These include keeping a clear distinction in the economic system between technical and biological materials, keeping them at their highest value at all times.

Second, it focuses on effective design and use of materials to optimise their flow and maintain or increase technical and natural resource stocks. It promotes business opportunities and innovation across fields such as product design, service and business models, food, farming, biological feedstock, and products.

Finally, it proposes a series of building blocks and enablers to create a resilient economic system. The circular economy draws a sharp distinction between the consumption and use of materials: circular economy advocates the need for a “functional service” model in which manufacturers or retailers increasingly retain the ownership of their products and, where possible, act as service providers—selling the use of products, not simply selling them and then taking no further responsibility. This shift has direct implications for the development of efficient and effective take-back systems and the proliferation of product- and business model design practices that generate more durable products, facilitate disassembly and refurbishment and, where appropriate, consider product/service shifts.

This Special Issue of Sustainability invites papers on any of these themes, concepts, and principles. We are especially interested in empirical studies with appropriate theoretical underpinnings on (but not limited to):

(1)     potential or actual employment and labour effects from circular economy intiatives or programmes in developed and developing country contexts;

(2)     analysis of circular economy policies and their effects and outcomes in different contexts;

(3)     consumer attitudes, practices and behaviours in relation to circular economy business models;

(4)     materials, resource or energy impacts from circular economy system level re-design, product-serevice system innovation, circular business model innovation or circular design initiatives;

(5)     change management processes within business setting to show how circular economy is being implemented, innovations processes and lessons learnt that are more widely transferable.

Prof. Dr. Peter Hopkins
Prof. Dr. Stuart Roper
Dr. Donato Masi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• circular economy
• growth-resource dependencies
• labour and employment
• consumer behaviour and branding
• reverse logistics and supply chains
• policies
• circular design and business models
• change management