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Sustainable Development, Corporate Sustainability and the Circular Economy

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Business Models in the Circular Economy

Abstract

This chapter focusses on the circular economy. Nonetheless, to engage the reader with a more inclusive narrative of the models that have been proposed to move towards a more environmentally and socially sustainable economy, this chapter briefly reviews some critical perspectives of ‘sustainable development’, ‘corporate sustainability’ and other proposals discussed in the literature in the recent years. This chapter also describes the context within which the circular economy thinking has emerged and its characteristics. It reflects on its relationship with ‘sustainable development’ and ‘corporate sustainability’ as well as with its originators, and it reviews some critical perspectives of the concept.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A comprehensive assessment of the opportunities of a CE is available in the numerous publications that the EMF has produced in collaboration with its partners (WEF, McKinsey & Company, SUN and SYSTEMIQ) to date. See: EMF (2015a, b, 2016), EMF and McKinsey (2012, 2013), EMF et al. (2015, 2017), WEF et al. (2014).

  2. 2.

    For a comprehensive review of regulatory policies in the context of the CE across different regions, see: Mathews and Tan (2016), McDowall et al. (2017), Murray et al. (2015).

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  1. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Roberta De Angelis

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De Angelis, R. (2018). Sustainable Development, Corporate Sustainability and the Circular Economy. In: Business Models in the Circular Economy. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75127-6_2

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