Introdução
The circular economy (CE) has emerged as a global response to the unsustainable linear model of extract–produce–consume–dispose. CE aims to keep resources in productive use, eliminate waste at the design stage, and regenerate natural systems. Despite growing academic and policy attention, research remains fragmented, often analyzing practices at the firm, sector, or policy level in isolation. This fragmentation limits understanding of systemic interactions and constrains coordinated interventions for accelerating circular transitions.
Problema de Pesquisa e Objetivo
The main problem lies in the absence of a systemic perspective connecting CE strategies and barriers across micro, meso, and macro levels. Without this articulation, decision-makers lack coherent guidance to align organizational practices, sectoral initiatives, and public policies. The objective is to propose a theoretical framework that integrates these levels, mapping strategies and barriers from the literature and highlighting their interrelations. Specifically, the study identifies strategies, links them to barriers, and discusses implications for managers, organizations, and policymakers.
Fundamentação Teórica
Existing literature emphasizes strategies such as design for circularity, remanufacturing, industrial symbiosis, shared infrastructure, and producer–consumer responsibility. However, multiple barriers persist, including technological limitations, financial constraints, capability gaps, infrastructure voids, policy misalignment, weak institutions, and consumer behavior inertia. While these factors have been studied separately, few works provide an integrated, systemic view. Addressing this gap is essential for both advancing theory and supporting decision-making in circular transitions.
Metodologia
This conceptual study applies a narrative literature review, considering only peer-reviewed articles indexed in Web of Science and Scopus. The evidence was analyzed qualitatively and organized into three systemic levels: micro (firms, products, organizational practices), meso (sectors, supply chains, networks), and macro (policies, institutions, society). From this categorization, a theoretical framework was developed, represented through a set of diagrams and a heatmap-style interaction matrix to synthesize relations between strategies and barriers across levels.
Análise e Discussão dos Resultados
The interaction matrix demonstrates that strategies may mitigate or be constrained by barriers at and across levels. At the micro level, design for circularity faces technological and cost-related limits; at the meso level, industrial symbiosis depends on infrastructure, trust, and cooperation; at the macro level, incentives mitigate barriers only if policies are coherent and institutions effective. The heatmap shows systemic interdependence: firm initiatives require sectoral and policy support, while macro policies are effective only when cascaded into sectoral and organizational practices.
Considerações Finais
This study contributes by integrating fragmented insights into a systemic framework that organizes strategies and barriers across micro, meso, and macro levels. The framework highlights interdependencies and provides a practical tool for managers, organizations, and policymakers seeking to foster circular transitions. As a limitation, the study remains conceptual, without empirical validation. Future research should test and refine the framework across sectors and national contexts, exploring how multi-level alignment can accelerate the shift toward a circular economy.
Referências
References were not used in the abstract.