Establishment of a strategy of circular economy increasing the well-being of society: comparison of two national policies

Abstract

The paper considers a new paradigm of sustainable development, establishing new ways of societal progress and success based on the concepts other than only economic growth and material wealth. Sustainable development suggests that the wellbeing of the society depends, among other, on clean and healthy environment, and on the mutual interaction of human beings realized in new models of economics and behaviour. This article describes a new model of economics based on the interaction of environmental protection and economic efficiency, the model of circular economy (CE). The paper compares two different macro-economical approaches integrating the CE model into national economy strategies. The existing CE instruments and mechanisms are explored demonstrating the results of such policy application at meso- and micro- levels.